For a Few Dollars More
Encyclopedia
For a Few Dollars More is a 1965 Italian
spaghetti western
film directed by Sergio Leone
and starring Clint Eastwood
, Lee Van Cleef
and Gian Maria Volonté
. German actor Klaus Kinski
also plays a supporting role as a secondary villain
. The film was released in the United States in 1967 and is the second part of what is commonly known as the Dollars Trilogy
.
(as the Man with No Name
) and Van Cleef
(as Colonel Douglas Mortimer and the "Man in Black") portray two bounty hunter
s in pursuit of "El Indio" (Gian Maria Volonté
), one of the most wanted fugitives in the western territories, and his gang (one of whom is played by Kinski). Indio is a ruthless, intelligent man. He has a musical pocketwatch that he plays before engaging in gun duels. "When the chimes finish, begin," he says. Flashbacks reveal that the watch originates from a young woman (Rosemary Dexter), who killed herself while being raped by Indio after he had found her with her lover (in Joe Millard's novelization of the film, the young man is her newly-wed husband) and killed him. The watch bears a photo of the woman and was presented as a gift by the young man before being killed.
Colonel Mortimer (Cleef) illegally stops a train in Tucumcari
, and soon after collects a bounty of $1,000 on Guy Calloway (José Terrón). Mortimer's gunslinging skill is displayed as he easily kills him from long distance. After collecting the bounty he inquires about Red "Baby" Cavanagh (José Marco), who has a $2,000 bounty, and was last seen in White Rocks
.
Mortimer is told that Cavanagh has already been targeted by Eastwood's character, who is referred to as "Manco" (meaning one-armed in Spanish
— see below for an explanation). We see Manco ride into town and track down Cavanagh at a saloon playing five-card draw
poker. Manco kills him and his men, and takes the bounty. Eventually, the two bounty hunters, after learning about each other from different sources, meet in El Paso
and, after butting heads, decide to team up to take down Indio and his gang.
Indio's primary goal is to rob the Bank of El Paso and its disguised safe containing "almost a million dollars." Mortimer persuades a reluctant Manco to join Indio's gang during the robbery in order to "get him between two fires." Manco is offered membership in the gang after rescuing one of Indio's friends from prison.
When Indio robs the bank, he brings the gang and the money to the small border town of Agua Caliente, where Mortimer reunites with Manco. The hunchback Wild (Klaus Kinski
) recognizes the Colonel from a previous encounter in which the Colonel had deliberately insulted him and forces a showdown in which he is killed by the Colonel. The Colonel then proves his worth to Indio by cracking open the safe without using explosives, but Indio states his intention to wait a month if necessary to allow the furor over the bank robbery to die down and locks the money away. Manco and the Colonel plan to steal the bank money from Indio, but the bandits catch them in the act and severely beat them. Indio's right-hand man Nino (Mario Brega
), on orders from Indio, kills their guard and releases the bounty hunters. Indio informs his gang that they "got away," and sends them after the escaped bounty hunters. He intends to kill off his gang with the bounty killers while he and Nino take all the loot for themselves. However, the smarter Groggy (Luigi Pistilli
) figures out what Indio is up to, and kills Nino. Before he can kill Indio, he finds that the Colonel has already removed the stolen money from where Indio had hidden it. Indio convinces Groggy to join forces with him to trap the bounty-killers.
The next morning, Manco and Mortimer shoot down the gang, one by one, in the streets of the town. Standing alone, Mortimer shoots Groggy when the outlaw tries to run for it, but then has his gun shot out of his hand by Indio, who then takes out his pocketwatch and begins playing it. As the chimes nears the end, Manco suddenly appears with an identical pocketwatch, playing the same tune as Indio's, which Mortimer realizes had been taken from him earlier. As this happens, Manco holds a Henry rifle
on Indio and gives his gunbelt and pistol to Mortimer, evening the odds. "Now we start," Manco announces and sits while Mortimer and Indio face off. During the standoff, Manco looks down at the pocketwatch and sees the same picture of the woman Indio had raped. The music finishes, and Mortimer outdraws and guns down Indio.
