The Man with No Name Trilogy: A Fistful of Dollars (1964)

Today I decided to watch the first movie in a series of classic spaghetti westerns. The Man with No Name trilogy, sometimes also called the Dollars trilogy, star Clint Eastwood as The Man with No Name. The first movie in the set is A Fistful of Dollars. Directed by Sergio Leone, it reinvigorated the western genre in the 60's and gave Clint Eastwood one of his first big movie roles. Read my thoughts after the jump.


I should first come clean that I'm not the biggest fan of the western genre. That could be in part because I haven't seen many, but I think it's also because I've been of the opinion that westerns were cheesy, ham acted messes. Apparently a lot of people thought that in the early 60's as well because it was around that time that the genre was drying up in Hollywood. Sergio Leone, however, saw a potential in the genre, and in 1964 released this great movie.

A Fistful of Dollars is about a lone man who wanders into a Mexican boarder town that is at war with itself. Two rival groups fight for control and money, killing anyone they want in the process. The Man with No Name decides to play them against each other in hopes of making some quick cash. Things aren't quite so simple however, as he finds out there is an innocent woman stuck in the middle.

A young Clint Eastwood totally sells the movie with his now trademark way of talking and calm, cool attitude. The shootouts are tense, with one having an interesting twist. Some of the shots he makes will either have you in awe of the stranger's gun talents, or struggling with your suspension of disbelief. I however was in the former category, finding myself totally buying that this man without a name was the quickest and most deadly gun in the land.

The Man with No Name

There are only 2 things that might hinder someone's ability to enjoy this western; the movie's very slow pace and the voice dubbing of nearly the entire cast other than Clint Eastwood. The movie was shot in Spain you see, so most of the cast weren't fluent in English. Or at least that's my guess. The dubbing is quite obvious throughout the whole movie, and could bother some. As for the pace of the movie, can't do much about it. It's clearly on purpose and simply the style the director was going for. Just don't watch it if you feel like napping.

Other than those two issues, I enjoyed the movie and would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a classic western or is a fan of Clint Eastwood. I'm looking forward to the next movie in the trilogy, For A Few Dollars More.