China 9, Liberty 37 (1978)

Looking at the old-fashioned cowboy operas of the 1950s and early 1960s, an impressionable sprout might get the impression that in the olden days nobody ever took off their clothes. The spaghetti westerns of the 1970s rectified that misperception, none with more comely effect than China 9, Liberty 37 (1978). A joint effort of Italian and Spanish creative teams, China 9 presents the change of heart affected by a gunfighter who is saved from the hangman’s noose. The reprieve comes with the stipulation that the pistolero must kill a former hired gun, now a farmer, who is stubbornly refusing to cede his land to the railroads. The farmer’s wife, portrayed by unbridled blonde Jenny Agutter, adds a touch of naked realism every time she strips down to wash or disrobes to ready herself for bed. The nearly hung gunman falls under Agutter’s breastacular sway. He’s not alone.