A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS
A Fistful of Dollars (Italian: Per un pugno di dollari) is a 1964 spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood in his first leading role, alongside Gian Maria Volonté, Marianne Koch, Wolfgang Lukschy, Sieghardt Rupp, José Calvo, Antonio Prieto and Joseph Egger.[8] The film, an international co-production between Italy, West Germany and Spain, was filmed on a low budget (reported to be $200,000), and Eastwood was paid $15,000 for his role.[9]
Released in Italy in 1964 and in the United States in 1967, the film initiated the popularity of the spaghetti Western genre. It is considered a landmark in cinema and one of the greatest and most influential films of all time. It was followed by For a Few Dollars More and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, both also starring Eastwood. Collectively, the films are known as the Dollars Trilogy, or the Man with No Name Trilogy, after the United Artists publicity campaign referred to Eastwood’s character in all three films as the “Man with No Name“. All three films were released in sequence in the United States in 1967, catapulting Eastwood into stardom.[10]
The film has been identified as an unofficial remake of the Akira Kurosawa film, Yojimbo (1961), which resulted in a successful lawsuit by Toho, Yojimbo‘s production company.[11] Kurosawa wrote to Leone directly, saying, “Signor Leone, I have just had the chance to see your film. It is a very fine film, but it is my film. Since Japan is a signatory of the Berne Convention on the international copyright, you must pay me.” He and Toho received 15% of the film’s revenue, and it is believed that Kurosawa earned more money from the financial settlement than he had made on his own film, Yojimbo.[12]
Few spaghetti Westerns had been released in the United States at the time, so many of the European cast and crew adopted American-sounding stage names. These included Leone (“Bob Robertson”), Gian Maria Volonté (“Johnny Wels”) and composer Ennio Morricone (“Dan Savio”). A Fistful of Dollars was shot in Spain, mostly near Hoyo de Manzanares[13] close to Madrid, but also (like its two sequels) in the Tabernas Desert and in the Cabo de Gata-Níjar Natural Park, both in the province of Almería.
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FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE
For a Few Dollars More (Italian: Per qualche dollaro in più) is a 1965 Spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Leone. It stars Clint Eastwood and Lee Van Cleef as bounty hunters and Gian Maria Volonté as the primary villain.[3] German actor Klaus Kinski plays a supporting role as a secondary villain. The film was an international co-production between Italy, West Germany, and Spain.[4][5] The film was released in the United States in 1967, and is the second installment of what is commonly known as the Dollars Trilogy.
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THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (Italian: Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo, literally “The good, the ugly, the bad“) is a 1966 Italian epic spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood as “the Good”, Lee Van Cleef as “the Bad”, and Eli Wallach as “the Ugly”.[9] Its screenplay was written by Age & Scarpelli, Luciano Vincenzoni, and Leone (with additional screenplay material and dialogue provided by an uncredited Sergio Donati),[10] based on a story by Vincenzoni and Leone. Director of photography Tonino Delli Colli was responsible for the film’s sweeping widescreen cinematography, and Ennio Morricone composed the film’s score. It was an Italian-led production with co-producers in Spain, West Germany, and the United States. Most of the filming took place in Spain.
The film is known for Leone’s use of long shots and close-up cinematography, as well as his distinctive use of violence, tension, and highly stylised gunfights. The plot revolves around three gunslingers competing to find a fortune in a buried cache of Confederate gold amid the violent chaos of the American Civil War (specifically the Battle of Glorieta Pass of the New Mexico Campaign in 1862) while participating in many battles, confrontations, and duels along the way.[11] The film was the third collaboration between Leone and Eastwood, and the second of those with Van Cleef.
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly was marketed as the third and final installment in the Dollars Trilogy, following A Fistful of Dollars (1964) and For a Few Dollars More (1965). The film was a financial success, grossing over $38 million at the worldwide box office, and is credited with having catapulted Eastwood into stardom.[12] Due to general disapproval of the spaghetti Western genre at the time, critical reception of the film following its release was mixed, but it gained critical acclaim in later years, and is now widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential westerns of all time.