A Fistful of Dollars (1964)

☆ ☆ ☆ ½

A Fistful of Dollars (1964) – S. Leone

I’ve watched Yojimbo (1961) many times but couldn’t remember whether I’d seen this film from Sergio Leone’s Man with No Name trilogy or not.  You can see why Kurosawa and co. successfully sued to get a part of the profits – Clint Eastwood effectively takes over the Toshiro Mifune character, albeit transplanted to the West (although Yojimbo clearly borrowed from the western genre too).  Of course, Eastwood brings his own unique iconography (lots of squinting) to the part just as Mifune had earlier (lots of scratching) – both were larger than life (and went on to play the same character in one or more sequels).  Leone uses the widescreen gloriously and the Spanish terrain is a good stand in for the Mexican setting.  The plot famously sees the Man/Samurai arriving in a lawless town and playing two rival gangs off against each other until both are dead and he can ride away with all of their money.  He’s tough, cool, and in some ways more moral than the rest.  The bad get what’s coming to them and the innocent and vulnerable are set free, all to the magnificent sounds of Ennio Morricone.  I still can’t remember if I’d seen this before (or one or both of its sequels), so there is something about the blur of characters here (aside from Eastwood, of course, and Gian Maria Volontè as Ramon) that makes it difficult to stick.  For my money, I prefer Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) or Akira Kurosawa, for that matter.  Still, you can’t deny the trailblazing effect of Leone’s trilogy and Eastwood’s dogged longevity.