A Fistful of Dollars is a
1964The year 1964 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 29 - The film Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb is released....
ItalianThe history of Italian cinema began just a few months after the Lumière brothers had patented their Cinematographe, when Pope Leo XIII was filmed for a few seconds in the act of blessing the camera.-Early years:...
Spaghetti WesternSpaghetti Western, also known as Italo-Western, is a nickname for a broad sub-genre of Western films that emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's unique and much copied film-making style and international box-office success, so named by American critics because most were produced and...
film directed by
Sergio LeoneSergio Leone was an Italian film director, producer and screenwriter most associated with the "Spaghetti Western" genre.Leone's film-making style includes juxtaposing extreme close-up shots with lengthy long shots...
and starring
Clint EastwoodClinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide...
alongside
Gian Maria VolontéGian Maria Volonté was an Italian actor. He is perhaps most famous outside of Italy for his roles as the main villain in Sergio Leone's A Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More.-Early life:Volonté was born in Milan, and graduated in Rome in 1957...
,
Marianne KochMarianne Koch is a retired German actress of the 1950s and 1960s, best known for her appearances in spaghetti westerns and adventure films of the 1960s. She later worked as a television host and as a physician....
,
Wolfgang LukschyWolfgang Lukschy was a German actor and dubber. He performed in theater, film and television.He made over 75 film and TV appearances between 1940 and 1979...
,
Sieghardt RuppSieghardt Rupp is an Austrian actor who has performed in film and television and later theatre....
,
José CalvoJosé Calvo was a Spanish film actor best known for his roles in western films or historical dramas.He made around 150 appearances mostly in films between 1952 and his death in 1980. He entered film in 1952 and was prolific as an actor throughout the 1950s and 1960s...
, Antonio Prieto, and
Joseph EggerJoseph Egger was an Austrian character actor of western films. Besides acting he was a well-known music hall comedian, and he was famous for doing "tricks" with his beard....
. Released in
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
in 1964 then in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in
1967The year 1967 in film involved some significant events. It is widely considered as one of the most ground-breaking years in film.-Events:* December 26 - The Beatles Magical Mystery Tour airs on British television....
, it initiated the popularity of the Spaghetti Western film genre. It was followed by
For a Few Dollars MoreFor a Few Dollars More is a 1965 Italian spaghetti western film directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef and Gian Maria Volonté. German actor Klaus Kinski also plays a supporting role as a secondary villain...
(
1965The year 1965 in film involved some significant events, with The Sound of Music topping the U.S. box office.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :Academy Awards:...
) and
The Good, the Bad and the UglyThe Good, the Bad and the Ugly is a 1966 Italian epic spaghetti western film directed by Sergio Leone, starring Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, and Eli Wallach in the title roles. The screenplay was written by Age & Scarpelli, Luciano Vincenzoni and Leone, based on a story by Vincenzoni and Leone...
(
1966The year 1966 in film involved some significant events.-Events:Animation legend Walter Disney, well known for his creation of Mickey Mouse, died in 15 December 1966 of acute circulatory collapse following a diagnosis of, and surgery for, lung cancer...
), also starring Eastwood. Collectively, the films are commonly known as the "
Dollars TrilogyThe "Dollars Trilogy" , also known as the "Man with No Name Trilogy", refers to the three Spaghetti Westerns starring Clint Eastwood and directed by Sergio Leone: A Fistful of Dollars , For a Few Dollars More , and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly .A Fistful of Dollars is an unofficial remake of...
" or "The Man With No Name Trilogy". This film is an unofficial remake of the
Akira Kurosawawas a Japanese film director, producer, screenwriter and editor. Regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema, Kurosawa directed 30 filmsIn 1946, Kurosawa co-directed, with Hideo Sekigawa and Kajiro Yamamoto, the feature Those Who Make Tomorrow ;...
film
Yojimbo (
1961The year 1961 in film involved some significant events, with West Side Story winning 10 Academy Awards.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :Academy Awards:* Atlantis, the Lost ContinentB...
), which itself drew inspiration from earlier Westerns. In the United States, the
United ArtistsUnited Artists Corporation is an American film studio. The original studio of that name was founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charles Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks....
publicity campaign referred to Eastwood's character in all three films as the "
Man with No NameThe man with no name is a stock character in Western films, but the term usually applies specifically to the character played by Clint Eastwood in Sergio Leone's "Dollars Trilogy."...
