Hammerman Ikon

Hammerman Ikon Film Guide

Per un pugno di dollari (A Fistful of Dollars)
1964
****
Director: Sergio Leone
Cast: Clint Eastwood, Gian Maria Volonté, Marianne Koch, José Calvo, Joseph Egger, Antonio Prieto

This Western remake of Akira Kurosawa's Yojimbo put Sergio Leone and Ennio Morricone on the map, and turned a little known TV actor called Clint Eastwood into a global movie star. He plays a Man with No Name, who arrives in a small town of San Miguel and decides to make some money by feigning allegiance to both of the town's feuding crime families. The Italian Spaghetti Westerns put a new spin on a tired genre, and although Leone's style feels fresh, it's still a work in progress at this stage. He perfected it in For a Few Dollars More and The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. These three loosely connected movies are known as the Dollars Trilogy.