The Spagetti Westerns were the product of Italian director Sergio Leone.... "A Fistful of Dollars" , the first of the triology filmed in 1964 was not released in the United States until 1967. Not only did this movie revolutionize the "Western", it was also unique in the fact that the props (saddles/clothing/guns) were authentic to the period of time that the story was taking place....the "Good" guy wasn't always good...he was "human", but in comparison to the villians he was the hero by default.....and not because of his outstanding moral character.
The violence in these westerns was intense....the landscapes were harsh....the dialogue was minimum and the often discordant music by Ennio Morricone added to the suspense of the unusual camera angles. The Spagetti Westerns were a visual and audio experience unlike any other movies of the time.....critics didn't give these movies high marks but the American audiences were enthralled and Clint Eastwood, formerly known as "Rowdy Yates" on the old Rawhide TV series, became a super star almost overnight.....The Man With No Name.....
A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS.....1964
A cigarillo smoking stranger (Eastwood) rides into the Mexican border town of San Miguel....a town in which rival factions are battling for control......guess the rest......
The film cost $200,000 to produce....Clint received $15,000....
Clint was the only English speaking actor in the film and the actors spoke their lines in their native language and English was dubbed in later for the American release......
The poncho Clint wears went through all three 'Dollars' movies without replacement or cleaning......
Clint hated the nasty little cigarillos that he smoked in the movies.....
Charles Bronson and James Coburn were first approached to play the part of the Stranger.....
FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE....1965
This is the movie that establishes some of the main characters in the following film....Lee Van Cleef, Colonel Mortimer...and Eastwood, the Man With No Name are both bounty hunters...a bank robber, Indio is sprung from prison, killing his cellmate... which sets into action the "hunt" for Indio and the $10,000 bounty reward.....
Clint Eastwood's Man With No Name actually has a name in this movie...."Manco"...
This film was made for $600,000 of which Eastwood received $50,000, a percentage and a Ferrari.
THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY....1966
Set in the Civil War...The "Ugly" is Eli Wallach as Tuco....the "Bad" is Lee Van Cleef who portrays "Angel Eyes" and is a mercenary killer....the "Good" is Clint Eastwood referred to as "Blondie" who captures the escaped convict/killer, Tuco and turns him into the authorities for the reward....then just as Tuco is about to be hanged, Eastwood shoots the rope from around his neck, saves him and splits the money. This relationship continues until Eastwood decides there is no future in it and deserts Tuco about 70 miles from the nearest town....thus setting into action a revenge plan on Tuco's part, who teams up with Angel Eyes and so goes the story....
This film cost 1.2 million to film.....Eastwood received $250,000 and a percentage, that, with the $119,000 he got when Rawhide was cancelled at the end of seven years made him a very wealthy man. He formed his Malpaso Production Company and the rest is history.
Charles Bronson was offered the role of Tuco but was already involved in another movie, The Dirty Dozen, so the role went to Eli Wallach.
|