At this juncture, Mortimer takes Indio's pocketwatch. Manco gives him back the other watch and remarks on a family resemblance; the Colonel replies, "Naturally, between brother and sister," indicating that the young woman's portrait was that of Mortimer's sister. His revenge complete, he decides to take no part of the bounty. As Manco tosses Indio's body into a wagon with the corpses of the rest of the gang and counts them by the reward for each one, he realizes he is short of the $27,000 total, and spins around to gun down Groggy who had survived and was sneaking up behind him to kill him. As he leaves, he recovers the money stolen from the Bank of El Paso, though it is not clear whether he intends to return it. He then rides off into the distance with his horse towing the wagon full of the lifeless bodies of the entire gang.
in Italy, director Sergio Leone
and his new producer, Alberto Grimaldi
, wanted to begin production of a sequel, but they needed to get Clint Eastwood to agree to star in it. Eastwood was not ready to commit to a second film when he had not even seen the first. Quickly, the filmmakers rushed an Italian-language print (a U.S. version did not yet exist) of Per un pugno di Dollari to him. The star then gathered a group of friends for a debut screening at CBS Production Center and, not knowing what to expect, tried to keep expectations low by downplaying the film. As the reels unspool, however, Eastwood's concerns proved to be unfounded. The audience may not have understood Italian, but in terms of style and action, the film spoke volumes. "Everybody enjoyed it just as much as if it had been in English", Eastwood recalled. Soon, he was on the phone with the filmmakers' representative: "Yeah, I'll work for that director again," he said. Charles Bronson
was again approached for a starring role but he passed, citing that the sequel's script was like the first film. Instead, Lee Van Cleef accepted the role. Eastwood received $50,000 for returning in the sequel, while Van Cleef received $17,000.
The film was shot in Almería
, Spain
, with interiors done at Rome's
Cinecittà
Studios.
The production designer, Carlo Simi
built the town of "El Paso" in the Almería
desert: it still exists, as a tourist attraction Mini Hollywood
. The town of Agua Caliente, where Indio and his gang flee after the bank robbery, is Albaricoques, a small "pueblo blanco" on the Nijar
plain.
As all of the film's footage was shot silent, Eastwood and Van Cleef returned to Italy where they dubbed over their dialogue and sound effects were added.
In the original Italian version, Eastwood's character's sobriquet is "Monco", the Italian equivalent of the word "manco". Thus in many written sources, the Man with No Name is called Monco, due to the Italian form. In any case, the English-dubbed voices of the film's characters seemingly pronounce "Manco" when they refer to him.
, is a ruthless character, considered by the authorities in the film to be one of the worst criminals of the times; according to a bank official "Not even Indio would dare to rob that one." In a flashback sequence it is revealed that he shot a young man (Peter Lee Lawrence
) and raped his wife (Rosemary Dexter). The girl shot herself in the process. The girl was the sister of Van Cleef's character. El Indio smokes what seems to be marijuana
or opium
to ease the intensity of the memory. In the film El Indio has a gang of fourteen men who rob the bank in El Paso
. The act of killing Mortimer's sister distresses him to an ascertainable degree, as it lingers in his memory profoundly; notable in most Sergio Leone films as there being antagonistic or authoritarian characters having psychological or physical disabilities.
composed the film's soundtrack as he did for A Fistful of Dollars: before production had started, under Leone's explicit direction. In fact Leone often shot to Morricone's music on set. In the United States, Hugo Montenegro
released a cover version
as did Leroy Holmes
who released a cover version
of the soundtrack album
with the original American poster art. Maurizio Graf sang a vocal "Occhio Per Occhio"/"Eye For An Eye" to the music of the cue "Sixty Seconds to What" track that did not appear in the film but was released as a tie-in
45rpm record.
The rock band Year Long Disaster
has recorded a song called "Per qualche dollaro in più". However, it is unknown how large the connection with it is.
British band Babe Ruth
famously covered the main theme as part of their song The Mexican
.
