A Fistful of Dollars

For this month, I will be dedicating it to another set of Westerns, but this time it will be ones that star Clint Eastwood. Let’s kick it off with the first of Sergio Leone’s “Dollars” Trilogy, “A Fistful of Dollars,” released in 1964.

This film was a remake of Kurosawa’s 1961 classic, “Yojimbo,” and was an Italian made Western, filmed in Spain, which started the trilogy of the so-called Spaghetti Westerns. Clint Eastwood plays “The Man With No Name,” the first of the three films made with the same theme.

Eastwood was on TV in the “Rawhide” series and took the opportunity to fly to Europe to make these films when both James Coburn and then Charles Brosnon were offered the role by director Sergio Leone, but wanted more than the $15,000 offered. The films became popular in Europe when Eastwood became a huge actor, and three years later, United Artists bought all three of the “Dollars Trilogy” and showed them with great success in U.S.A.

The film has no message, but where violence is shown by the hero being as unethical as the villains. This type of behavior changed the way Westerns were made. It’s an entertaining film, violence and everything, its only problems being the poor dubbing and Leone didn’t perfect all his moves in a clear way. Dennis Schwartz said in his review, “Yet this film, not as rewarding as his others in this series, still has the style of the director's later works, plus the same themes of graphic violence, a laconic hero, and the thrill of gunfights galore.”

Eastwood arrives in the dusty Mexican border town of San Miguel, where visitors don’t arrive without wanting something illegal. An old bell-ringer tells the visitor that in this town, people either get rich or die. Eastwood, while riding on his mule, is shot at by the gunmen of the Baxter clan. He soon is told by the bartender Silvanito, played by Pepe Calvo, that there are two gangs in town fighting: the Baxters and the Rojos. They control the gun-fighting and liquor business, and are at a disagreement. The Baxters include: Sheriff John Baxter (Wolfgang Lukschy), his smart business-minded wife Consuela (Margarita Lozano) and their dumb son Antonio (Bruno Cartenuto). The enemies are the Rojo brothers: Ramon (Gian Maria Volenté), Esteban (Sieghardt Rupp) and Benito (Antonio Prieto). The most trusted gunman of the crew is Chico (Brega). Both parties have many guns, but the Rojo family is the stronger family. Eastwood decides he’s smart enough to play them off one against the other, and try to get as much of the money he can from both families. He hires himself out with the Rojos, and to earn the money he kills the gunmen who shot at him. Schwartz noted, “Clint chomps at the end of his cigar without smoking it, says little, wears a Mexican poncho, and is always with his trusted .45s.” He makes an impressive person, as he’s tall, bearded, and intimidating.

Eastwood sees the possibility of the money coming his way when he sees Ramon Rojo and his brothers kill a Mexican cavalry unit for their gold. He steals two cavalry corpses and tells each family to look out for one another, and thereby makes them start a shooting war. This ends up with lots of corpses for the coffin maker in town. Schwartz noted, “But this scene was shot in a shoddy way, as it was hard to comprehend that the two gangs were so stupid that they would so easily believe that the stiffs they were fighting over were real.”

Eastwood does a good thing by rescuing the beautiful Marisol, played by Koch, who is being held prisoner by Ramon. He kills the Rojo gunmen guarding her and she’s free to go back to her son and husband. For this, he gets tortured by Ramon, but escapes to witness the Rojo brothers burn down the Baxter house and kill everyone. Then, Eastwood returns to get involved in a shootout with the Rojos, saving Ramon for last. Finally, he rides off with the money, instead of with the pretty girl.

In this Western, there’s some humor behind all the staged violence and there’s also a passable Ennio Morricone’s score to increase the type of melodrama. What makes this Western film famous is that is gives a historical purpose as the start of a new way in making Westerns with heroes are not always that good.

This movie is a classic that everyone should check out. If you haven’t seen it yet, go out and see it, as it is a must, especially if you’re a fan of Westerns or Eastwood. Definitely don’t skip this one.

Stay tuned next week for the next in the “Dollars Trilogy” in “Clint Eastwood Western Month.”