Perhaps one of the most iconic introductions to a character finds Clint Eastwood’s Man with No Name riding into a dry, vile town, wearing the now legendary garb – dust covered poncho, brown gaucho-style hat, black jeans, spurs, and a Colt in his trusty holster (the stubby cigars will come a little later). Stopping for a drink of water, he takes in the violent, melancholic locale, where people gaze at him in a distrusting and ominous way through their wooden shutters, and children are shot at in the street by thuggish individuals.
The first of what would become the “Dollars Trilogy” (or “The Man with No Name Trilogy”), A Fistful of Dollars, despite its now celebrated status, was poorly received by most North American and British critics when originally released. Once again showing how time is a fickle thing, the term Spaghetti Western (this type of motion picture), was first coined as a negative, disparaging term (ridiculing the European product for being of poorer quality to their American counterparts) – though today, it is generally thought of as an endearing and highly positive term. Directed by Sergio Leone, its unique visual style (beautifully framed close-ups that differ from the typical Hollywood use of the technique, as well as his then unorthodox use of viewpoint that places us in the moment over Eastwood’s gun), and attempt to move away from the traditional American tropes of the western, is now viewed as the beginning of the rejuvenation of the historic genre.
Casting an array of actors from different countries (Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria, and America – to give you a few examples), it makes for a jarring viewing experience for those who have not watched a movie done in this fashion before. That is because each performer acted in their own language (with it being shot like a silent film), dubbed later in post-production – meaning that the lips rarely match up to the speaker’s mouth. Despite the excessive language barriers on set and the unorthodox voice-to-lip mismatch, these two issues do not in any way spoil the powerful essence of the feature.
A marvellous example of an anti-hero, Eastwood’s character (his name may be Joe) is by no means a cookie-cutter role model. Thankfully, the film’s minuscule budget (an estimated two hundred thousand dollars) and complaints with the script had actors like Henry Fonda, Charles Bronson, Rory Calhoun and James Coburn (to name just a few) turn down the role – it was actually third choice Richard Harrison who pointed Leone in the direction of the television series Rawhide, where star Eric Fleming turned the part down, but suggested another member of the show (Eastwood), which opened the door for the actor, who brought a laconic, assured, acerbic and dryly humourous turn to the drifter character.
The story follows the chiselled, quick draw as he finds himself teetering between two rival gangs in the tiny, combative Mexican border town (it feels like a Hatfield and McCoy feud). The centre of the locale is, fittingly, the saloon. It is here that The Man with No Name meets a barkeep and his soon to be loyal friend Silvanito (José Calvo) – the cantina owner divulges the complex feud that plagues the diminutive town.
On the one side, the Rojo brothers, Don Miguel (Antonio Prieto), Esteban (Sieghardt Rupp) and Ramón (Gian Maria Volontè) deal with the illegal distribution of alcohol, while the other gang, the Baxter’s, are gunrunners – John Baxter (Wolfgang Lukschy) is also town sheriff, though his wife Consuelo (Margarita Lozano) is in many ways the head of the family. Ramón has built up quite the reputation, and Eastwood’s character is constantly hearing near mythic whispers that the gunman cannot be beat.
The Man with No Name decides to take on four of the Baxter’s to start, as they hassled him when he entered the town (known as the ‘get three coffins ready’ scene, it is one of the standout moments – perfectly capturing the movie’s unique mix of comedy and violence). Then entrenching himself with the Rojo brothers, he sneakily sells information to both sides (after he witnesses Ramón pulling a violent heist against a group of military men).
Further complicating things for the multi-faceted man, he sees that Ramón is infatuated with a striking woman named Marisol (Marianne Koch), which has led him to kidnap her, leaving her beloved husband and young son distraught – and in constant danger from the unscrupulous gang. The no named man is disgusted by the sight, and he adds it to his complicated to-do list.
Filling his pockets (or should I say fists) along the way, the man is nimbly able to convince both sides that he is their spying accomplice. But, with the stakes growing ever higher between the gun slinging gangs, will our protagonist be able to continue the ruse, weakening their numbers by way of his clever game playing, or will he be discovered and fall into the vengeful hands of the criminals?
Featuring a highly original score from Ennio Morricone, it mashes together eerie whistles, bizarre chants, echoing background music and the sounds of the wild west to match the classic film with a fitting composition. Morricone’s work has become synonymous with the genre, immediately recognizable to both fans and newbies to the western.
With a complicated back story, A Fistful of Dollars was actually a remake of Akira Kurosawa’s 1961 classic Yojimbo, which was itself adapted from a 1929 Dashiell Hammett novel called “Red Harvest”. Just prior to its U.S. release, Kurosawa and writer/producer Ryûzô Kikushima sued Leone and his fellow filmmakers. Winning, they earned fifteen percent of the movie’s worldwide gross as well as Japanese, South Korean and Taiwanese distribution rights. Funnily enough, Kurosawa later said that he earned more from this than he did from the release of his own film.
A Fistful of Dollars, the first leading role for Clint Eastwood, is a classic western that, despite being more than fifty years old, does not look at all dusty. Packed with stylistic visuals, memorable moments, a superb score and a career starting performance from Eastwood, it will surely have you whistling during and long after the film comes to an end. So, make sure to invest your time and money by watching, or re-watching this memorable motion picture; it’s certainly worth a fistful of dollars.