The theme "La resa dei conti" was used as a ringtone for Vertu
phones.
The film currently holds a 92% rating on Rottentomatoes.com
Cinema of Italy
The history of Italian cinema began just a few months after the Lumière brothers had patented their Cinematographe, when Pope Leo XIII was filmed for a few seconds in the act of blessing the camera.-Early years:...
spaghetti western
Spaghetti Western
Spaghetti Western, also known as Italo-Western, is a nickname for a broad sub-genre of Western films that emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's unique and much copied film-making style and international box-office success, so named by American critics because most were produced and...
film directed by Sergio Leone
Sergio Leone
Sergio Leone was an Italian film director, producer and screenwriter most associated with the "Spaghetti Western" genre.Leone's film-making style includes juxtaposing extreme close-up shots with lengthy long shots...
and starring Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood
Clinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide...
, Lee Van Cleef
Lee Van Cleef
Lee Van Cleef was an American film actor who appeared mostly in Western and action pictures. His sharp features and piercing eyes led to his being cast as a villain in scores of films such as High Noon, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance and The Good The Bad and the Ugly.-Early life:Van Cleef was...
and Gian Maria Volonté
Gian Maria Volontè
Gian Maria Volonté was an Italian actor. He is perhaps most famous outside of Italy for his roles as the main villain in Sergio Leone's A Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More.-Early life:Volonté was born in Milan, and graduated in Rome in 1957...
. German actor Klaus Kinski
Klaus Kinski
Klaus Kinski, born Klaus Günter Karl Nakszynski , was a German actor. He appeared in more than 130 films, and is perhaps best-remembered as a leading role actor in Werner Herzog films: Aguirre, the Wrath of God , Nosferatu the Vampyre , Woyzeck , Fitzcarraldo and Cobra Verde .-Early...
also plays a supporting role as a secondary villain
Villain
A villain is an "evil" character in a story, whether a historical narrative or, especially, a work of fiction. The villain usually is the antagonist, the character who tends to have a negative effect on other characters...
. The film was released in the United States in 1967 and is the second part of what is commonly known as the Dollars Trilogy
Dollars Trilogy
The "Dollars Trilogy" , 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 , For a Few Dollars More , and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly .A Fistful of Dollars is an unofficial remake of...
.
Plot
EastwoodClint Eastwood
Clinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide...
(as the Man with No Name
Man with No Name
The man with no name is a stock character in Western films, but the term usually applies specifically to the character played by Clint Eastwood in Sergio Leone's "Dollars Trilogy."...
) and Van Cleef
Lee Van Cleef
Lee Van Cleef was an American film actor who appeared mostly in Western and action pictures. His sharp features and piercing eyes led to his being cast as a villain in scores of films such as High Noon, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance and The Good The Bad and the Ugly.-Early life:Van Cleef was...
(as Colonel Douglas Mortimer and the "Man in Black") portray two bounty hunter
Bounty hunter
A bounty hunter captures fugitives for a monetary reward . Other names, mainly used in the United States, include bail enforcement agent and fugitive recovery agent.-Laws in the U.S.:...
s in pursuit of "El Indio" (Gian Maria Volonté
Gian Maria Volontè
Gian Maria Volonté was an Italian actor. He is perhaps most famous outside of Italy for his roles as the main villain in Sergio Leone's A Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More.-Early life:Volonté was born in Milan, and graduated in Rome in 1957...
), one of the most wanted fugitives in the western territories, and his gang (one of whom is played by Kinski). Indio is a ruthless, intelligent man. He has a musical pocketwatch that he plays before engaging in gun duels. "When the chimes finish, begin," he says. Flashbacks reveal that the watch originates from a young woman (Rosemary Dexter), who killed herself while being raped by Indio after he had found her with her lover (in Joe Millard's novelization of the film, the young man is her newly-wed husband) and killed him. The watch bears a photo of the woman and was presented as a gift by the young man before being killed.
