Claudio Undari (as Robert Hundar) is Sgt. Brown, a man responsible for escorting a wagon full of convicts, chained together, from the gold mines at Golden Sand to Fort Green.
Along the way, bandits hold up the wagon, convinced it’s another gold shipment. When they find no gold, they kill most of the soldiers in the escort and stampede the horses leading the wagon.
The result: The wagon crashes, and Sgt. Brown (Robert Hundar) finds himself stranded in a winter wilderness with seven desperate men, one of whom has a broken leg, and a daughter (Emma Cohen as Cathy) he must protect from those men.
Two factors provide more complications. Brown is convinced one of the men killed his wife and wants revenge. And the chain holding the men together is actually gold, coated with iron, so that it can be smuggled past the bandits.
That clever ploy backfires when the convicts learn the truth, giving them even more motivation to band together against Brown.
Review:
The movie is billed as the most violent Spaghetti Western ever filmed and, before it ends, we’ll see a man roasted alive, a couple of feet chomped off and a couple of disembowments.
But the movie’s success — and it’s certainly worth watching — is that it’s quite different from most Spaghettis in plot and tone.
And that tone is decidedly downbeat, with a sense of doom hanging over the entire cast from the word go. Sgt. Brown expresses doubt over the journey he’s undertaking. Sure enough, before long, it turns into a nightmare.
Manuel Tejada plays Dean Marlowe, the convict who befriends Cathy Brown, initially with the goal of using her as a means of escape. Alberto Dalbes and Ricardo Diaz emerge as leaders upon the cutthroats.
Robert Hundar (Claudio Undari) as Sgt. Brown in Cut Throats Nine (1972)
Emma Cohen as Cathy Brown in Cut Throats Nine (1972)
Directed by:
Joaquin Luis Romero Marchent
Cast:
Claudio Undari … Sgt. Brown
as Robert Hundar
Emma Cohen … Cathy Brown
Alberto Dalbes … Thomas Lawrence
as Roy King
Antonio Iranzo … Ray Brewster
Manuel Tejada … Dean Marlowe
Ricardo Diaz … Joe Farrow
Jose Manuel Martin … John “Weasel” McFarland
Carlos Romero Marchent … Slim
Rafael Hernandez … Dick Patterson
Eduardo Calvo … Sgt. Taylor
Emilio Rodriguez … Caldwell, waystation owner
Xan das Bolas … Buddy, bandit leader
Mabel Karr … Mrs. Brown in flashback scenes
Runtime: 91 min.
aka
Condenados a vivir
Bronson’s Revenge
Music: Carmelo A. Bernaola
Alberto Dalbes (Roy King) as Thomas Lawrence, one of the prisoners, in Cut Throats Nine (1972)
Manuel Tejadaas as Dean Marlowe, one of the prisoners, in Cut Throats Nine (1972)
Memorable lines:
Sgt. Brown: “We’re all part and parcel of a big rat trap. Maybe we can get out if we try. But I have my doubts …”
The convicts, singing Pig-Headed Brown to the tune of Oh, My Darling: “If he winks or blinks his eyes, forget Fort Green, he’s just manure.”
Brewster: “I’d give up half my life right now for a barrel of good whiskey.”
Lawrence: “If you gave up half your life, you wouldn’t have time to drink it.”
Brewster: “I always dreamed of dying filthy rich.” He grabs his leg irons. “And I think I’ll get to do it.”
Ricardo Diaz as Joe Farrow, one of the prisoners, in Cut Throats Nine (1972)
Antonio Iranzo as Ray Brewster, one of the prisoners, in Cut Throats Nine (1972)
Trivia:
Emma Cohen, who plays Sgt. Brown’s daughter here, also appeared in “The Legend of Frenchie King,” in the role of Virginie.
When the movie was released in the U.S., audiences were given terror masks as a gimmick, just in case they couldn’t stand the violence.
Claudio Undari, aka Robert Hundar, plays the civilized sergeant delivering a group of savages and deviants to prison here. Just a year later, he would play Pedro, the cannibal in “Shanghai Joe.”
According to multiple posts on the Spaghetti Western database, the gore was not part of the original plan for this film, but added later as a gimmick to make the movie more popular.
Rafael Hernandez as Dick Patterson, one of the prisoners, in Cut Throats Nine (1972)
Jose Manuel Martin as John Weasel McFarland, one of the prisoners, in Cut Throats Nine (1972)
Carlos Romero Marchent as Slim, the prisoner with a broken leg, in Cut Throats Nine (1972)
Robert Hundar (Claudio Undari) as Sgt. Brown with Emma Cohen as his daughter Cathy in Cut Throats Nine (1972)
Ricardo Diaz as Joe Farrow with Alberto Dalbes (Roy King) as Thomas Lawrence in Cut Throats Nine (1972
Emma Cohen as Cathy Brown in Cut Throats Nine (1972)
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