Dollars Trilogy
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This article needs additional citations for verification. (August 2008) |
| Dollars Trilogy | |
|---|---|
 Eastwood as the Man with No Name. |
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| Directed by | Sergio Leone |
| Produced by | Arrigo Colombo Giorgia Papi |
| Written by | Sergio Leone Luciano Vincenzoni Fulvio Montella Víctor Andrés Catena A. Bonzzoni |
| Starring | Clint Eastwood Lee Van Cleef Gian Maria Volonté Eli Wallach |
| Music by | Ennio Morricone |
| Studio | United Artists |
| Distributed by | United Artists |
| Release date(s) | 1: 16 October 1964 2: 18 November 1965 3: 15 December 1966 |
| Running time | 1: 100 minutes 2: 132 minutes 3: 177 minutes Total: 409 minutes |
| Country | Italy (1, 2, 3) West Germany (1, 2) Spain (1, 2) |
| Language | English Italian |
| Budget | $2,000,000-$2,025,000 |
| Box office | $280,500,000 |
The Dollars Trilogy (Italian: Trilogia del dollaro), also known as the Man with No Name Trilogy, refers to the three Spaghetti Westerns starring Clint Eastwood and directed by Sergio Leone: A Fistful of Dollars (1964), For a Few Dollars More (1965), and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966).
Although it was not Leone's intention, the three movies came to be considered a trilogy following the exploits of the same so-called "Man with No Name" (Eastwood, wearing the same clothes and acting with the same mannerisms). The "Man with No Name" concept was invented by the American distributor United Artists, looking for a strong angle to sell the movies as a trilogy. Eastwood's character does indeed have a name - albeit a nickname - and a different one in each film: "Joe," "Manco," and "Blondie," respectively.
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Development [edit]
A Fistful of Dollars is an unofficial remake of Akira Kurosawa's 1961 film Yojimbo starring Toshiro Mifune, which resulted in a successful lawsuit by Toho.[1][2]
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is considered as a prequel by some,[who?] since it depicts Eastwood's character gradually acquiring the clothing he wears in the other two films and because it takes place during the American Civil War (1861–1865), whereas the other two films feature comparatively more modern firearms and other props, for example: Lee Van Cleef's character in For a Few Dollars More appears to be a Confederate veteran who has come down in the world, and a graveyard scene in A Fistful of Dollars features a gravestone dated 1873. Some[who?], however, believe the discrepancies to be nothing more than errors on the part of the filmmakers.[citation needed]
Cast [edit]
The only actors to appear in all three movies besides Eastwood are Mario Brega, Aldo Sambrell, Benito Stefanelli and Lorenzo Robledo. Four other actors each appear twice in the trilogy, playing different characters: Lee Van Cleef, Gian Maria Volonté, Luigi Pistilli, and Joseph Egger.
"I think [the Leone films] changed the style, the approach to Westerns [in Hollywood]. ... They made the violence and the shooting aspect a little more larger than life, and they had great music and new types of scores. ... They were stories that hadn't been used in other Westerns. They just had a look and a style that was a little different at the time: I don't think any of them was a classic story—like [John Wayne's 1956] The Searchers or something like that—they were more fragmented, episodic, following the central character through various little episodes."—Clint Eastwood reflecting on the impact of the films.[3]
Music [edit]
Composer Ennio Morricone provided original music score for all three films, although in A Fistful of Dollars he was credited as "Dan Savio."[citation needed]
Reception [edit]
Critical reception [edit]
| Film | Rotten Tomatoes | Metacritic |
|---|---|---|
| A Fistful of Dollars | 98% (43 reviews)[4] | N/A |
| For a Few Dollars More | 94% (34 reviews)[5] | N/A |
| The Good, the Bad and the Ugly | 97% (67 reviews) | 90 (7 reviews)[6] |
Box office performance [edit]
| Film | Release date | Revenue | Budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| A Fistful of Dollars | October 16, 1964 | $14,500,000 | $200,000-$225,000 |
| For a Few Dollars More | November 18, 1965 | $15,000,000[7] | $600,000 |
| The Good, the Bad and the Ugly | December 15, 1966 | $25,100,000[8] | $1.2 million[9] |
| Total | $ 54,600,000 | $2,000,000-$2,025,000 | |
Home media [edit]
Both the 1999 DVD and the 2010 Blu-ray box set releases, both by MGM, make specific reference to the set of films as "The Man With No Name Trilogy."[10][11]
References [edit]
- ^ "FISTFUL - The Whole Story, part 2 - The Spaghetti Western Database". Spaghetti-western.net. Retrieved 2012-06-03.
- ^ "Cinema this week: The greatest director of all time". When Falls the Coliseum. 2009-04-24. Retrieved 2012-06-03.
- ^ Eliot (2009), p.114-115
- ^ A Fistful of Dollars (Per un Pugno di Dollari) - Rotten Tomatoes
- ^ For a Few Dollars More (Per Qualche Dollaro in Più) - Rotten Tomatoes
- ^ The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (re-release) Reviews - Metacritic
- ^ "For a Few Dollars More, Box Office Information". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved January 22, 2013.
- ^ Boxofficemojo.com
- ^ "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Box Office Information". The Numbers. Retrieved April 16, 2012.
- ^ The Man with No Name Trilogy (DVD) (20 March 2008): "A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" (1967)
- ^ The Man with No Name Trilogy (Blu-ray) (1 June 2010): "A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" (1967)
Bibliography [edit]
- Eliot, Marc (2009). American Rebel: The Life of Clint Eastwood. Harmony Books. ISBN 978-0-307-33688-0.
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