Colonel Mortimer (Cleef) illegally stops a train in Tucumcari
Tucumcari, New Mexico
Tucumcari is a city in and the county seat of Quay County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 5,989 at the 2000 census. Tucumcari was founded in 1901, two years before Quay County was founded.-History:...
, and soon after collects a bounty of $1,000 on Guy Calloway (José Terrón). Mortimer's gunslinging skill is displayed as he easily kills him from long distance. After collecting the bounty he inquires about Red "Baby" Cavanagh (José Marco), who has a $2,000 bounty, and was last seen in White Rocks
White Rock, New Mexico
White Rock is a census-designated place in Los Alamos County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 6,045 at the 2000 census. It is largely a bedroom community for employees of Los Alamos National Laboratory and their families...
.
Mortimer is told that Cavanagh has already been targeted by Eastwood's character, who is referred to as "Manco" (meaning one-armed in Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
— see below for an explanation). We see Manco ride into town and track down Cavanagh at a saloon playing five-card draw
Five-card draw
Five-card draw is a poker variant that is the simplest and often the first variant learned by most players. It is common in home games but rare in casino and tournament play...
poker. Manco kills him and his men, and takes the bounty. Eventually, the two bounty hunters, after learning about each other from different sources, meet in El Paso
El Paso, Texas
El Paso, is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States, and lies in far West Texas. In the 2010 census, the city had a population of 649,121. It is the sixth largest city in Texas and the 19th largest city in the United States...
and, after butting heads, decide to team up to take down Indio and his gang.
Indio's primary goal is to rob the Bank of El Paso and its disguised safe containing "almost a million dollars." Mortimer persuades a reluctant Manco to join Indio's gang during the robbery in order to "get him between two fires." Manco is offered membership in the gang after rescuing one of Indio's friends from prison.
When Indio robs the bank, he brings the gang and the money to the small border town of Agua Caliente, where Mortimer reunites with Manco. The hunchback Wild (Klaus Kinski
Klaus Kinski
Klaus Kinski, born Klaus Günter Karl Nakszynski , was a German actor. He appeared in more than 130 films, and is perhaps best-remembered as a leading role actor in Werner Herzog films: Aguirre, the Wrath of God , Nosferatu the Vampyre , Woyzeck , Fitzcarraldo and Cobra Verde .-Early...
) recognizes the Colonel from a previous encounter in which the Colonel had deliberately insulted him and forces a showdown in which he is killed by the Colonel. The Colonel then proves his worth to Indio by cracking open the safe without using explosives, but Indio states his intention to wait a month if necessary to allow the furor over the bank robbery to die down and locks the money away. Manco and the Colonel plan to steal the bank money from Indio, but the bandits catch them in the act and severely beat them. Indio's right-hand man Nino (Mario Brega
Mario Brega
Mario Brega was an Italian actor. His heavy build meant that he regularly portrayed a thug in his films particularly earlier in his career in westerns. Later in his career however, he featured in numerous Italian comedy films. Brega stood at and well over at his heaviest but after the 1960s...
), on orders from Indio, kills their guard and releases the bounty hunters. Indio informs his gang that they "got away," and sends them after the escaped bounty hunters. He intends to kill off his gang with the bounty killers while he and Nino take all the loot for themselves. However, the smarter Groggy (Luigi Pistilli
Luigi Pistilli
Luigi Pistilli was an Italian actor of stage, screen, and television. In theater, he was considered one of the country's best interpreters of Bertolt Brecht's plays in The Threepenny Opera and St Joan of the Stockyards....
) figures out what Indio is up to, and kills Nino. Before he can kill Indio, he finds that the Colonel has already removed the stolen money from where Indio had hidden it. Indio convinces Groggy to join forces with him to trap the bounty-killers.