".
As one of the first Spaghetti Westerns to be released in the United States, many of the European cast and crew took on American sounding stage names. These included Leone himself ("Bob Robertson"),
Gian Maria VolontéGian Maria Volonté was an Italian actor. He is perhaps most famous outside of Italy for his roles as the main villain in Sergio Leone's A Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More.-Early life:Volonté was born in Milan, and graduated in Rome in 1957...
("Johnny Wels"), and composer
Ennio MorriconeEnnio Morricone, Grand Officer OMRI, , is an Italian composer and conductor, who wrote music to more than 500 motion pictures and television series, in a career lasting over 50 years. His scores have been included in over 20 award-winning films as well as several symphonic and choral pieces...
("Dan Savio").
A Fistful of Dollars was shot in
SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, mostly near Hoyo de Manzanares close to
MadridMadrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, but also (like its two sequels) in the
Cabo de Gata-Níjar Natural ParkCabo de Gata-Níjar Natural Park is a natural park in Andalusia, Spain, near the city of Almería. It is the largest terrestrial-maritime reserve in the European Western Mediterranean Sea, covering 460 km² including the town of Carboneras, the mountain range of Sierra de Cabo de Gata, and...
in
Almería-History:The rich customs and Fiestas of the denizens retain links deep into the past, unto the Moors, the Romans, the Greeks, and the Phoenicians.During the taifa era, it was ruled by the Moor Banu al-Amiri from 1012 to 1038, briefly annexed by Valencia , then given by Zaragoza to the Banu Sumadih...
province.
Plot
A stranger arrives at the little Mexican border town of San Miguel. An innkeeper, Silvanito, tells the Stranger about the bitter feud between two families vying to gain control of the town: on the one side, the Rojo brothers, consisting of Don Miguel (the eldest and nominally in charge), Esteban (the most headstrong), and Ramón (the most capable and intelligent); on the other, the family of the town sheriff, John Baxter.
The Stranger, spying an opportunity to make money from the situation, decides to play both families against each other. His opportunity comes when a detachment of Mexican soldiers escorting a shipment of gold passes through the town. The gold is ostensibly being delivered to a troop of American soldiers in exchange for weapons, but following the Mexican troops out of town, the Stranger witnesses them being massacred by members of the Rojo gang, dressed in American uniforms and led by Ramon Rojo. The Rojos take the gold.
The Stranger takes two of the bodies to a nearby cemetery and sells information to both sides that two Mexican soldiers survived the attack. Both sides race to the cemetery, the Baxters to get the "survivors" to testify against the Rojos, the Rojos to silence them. The factions engage in a fierce gunfight, with Ramon managing to "kill" the "survivors" and Esteban capturing John Baxter's son, Antonio. While the Rojos and the Baxters are fighting, the Stranger searches the Rojo hacienda for the gold, but accidentally knocks out Ramón's beautiful prisoner and unwilling mistress, Marisol, when she surprises him. He takes her to the Baxters, who in turn arrange to return her to the Rojos in exchange for Antonio.
During the exchange, the Stranger learns Marisol's history from Silvanito: "... a happy little family until trouble comes along. And trouble is the name of Ramon, claiming the husband cheated at cards, which wasn't true. He gets the wife to live with him as hostage." That night, while the Rojos are celebrating, the Stranger rides out and frees Marisol, shooting the guards and wrecking the house in which she is being held in order to make it appear as if it was attacked by the Baxters. The Stranger tells Marisol, her husband, and their son to leave town, at the same time giving them some money to tide them over. Marisol asks the Stranger, "Why do you do this for us?", and for the first and only time the Stranger provides an insight into his actions: "Why? Because I knew someone like you once. There was no one there to help."
Discovering that he freed Marisol, the Rojos capture and beat the Stranger, but he escapes, killing Chico in the process. Believing the Stranger to be protected by the Baxters, the Rojos set fire to the Baxter home and massacre all the residents as they are forced to flee. Among the dead are John Baxter, his wife, Consuelo, and Antonio. Now the only gang left in San Miguel, the Rojos confront and beat Silvanito, whom they think is hiding the Stranger.
