He takes two of the dead bodies to a nearby cemetery and sells information to each of the two groups, saying that two Mexican soldiers survived the attack. The Stranger seizes an opportunity when he sees the Rojos massacre a detachment of Mexican soldiers who were escorting a chest of gold (which they had planned to exchange for a shipment of new rifles).

He demonstrates his speed and accuracy with his gun, to both sides, by shooting with ease four men, including the three who insulted him as he entered the town. The Stranger (in order to make money) decides to play these families against each other. Silvanito, the town's innkeeper, tells the Stranger about a feud between two smuggler families vying to gain control of the town: the Rojo brothers (Don Miguel, Esteban & Ramón), and the family comprising the town sheriff John Baxter, his matriarchal wife Consuelo, and their son Antonio. A Fistful of Dollars was shot in Spain, mostly near Hoyo de Manzanares close to Madrid, but also (like its two sequels) in the Tabernas Desert and in the Cabo de Gata-Níjar Natural Park, both in the province of Almería.Īn unnamed stranger arrives at the little town of San Miguel, on the Mexico–United States border. These included Leone himself ('Bob Robertson'), Gian Maria Volonté ('Johnny Wels'), and composer Ennio Morricone ('Dan Savio'). The film has been identified as an unofficial remake of the Akira Kurosawa film Yojimbo (1961), which resulted in a successful lawsuit by Toho, Yojimbo 's production company.Īs few Spaghetti Westerns had yet been released in the United States, many of the European cast and crew took on American-sounding stage names. All three films were later released in sequence in the United States in 1967, catapulting Eastwood into stardom. Collectively, the films are known as the ' Dollars Trilogy', or the ' Man with No Name Trilogy' after the United Artists publicity campaign referred to Eastwood's character in all three films as the 'Man with No Name'. It was followed by For a Few Dollars More and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, also starring Eastwood. Released in Italy in 1964 and then in the United States in 1967, it initiated the popularity of the Spaghetti Western genre. The film, an international co-production between Italy, West Germany, and Spain, was filmed on a low budget (reported to be $200,000), and Eastwood was paid $15,000 for his role. A Fistful of Dollars ( Italian: Per un pugno di dollari, lit.'For a Fistful of Dollars' titled on-screen as Fistful of Dollars) is a 1964 Spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood in his first leading role, alongside Gian Maria Volonté, Marianne Koch, Wolfgang Lukschy, Sieghardt Rupp, José Calvo, Antonio Prieto, and Joseph Egger.

A Fistful of Dollars by Frank Chandler