Directed by Sergio Leone Director Sergio Leone | Music by Ennio Morricone | |
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Produced by Arrigo Colombo (1)
Giorgia Papi (1)
Alberto Grimaldi (2–3) Starring Clint Eastwood
Lee Van Cleef (2–3)
Gian Maria Volontè (1–2)
Eli Wallach (3) Cinematography Massimo Dallamano (1–2)
Tonino Delli Colli (3) Edited by Roberto Cinquini (1)
Eugenio Alabiso (2–3)
Giorgio Serrallonga (2)
Nino Baragli (3) Characters Man with No Name, Tuco, Angel Eyes Production companies United Artists, Constantin Film Movies A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, The Good - the Bad and the U Cast Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, Eli Wallach, Gian Maria Volontè, Mario Brega | ||
Dollars trilogy themes
The Dollars Trilogy (Italian: Trilogia del dollaro), also known as the Man with No Name Trilogy, is a film series consisting of three Spaghetti Western films directed by Sergio Leone. The films are titled A Fistful of Dollars (1964), For a Few Dollars More (1965) and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966). They were distributed by United Artists.
Contents
The series has become known for establishing the Spaghetti Western genre, and inspiring the creation of many more Spaghetti Western films. The three films are consistently listed among the best rated Western films of all time.
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" (portrayed by Clint 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.
The man with no name dollars trilogy
Development
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.
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is considered a prequel, 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.
Cast
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 Volontè, 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."
Music
Composer Ennio Morricone provided original music score for all three films, although in A Fistful of Dollars he was credited as "Dan Savio."
Home media
The 1999 DVD, plus the 2010 and 2014 Blu-ray box set releases by MGM, make specific reference to the set of films as "The Man With No Name Trilogy."