Skip to main content

Plot

By the time Sergio Leone made this film, Italians had already produced about 20 films ironically labelled "spaghetti westerns." Leone approached the genre with great love and humor. Although the plot was admittedly borrowed from Akira Kurosawa's Yojimbo (1961), Leone managed to create a work of his own that would serve as a model for many films to come. Clint Eastwood plays a cynical gunfighter who comes to a small border town and offers his services to two rivaling gangs. Neither gang is aware of his double play, and each thinks it is using him, but the stranger will outwit them both. The picture was the first installment in a cycle commonly known as the "Dollars" trilogy. Later, United Artists, who distributed it in the U.S., coined another term for it: the "Man With No Name" trilogy. While not as impressive as its follow-ups For a Few Dollars More (1965) and The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966), A Fistful of Dollars contains all of Leone's eventual trademarks: taciturn characters, precise framing, extreme close-ups, and the haunting music of Ennio Morricone. Not released in the U.S. until 1967 due to copyright problems, the film was decisive in both Clint Eastwood's career and the recognition of the Italian western.
MPAA Rating:
R
Genre(s):
Westerns
Run Time:
101min.
Theatrical Release Date:
02/16/2001
DVD Release Date:
10/05/1999
Status:
In Theaters
Distributor(s):
UNIDIS
Director(s):
Sergio Leone
Starring:
Clint Eastwood , Marianne Koch , Gian Maria Volontè , Wolfgang Lukschy , Mario Brega
Themes:
Cons and Scams,Feuds,Lone Wolves
Tone:
Gritty,Visceral,Cynical,Stylized
Keywords:
bartender,betrayal,border-town,coffin,con/scam,deal [agreement],desert,drifter,family-feud,feud,gunfighter,one-against-odds,rival,scheme,small-town,uninvited-guest
Country of Origin:
Italy (09-12-1964),USA (01-18-1967)
Language:
English