The Stranger returns to town, where he faces the Rojos in a dramatic showdown. With a steel chest plate hidden beneath his poncho, he taunts Ramon to "aim for the heart" as Ramon's rifle shots bounce off. Killing all present except Ramon, the Stranger challenges Ramon to reload his rifle faster than he, the Stranger, can reload his pistol. He then shoots and kills Ramon. Esteban Rojo, unseen by the Stranger and aiming at him from a nearby building, is shot dead by Silvanito. The Stranger says his goodbyes and rides from the town.
Cast
- Clint Eastwood
Clinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide...
as Joe, the foreigner ("The Man with No Name")
- Gian Maria Volonté
Gian Maria Volonté was an Italian actor. He is perhaps most famous outside of Italy for his roles as the main villain in Sergio Leone's A Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More.-Early life:Volonté was born in Milan, and graduated in Rome in 1957...
(as Johnny Wels) as Ramón Rojo
- Marianne Koch
Marianne Koch is a retired German actress of the 1950s and 1960s, best known for her appearances in spaghetti westerns and adventure films of the 1960s. She later worked as a television host and as a physician....
as Marisol
- José Calvo
José Calvo was a Spanish film actor best known for his roles in western films or historical dramas.He made around 150 appearances mostly in films between 1952 and his death in 1980. He entered film in 1952 and was prolific as an actor throughout the 1950s and 1960s...
(as Jose Calvo) as Silvanito, The Inn Keeper
- Joseph Egger
Joseph Egger was an Austrian character actor of western films. Besides acting he was a well-known music hall comedian, and he was famous for doing "tricks" with his beard....
(as Joe Edger) as Piripero, The Coffin Builder
- Antonio Prieto as Don Miguel Benito Rojo
- Sieghardt Rupp
Sieghardt Rupp is an Austrian actor who has performed in film and television and later theatre....
(as S. Rupp) as Esteban Rojo
- Wolfgang Lukschy
Wolfgang Lukschy was a German actor and dubber. He performed in theater, film and television.He made over 75 film and TV appearances between 1940 and 1979...
(as W. Lukschy) as Sheriff John Baxter
- Margarita Lozano
Margarita Lozano is a Spanish-born actress known for her career in Italian films. She has worked for Luis Buñuel in Viridiana, Sergio Leone in A Fistful of Dollars, Pier Paolo Pasolini in Pigsty, the Taviani brothers in La notte di San Lorenzo, Kaos and Good Morning Babylon; Nanni Moretti in La...
(as Margherita Lozano) as Donna Consuelo Baxter
- Bruno Carotenuto (as Carol Brown) as Antonio Baxter
- Daniel Martín
Daniel Martín Alexandre, commonly known as Dani , is a Spanish footballer who plays for CD Atlético Baleares as a striker.-Club career:...
as Julián
- Mario Brega
Mario Brega was an Italian actor. His heavy build meant that he regularly portrayed a thug in his films particularly earlier in his career in westerns. Later in his career however, he featured in numerous Italian comedy films. Brega stood at and well over at his heaviest but after the 1960s...
(as Richard Stuyvesant) as Chico, Rojo Gang Member
- Benito Stefanelli
Benito Stefanelli was an Italian film actor and stuntman who made over 60 appearances in film between 1955 and 1991....
(as Benny Reeves) as Rubio, Ramon's Rifleman
- Aldo Sambrell
Alfredo Sanchez Brell , known as Aldo Sambrell, was a Spanish film actor, director and producer who made over 150 appearances in film between 1961 and 1996....
(as Aldo Sambreli) as Manolo, Rojo Gang Member
- Lorenzo Robledo
Lorenzo Robledo was a Spanish film actor, who made over 85 appearances in film between 1956 and 1982. He is a familiar face in Italian westerns appearing in a total of 32 Spaghetti Western films throughout the 1960s and early 1970s.Robledo is probably best known in world cinema for his roles in...
: Baxter's member
Production
A Fistful of Dollars was at first intended by Leone to reinvent the western genre in Italy. In his opinion, the American westerns of the mid to late 1950s had become stagnant, overly-preachy and unbelievable, and, because of this, Hollywood began to gear down production of such films. Leone knew that there was still a significant market in Europe for westerns yet also realised that Italian audiences of the time were beginning to laugh at the stock conventions of both the American westerns and pastiche work of Italian directors hiding under pseudonyms. His approach was to take the grammar of the Italian film and transpose it into a western setting.