The next morning, Manco and Mortimer shoot down the gang, one by one, in the streets of the town. Standing alone, Mortimer shoots Groggy when the outlaw tries to run for it, but then has his gun shot out of his hand by Indio, who then takes out his pocketwatch and begins playing it. As the chimes nears the end, Manco suddenly appears with an identical pocketwatch, playing the same tune as Indio's, which Mortimer realizes had been taken from him earlier. As this happens, Manco holds a Henry rifle
Henry rifle
The Henry repeating rifle was a lever-action, breech-loading, tubular magazine rifle.-History:The original Henry rifle was a .44 caliber rimfire, lever-action, breech-loading rifle designed by Benjamin Tyler Henry in the late 1850s. The Henry rifle was an improved version of the earlier Volcanic...
on Indio and gives his gunbelt and pistol to Mortimer, evening the odds. "Now we start," Manco announces and sits while Mortimer and Indio face off. During the standoff, Manco looks down at the pocketwatch and sees the same picture of the woman Indio had raped. The music finishes, and Mortimer outdraws and guns down Indio.
At this juncture, Mortimer takes Indio's pocketwatch. Manco gives him back the other watch and remarks on a family resemblance; the Colonel replies, "Naturally, between brother and sister," indicating that the young woman's portrait was that of Mortimer's sister. His revenge complete, he decides to take no part of the bounty. As Manco tosses Indio's body into a wagon with the corpses of the rest of the gang and counts them by the reward for each one, he realizes he is short of the $27,000 total, and spins around to gun down Groggy who had survived and was sneaking up behind him to kill him. As he leaves, he recovers the money stolen from the Bank of El Paso, though it is not clear whether he intends to return it. He then rides off into the distance with his horse towing the wagon full of the lifeless bodies of the entire gang.
Leads
- Clint EastwoodClint EastwoodClinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide...
as Manco (the "Man with No NameMan with No NameThe man with no name is a stock character in Western films, but the term usually applies specifically to the character played by Clint Eastwood in Sergio Leone's "Dollars Trilogy."...
") - Lee Van CleefLee Van CleefLee Van Cleef was an American film actor who appeared mostly in Western and action pictures. His sharp features and piercing eyes led to his being cast as a villain in scores of films such as High Noon, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance and The Good The Bad and the Ugly.-Early life:Van Cleef was...
as Colonel Douglas Mortimer - Gian Maria VolontéGian Maria VolontèGian Maria Volonté was an Italian actor. He is perhaps most famous outside of Italy for his roles as the main villain in Sergio Leone's A Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More.-Early life:Volonté was born in Milan, and graduated in Rome in 1957...
as El Indio ("The Indian")
Gang members
- Mario BregaMario BregaMario Brega was an Italian actor. His heavy build meant that he regularly portrayed a thug in his films particularly earlier in his career in westerns. Later in his career however, he featured in numerous Italian comedy films. Brega stood at and well over at his heaviest but after the 1960s...
as Niño, member of Indio's gang - Luigi PistilliLuigi PistilliLuigi Pistilli was an Italian actor of stage, screen, and television. In theater, he was considered one of the country's best interpreters of Bertolt Brecht's plays in The Threepenny Opera and St Joan of the Stockyards....
as Groggy, member of Indio's gang - Aldo SambrellAldo SambrellAlfredo Sanchez Brell , known as Aldo Sambrell, was a Spanish film actor, director and producer who made over 150 appearances in film between 1961 and 1996....
as Cuchillio, member of Indio's gang - Klaus KinskiKlaus KinskiKlaus Kinski, born Klaus Günter Karl Nakszynski , was a German actor. He appeared in more than 130 films, and is perhaps best-remembered as a leading role actor in Werner Herzog films: Aguirre, the Wrath of God , Nosferatu the Vampyre , Woyzeck , Fitzcarraldo and Cobra Verde .-Early...
as Wild, the hunchback, member of Indio's gang - Benito StefanelliBenito StefanelliBenito Stefanelli was an Italian film actor and stuntman who made over 60 appearances in film between 1955 and 1991....
as Hughie (aka Luke), member of Indio's gang - Luis Rodríguez as Manuel, member of Indio's gang
- Panos PapadopulosPanos Papadopulos-Selected filmography:* Der rote Kreis * Tiger of Bengal * For a Few Dollars More * Fedora * Ich bin dein Killer...
