A Fistful of Dollars

With A Fistful of Dollars, the genre of “spaghetti western” was born, “The Man with No Name” was introduced and the iconic talents of star Clint Eastwood, director Sergio Leone and composer Ennio Morricone were launched. An instant international phenomenon, this hard-hitting epic stunned audiences with its violence, gritty realism and tongue-in-cheek humor. A lean, cold-eyed, cobra-quick gunfighter (Eastwood) arrives in a grim and dusty border town where two rival bands of smugglers terrorize the impoverished citizens. Though he receives lucrative offers of employment from each gang, his loyalty cannot be bought. He accepts both jobs…and sets in motion a deadly plan to destroy the criminals, pitting one against the other in a series of brilliantly orchestrated setups, showdowns and deadly confrontations. A thrill-packed remake of Akira Kurosawa’s classic Yojimbo, A Fistful of Dollars is the western taken to the extreme. (Dir. by Sergio Leone, 1964, Italy/USA, in English, 99 mins., Rated R)