Eastwood was not the first actor approached to play the main character. Originally, Sergio Leone intended
Henry FondaHenry Jaynes Fonda was an American film and stage actor.Fonda made his mark early as a Broadway actor. He also appeared in 1938 in plays performed in White Plains, New York, with Joan Tompkins...
to play the "Man with No Name". However, the production company could not afford to engage a major Hollywood star. Next, Leone offered
Charles BronsonCharles Bronson , born Charles Dennis Buchinsky was an American actor, best-known for such films as Once Upon a Time in the West, The Magnificent Seven, The Dirty Dozen, The Great Escape, Rider on the Rain, The Mechanic, and the popular Death Wish series...
the part. He too declined the role, arguing that the script was bad. Both Fonda and Bronson would later star in Leone's
Once Upon a Time in the WestOnce Upon a Time in the West is a 1968 Italian epic spaghetti western film directed by Sergio Leone for Paramount Pictures. It stars Henry Fonda cast against type as the villain, Charles Bronson as his nemesis, Jason Robards as a bandit, and Claudia Cardinale as a newly widowed homesteader with a...
(
1968The year 1968 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* October 30 - The film The Lion in Winter, starring Katharine Hepburn, debuts.* November 1 - The MPAA's film rating system is introduced.-Top grossing films :- Awards :...
). Other actors who turned the role down were
Henry Silva,
Rory CalhounRory Calhoun was an American television and film actor, screenwriter and producer, best known for his roles in Westerns.-Early life:...
,
Tony RusselTony Russel is a former film, stage, and television actor. He is noted for having worked extensively in the Italian film industry in the mid-1960s, and for his work as a voice actor where he was the founder and president of the English Language Dubbers Association in Italy...
,
Richard HarrisonRichard Harrison is an American B-movie actor and occasionally a writer/director/producer.Harrison was very prolific and worked with most of the better-known names in European B-movies during the 1960s and 1970s, branching out to exploitation films shot all over the world in the early 1970s...
,
Steve ReevesStephen L. Reeves was an American bodybuilder and actor. At the peak of his career, he was the highest-paid actor in Europe.-Childhood:...
,
Ty HardinTy Hardin, born Orison Whipple Hungerford, Jr., is a former American actor best known as the star of the 1950s ABC western television series Bronco.-Early life:...
, and
James CoburnJames Harrison Coburn III was an American film and television actor. Coburn appeared in nearly 70 films and made over 100 television appearances during his 45-year career, and played a wide range of roles and won an Academy Award for his supporting role as Glen Whitehouse in Affliction.A capable,...
. Leone then turned his attention to
Richard HarrisonRichard Harrison is an American B-movie actor and occasionally a writer/director/producer.Harrison was very prolific and worked with most of the better-known names in European B-movies during the 1960s and 1970s, branching out to exploitation films shot all over the world in the early 1970s...
, who had recently starred in the very first Italian western, Gunfight at Red Sands (Duello nel Texas). Harrison, however, had not been impressed with his experience on his previous film, and refused. The producers later established a list of available, lesser-known American actors, and asked Harrison for advice. Harrison suggested Eastwood, whom he knew could play a cowboy convincingly. Harrison later stated, "Maybe my greatest contribution to cinema was not doing Fistful of Dollars, and recommending Clint for the part." Eastwood later spoke about the transition from a television western to A Fistful of Dollars: "In Rawhide I did get awfully tired of playing the conventional white hat. The hero who kisses old ladies and dogs and was kind to everybody. I decided it was time to be an anti-hero."
Eastwood was instrumental in creating the Man with No Name's distinctive visual style. He bought the black jeans from a sport shop on
Hollywood Boulevard-Revitalization:In recent years successful efforts have been made at cleaning up Hollywood Blvd., as the street had gained a reputation for crime and seediness. Central to these efforts was the construction of the Hollywood and Highland shopping center and adjacent Kodak Theatre in 2001...
, the hat came from a
Santa MonicaSanta Mônica is a town and municipality in the state of Paraná in the Southern Region of Brazil.-References:...
wardrobe firm, and the trademark black cigars came from a Beverly Hills store. He also brought props from Rawhide including a Cobra-handled Colt, a gunbelt, and spurs. The poncho was discovered in Spain. It was Leone and costume designer Carlo Simi that decided on the Spanish poncho for Man with No Name. On the anniversary DVD for The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, it was said that while Eastwood himself is a non-smoker, he felt that the foul taste of the cigar in his mouth put him in the right frame of mind for his character.
