A Fistful of Dollars (1964)

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

Director:

Sergio Leone (as Bob Robertson)

Writers:

Adriano Bolzoni (story) (as A. Bonzzoni), Mark Lowell (dialogue)

Stars:

Clint Eastwood, Gian Maria Volontè, Marianne Koch

1 win & 3 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Clint Eastwood	...	Joe
Marianne Koch	...	Marisol
Gian Maria Volontè	...	Ramón Rojo (as John Wells) (as Johnny Wels)
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 / Don Miguel Rojo
José Calvo	...	Silvanito (as Jose Calvo)
Margarita Lozano	...	Consuelo Baxter (as Margherita Lozano)
Daniel Martín	...	Julián (as Daniel Martin)
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)

Storyline

An anonymous, but deadly man rides into a town torn by war between two factions, the Baxters and the Rojos. Instead of fleeing or dying, as most others would do, the man schemes to play the two sides off against each other, getting rich in the bargain.

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Plot Keywords:

yojimbo plot | arizona territory | new mexico territory | sonora mexico | chihuahua mexico | 

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Taglines:

A town where everyone is rich... or dead

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Western

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence

Did You Know?

Trivia

After considering Henry Fonda, writer and director Sergio Leone offered the role of the Man With No Name to James Coburn, who proved to be too expensive. Charles Bronson then turned it down after describing it as the "worst script I have ever seen." Third choice Richard Harrison also declined the role, but pointed Leone in the direction of Rawhide (1959). Leone then offered the part to "Rawhide" star Eric Fleming, who turned it down but suggested his co-star Clint Eastwood for the part. The rest, as they say, is history. Leone eventually worked with Henry Fonda and Charles Bronson in Once Upon a Time in the West (1968), and James Coburn in Duck You Sucker (1971).

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Goofs

When the Baxters and the Rojos are shooting at each other at the cemetery, Ramón Rojos runs over the tops of the rocks to get a better shot. As the Baxters fire at him, there is one bullet that hits the rocks under Ramón that had no sound of a rifle being fired nor any ricochet sound.

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Quotes

Marisol: Why are you doing this for us?
Joe: Because I knew someone like you once and there was no one there to help. Now, get moving.

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Alternate Versions

The original British theatrical release had about 4 minutes cut by the BBFC. Many closeup shots of bloodied faces and bodies (including the body of Chico) were removed, as well as a shot of Ramon dripping blood from his mouth. The main cuts however were to the beating up of Eastwood, which lost a hand stomping scene, and extensive cuts to the assault on the Baxters house which was cut to shorten the overall sequence by removing all shots of men on fire and the shooting of Consuela Baxter (the cut version removes the shot of her falling backwards). The 1999 MGM video and DVD releases are fully uncut and the same as the USA DVD release.

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Connections

Referenced in Watching the Detectives (2007)

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Soundtracks

Sweet Betsy from Pike
(uncredited)
Written by John A. Stone
Performed by Clint Eastwood

User Reviews

A western classic and the movie that launched the careers of Sergio Leone and Clint Eastwood.

'A Fistful Of Dollars' is a wonderful movie which, despite having an enormous following of fans around the world, sometimes gets unfairly dismissed in my opinion. For two reasons - firstly because the second and third movie in Leone/Eastwood "Man With No Name" trilogy ('For A Few Dollars More' and 'The Good, The Bad and The Ugly') are so damn good it's easy to overlook this one. Despite being made on a much tighter budget and being less ambitious than the sequels to follow, it's still one of the greatest westerns ever made in my opinion. The second reason is the Yojimbo thing. Now movie buffs frequently slam 'A Fistful Of Dollars' as being a rip off of Kurosawa's 'Yojimbo', which I think is extremely misleading. I'm not disputing that Leone was familiar with Kurosawa (I have no idea one way or the other), but one name I rarely hear ANYONE mention is Dashiel Hammett. Hammett's hard boiled crime classic 'Red Harvest' was published THIRTY YEARS before 'Yojimbo' and features the same central premise of an anti-hero playing two rival groups off against each other. So if anyone deserves acknowledgement as uncredited inspiration for Leone (AND Kurosawa) it's Hammett. Anyway, this is an absolutely brilliant movie and it launched Clint Eastwood, a popular TV actor, into being a major movie star, and likewise put Sergio Leone on the map. I can't recommend 'A Fistful Of Dollars' highly enough, it's pure entertainment, and very, very cool!

Details

Country:

Italy Spain West Germany

Language:

Italian Spanish

Release Date:

18 January 1967 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Fistful of Dollars

Filming Locations:

Aldea del Fresno, Madrid, Spain

Box Office

Budget:

$200,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$14,500,000

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$14,516,248

Company Credits

Production Co:

Jolly Film, Constantin Film, Ocean Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1