SERGIO LEONE

Bil’s rating (out of 5):  BBB

Original story:  Per Un Pugno Di Dollari

Italy/Spain/West Germany, 1964.  Constantin Film, Jolly Film, Ocean Films.  Story by Adriano Bolzoni, Victor Andres Catena, Sergio Leone, Screenplay by Victor Andres Catena, Jaime Comas Gil, Sergio Leone.  Cinematography by Massimo Dallamano, Federico G. Larraya.  Produced by Arrigo Colombo, Giorgio Papi.  Music by Ennio Morricone.  Production Design by Carlo Simi.  Costume Design by Carlo Simi.  Film Editing by Roberto Cinquini, Alfonso Santacana.  

Since Akira Kurosawa was inspired by American westerns to write and direct Yojimbo, it’s no surprise that this English-language remake of it fits the genre so well.   Clint Eastwood stars in the role originated by Toshiro Mifune as the Man With No Name, a lonesome plains drifter who enters a dusty Western town and finds that it is divided between two bickering families. He sees the opportunity to strike it rich when he decides to play both sides against each other, a trick that ends up in full-out war and him in the middle. Ennio Morricone’s marvelous musical score is the stuff that all spaghetti westerns would henceforth try to live up to.