Leone reportedly took to Eastwood's distinctive style quickly, and commented that "I like Clint Eastwood because he has only two facial expressions: one with the hat, and one without it."
Because A Fistful of Dollars was an Italian/German/Spanish co-production, there was a significant language barrier on the set. Leone did not speak English, and Eastwood communicated with the Italian cast and crew mostly through stuntman
Benito StefanelliBenito Stefanelli was an Italian film actor and stuntman who made over 60 appearances in film between 1955 and 1991....
, who also acted as an unofficial interpreter for the production and would later appear in Leone's other pictures. Similar to other Italian films shot at the time, all footage was filmed silent and the dialogue and sound effects was dubbed over in post-production.
A Fistful of Dollars became the first film to exhibit Leone's famously distinctive style of visual direction. This was influenced by both
John FordJohn Ford was an American film director. He was famous for both his westerns such as Stagecoach, The Searchers, and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, and adaptations of such classic 20th-century American novels as The Grapes of Wrath...
's cinematic landscaping and the Japanese method of distension, perfected by
Akira Kurosawawas a Japanese film director, producer, screenwriter and editor. Regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema, Kurosawa directed 30 filmsIn 1946, Kurosawa co-directed, with Hideo Sekigawa and Kajiro Yamamoto, the feature Those Who Make Tomorrow ;...
. Leone wanted an operatic feel to his western and so there are many examples of extreme close-ups on the faces of different characters that function like the arias in a traditional opera. They focus the attention on a single person and that countenance becomes both the landscape and dialogue of the scene. This is quite different from the Hollywood use of faces where the close-up was treated as a reaction shot, usually to a piece of dialogue that had just been spoken. Leone's close-ups are more akin to portraits, often lit with Renaissance-type lighting effects and are pieces of design in their own right.
When the film made its U.S. network television debut on "The ABC Sunday Night Movie" in February 1975, a new prologue was added in which an unidentified lawman or politician (played by
Harry Dean StantonHarry Dean Stanton is an American actor, musician, and singer. Stanton's career has spanned over fifty years, which has seen him star in such films as Paris, Texas, Kelly's Heroes, Dillinger, Alien, Repo Man, The Last Temptation of Christ, Wild at Heart, The Green Mile and The Pledge...
) orders "Joe" to get rid of the gangs of San Miguel in return for a pardon. Neither Eastwood nor Leone were involved in the shooting of this additional footage. A double with his face hidden and stock footage of Eastwood were used.
Monte HellmanMonte Hellman is an American film director, producer, and film editor.Hellman is among a group of directing talent mentored by Roger Corman, who produced several of the director's early films...
directed the new footage. This prologue is now available on the Special Edition released in 2005.
Music
The film's music was written by
Ennio MorriconeEnnio Morricone, Grand Officer OMRI, , is an Italian composer and conductor, who wrote music to more than 500 motion pictures and television series, in a career lasting over 50 years. His scores have been included in over 20 award-winning films as well as several symphonic and choral pieces...
, credited as Dan Savio. Morricone recalled Leone requesting him to write "
Dimitri TiomkinDimitri Zinovievich Tiomkin was a Russian-born Hollywood film score composer and conductor. He is considered "one of the giants of Hollywood movie music." Musically trained in Russia, he is best known for his westerns, "where his expansive, muscular style had its greatest impact." Tiomkin...
music" for the film. The trumpet theme is similar to Tiomkin's
El DegüelloEl Degüello is a bugle call, notable in the US for its use as a march by Mexican Army buglers during the 1836 Siege and Battle of the Alamo. "Toque a Degüello" was introduced to the Americas by the Spanish armies and was later adopted by the patriot armies fighting against them during the Spanish...
theme from
Rio BravoRio Bravo is a 1959 American Western film, directed by Howard Hawks. The script was written by Jules Furthman and Leigh Brackett, based on a short story by B.H. McCampbell...
(
1959The year 1959 in film involved some significant events, with Ben-Hur winning a record 11 Academy Awards.-Events:* The Three Stooges make their 190th and last short film, Sappy Bull Fighters....
