Per un pugno di dollari (1964)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

Sergio Leone

Writers:

A. Bonzzoni (story) &
Víctor Andrés Catena (story) ...

Release Date:

18 January 1967 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Western

Tagline:

This short cigar belongs to a man with no name. This long gun belongs to a man with no name. This poncho belongs to a man with no name. He's going to trigger a whole new style in adventure.

Plot:

A wandering gunfighter plays two rival families against each other in a town torn apart by greed, pride, and revenge.

Plot Keywords:

Mexican | Cavalry | Blood | Horse | Mother Son Relationship

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Clint Eastwood	...	Joe
Marianne Koch	...	Marisol
Gian Maria Volontè	...	Ramón Rojo (as Johnny Wells)
Wolfgang Lukschy	...	John Baxter (as W. Lukschy)
Sieghardt Rupp	...	Esteban Rojo (as S. Rupp)
Joseph Egger	...	Piripero (as Joe Edger)
Antonio Prieto	...	Don Benito Rojo
José Calvo	...	Silvanito (as Jose Calvo)
Margarita Lozano	...	Consuelo Baxter (as Margherita Lozano)
Daniel Martín	...	Julián
Benito Stefanelli	...	Rubio (as Benny Reeves)
Mario Brega	...	Chico (as Richard Stuyvesant)
Bruno Carotenuto	...	Antonio Baxter (as Carol Brown)
Aldo Sambrell	...	Rojo gang member (as Aldo Sambreli)

Also Known As:

A Fistful of Dollars (USA)
Für eine Handvoll Dollar (West Germany)
Il magnifico straniero (Italy) (working title)
Nur einer bleibt zurück (West Germany) (working title)
Por un puñado de dólares (Spain)

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

Italy | Spain | West Germany

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | Finland:K-16 (cut) (1967) | Finland:K-16 (re-rating) (cut) (1977) | Singapore:PG | Brazil:14 | South Korea:15 | UK:X (original rating) | Australia:MA (re-rating) (2004) | Australia:R (original rating) | Canada:G (Quebec) (re-rating) (2003) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | Ireland:15 | Netherlands:12 | Norway:16 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 (video rating) (1986) | UK:AA (re-rating) (1981) | USA:M (original rating) | USA:R (re-rating) (1993) | Canada:13+ (Quebec) (original rating) | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Almería, Andalucía, Spain

Company:

Constantin Film Produktion

Trivia:

Filmed in 1964, but not released in the US until 1967.

Goofs:

Continuity: In his first real gunfight of the film, The Man With No Name manages to kill four opponents with four bullets, while his weapon is aimed at a spot about ten feet to the right of three of them.

Quotes:

[last lines]
Joe: Mmh. Well, guess your government will be glad to see that gold back.
Silvanito: And you? You don't want to be here when they get it, eh?
Joe: You mean the Mexican goverment on one side? Maybe the Americans on the other side? Me right smack in the middle? Uhn-hn. Too dangerous. So long.
Silvanito: Adios.

Movie Connections:

Remade as Sukiyaki Western Django (2007)

One of the best westerns in the world!

Yesterday I had a wonderful chance to see "Per un pugno di dollari /A Fistful of Dollars" on a movie theater where it clearly belongs. For me as a fanatic Eastwood fan it truly was a bliss to view Clint's legendary breakthrough film and a mother of all spaghetti westerns on a big screen and to marvel Sergio Leone's astonishing directing! Rundown houses, dusty streets, shabby clothes and faces with lots of stubble and dirt are just something you have to watch as large as it's only possible. All that filth doesn't belong in a small television. Morricone's fantastic score makes the experience stunning.

I have to remind that this flick made Eastwood what he is today. Without it there wouldn't be no "Dirty Harry", "High plains drifter", "Unforgiven", "True Crime" or even "Every which way but loose". It's funny to state that although western is naturally an American genre, at least three of the best ones are made in Europe. Any of you who still don't know what I'm talking about, I mean Leone's Dollars trilogy. As it's said, "A Fistful of Dollars" is the first motion picture of it's kind. It is and it looks like a pretty cheap production but it became one of the most memorable westerns ever. I'm not revealing anything significant if I say that the undertaker got what he wanted the most: work.

Clint's character is just magnificent: he's witty, smart and dangerous and he doesn't take s**t from anybody, not even from guys who "insult his mule". Eastwood is the kind of a hero I love and look up to. Even though this is something I would definitely call a perfect western (10 out of 10) best was yet to come in the shape of "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly". No disrespect to Kurosawa but this beats "Yojimbo" anytime. "Aim for the heart or you'll never stop me..."