) (that was called Un dollaro d'onore in Italy) while the opening title whistling music recalls Tiomkin's use of whistling in his
Gunfight at the O.K. CorralThe film was based on a real event which took place on October 26, 1881. It was directed by John Sturges and featuring a screenplay written by novelist Leon Uris, and the movie's supporting cast included Rhonda Fleming, John Ireland, Jo Van Fleet, Martin Milner, Dennis Hopper, Jack Elam, Lee Van...
(
1957The year 1957 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* October 21 - The movie Jailhouse Rock, starring Elvis Presley, opens.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue-Awards:...
). "Some of the music was written before the film, which is unusual. Leone's films were made like that because he wanted the music to be an important part of it, and he often kept the scenes longer simply because he didn't want the music to end. That's why the films are so slow - because of the music." Though not used in the completed film,
Peter TevisPeter Tevis , was an American folk singer best remembered for his work on the soundtracks of composer Ennio Morricone....
recorded lyrics to Morricone's theme for the film. As a movie tie-in to the American release,
United Artists RecordsUnited Artists Records was a record label founded by Max E. Youngstein of United Artists in 1957 initially to distribute records of its movie soundtracks, though it soon branched out into recording music of a number of different genres.-History:...
released a different set of lyrics to Morricone's theme called Lonesome One by Little Anthony and the Imperials.
Sources
Although the film was advertised in trailers as "the first film of its kind," the plot and the cinematography was based almost entirely, frame by frame, on Akira Kurosawa's film
Yojimbo (written by Kurosawa and Ryuzo Kikushima), and was the subject of a successful lawsuit by Yojimbos producers. Kurosawa remained insistent that he receive compensation. He wrote Leone: "It is a very fine film, but it is my film."
British critic Sir
Christopher FraylingSir Christopher John Frayling is a British educationalist and writer, known for his study of popular culture.-Biography:Frayling read history at Churchill College, Cambridge and gained a PhD in the study of Jean-Jacques Rousseau...
identifies three principal sources for A Fistful of Dollars:
Sergio Leone has cited these alternate sources in his defense. He claims a thematic debt, for both Fistful and Yojimbo, to Carlo Goldoni's Servant of Two Masters—the basic premise of the protagonist playing two camps off against each other. Leone asserted that this rooted the origination of Fistful/Yojimbo in European, and specifically Italian culture.
The Servant of Two Masters plot can also be seen in Dashiell Hammett's 1929 detective novel Red Harvest. The Continental Op hero of the novel is, significantly, a man without a name. Leone himself believed that Red Harvest, in turn, had influenced Yojimbo:
Leone also referenced numerous American Westerns in the film, most notably Shane (
1953The year 1953 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*September 16 — The Robe debuts as the first anamorphic, widescreen CinemaScope film.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :Academy Awards:A...
) and
My Darling ClementineMy Darling Clementine is a 1946 western movie. It was directed by John Ford, and based on the story of the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral between the Earp brothers and the Clanton gang. It features an ensemble cast including Henry Fonda, Victor Mature, Ward Bond, Walter Brennan, and others.The movie...
(
1946The year 1946 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*November 21 - William Wyler's The Best Years of Our Lives premieres in New York featuring an ensemble cast including Fredric March, Myrna Loy, Dana Andrews, Teresa Wright, and Harold Russell.*December 20 - Frank Capra's It's a...
).
Akira Kurosawa and Ryuzo Kikushima eventually won their lawsuit, and as a result received 15% of the film's worldwide gross and exclusive distribution rights for Japan, Taiwan and South Korea. Kurosawa said later he made more money from this project than he did from Yojimbo.
Release
A Fistful of Dollars was released in Italy in September 1964. Over the film's theatrical release, it grossed more than any other Italian film up to that point. Three years later, the film debuted in the United States in January 1967, where it grossed $4.5 million for the year. It eventually grossed $14.5 million in its American release.
Critical reception
The film was described as a phenomenal success in Italy and Europe by
The New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
soon after its debut in the United States.
Bosley CrowtherBosley Crowther was a journalist and author who was film critic for The New York Times for 27 years. His reviews and articles helped shape the careers of actors, directors and screenwriters, though his reviews, at times, were unnecessarily mean...
stated that nearly every Western cliche could be found in this "egregiously synthetic but engrossingly morbid, violent film." He went on to praise Eastwood's depiction of a half gangster half cowboy, and noted the plethora of violent spectacles as another distinction in the film.
External links