as Sancho Perez, member of Indio's gang - Werner AbrolatWerner AbrolatWerner Abrolat was a German actor best known for his role as various characters in the West German crime-drama television series Tatort....
as Slim, Member of Indio's gang (uncredited) - Eduardo García as Fausto, member of Indio's Gang (uncredited)
- Enrique Santiago as Miguel, member of Indio's gang (uncredited)
- Antonio Molino RojoAntonio Molino RojoAntonio Molino Rojo , was a Spanish film actor who appeared primarily in Spaghetti westerns in the 1960s and 1970s....
as Frisco, member of Indio's gang (uncredited) - Frank BranaFrank BrañaFrank Braña is a Spanish film actor.Also credited as Frank Blank, Francisco Brana, Frank Brana, Frank Branya, Francisco Braña or Paco Braña, his career has been mostly based in Spanish and Italian movies of the spaghetti-western, horror and sword and sandal genres, having worked in more than 200...
as Blackie, member of Indio's gang (uncredited) - José Canalejas as Chico, member of Indio's gang (uncredited)
- Nazzareno Natale as Paco, member of Indio's gang (uncredited)
Other characters
- Dante MaggioDante MaggioDante Maggio was an Italian film actor. He appeared in 115 films between 1940 and 1975.-Selected filmography:* Un giorno nella vita * Canzone di primavera * Bellezze in bicicletta...
as Carpenter in cell with El Indio - Diana Rabito as Calloway's girl in tub
- Giovanni Tarallo as Santa Cruz telegraphist
- Joseph EggerJoseph EggerJoseph Egger was an Austrian character actor of western films. Besides acting he was a well-known music hall comedian, and he was famous for doing "tricks" with his beard....
as Old Prophet - Lorenzo RobledoLorenzo RobledoLorenzo Robledo was a Spanish film actor, who made over 85 appearances in film between 1956 and 1982. He is a familiar face in Italian westerns appearing in a total of 32 Spaghetti Western films throughout the 1960s and early 1970s.Robledo is probably best known in world cinema for his roles in...
as Tomaso, El Indio's traitor - Mara Krupp as Mary, hotel manager's wife
- Mario Meniconi as Train conductor
- Roberto Camardiel as Station clerk
- Sergio MendizábalSergio MendizábalSergio Mendizábal is a retired Spanish film actor who made over 100 appearances in film between 1955 and 1996.-Selected filmography:* The Art of Living * The Anchorite * Akelarre...
as Tucumcari's bank manager - Tomás Blanco as Tucumcari's sheriff
- Rosemary Dexter as Mortimer's Sister (uncredited)
- Peter Lee LawrencePeter Lee LawrencePeter Lee Lawrence born Karl Hirenbach, , was a German actor. He enjoyed brief fame as a prolific leading man of Spaghetti Westerns before dying at the age of 29....
as Mortimer's Brother-in-Law (uncredited)
Production
After the box-office success of A Fistful of DollarsA Fistful of Dollars
A Fistful of Dollars is a 1964 Italian Spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood alongside Gian Maria Volonté, Marianne Koch, Wolfgang Lukschy, Sieghardt Rupp, José Calvo, Antonio Prieto, and Joseph Egger. Released in Italy in 1964 then in the United States in...
in Italy, director Sergio Leone
Sergio Leone
Sergio Leone was an Italian film director, producer and screenwriter most associated with the "Spaghetti Western" genre.Leone's film-making style includes juxtaposing extreme close-up shots with lengthy long shots...
and his new producer, Alberto Grimaldi
Alberto Grimaldi
Alberto Grimaldi is an Italian film producer.He was born in Naples. He is credited with producing some of the most famous films in film history including "For A Few Dollars More" in 1965, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly in 1966, Last Tango in Paris in 1972 and Gangs of New York in...
, wanted to begin production of a sequel, but they needed to get Clint Eastwood to agree to star in it. Eastwood was not ready to commit to a second film when he had not even seen the first. Quickly, the filmmakers rushed an Italian-language print (a U.S. version did not yet exist) of Per un pugno di Dollari to him. The star then gathered a group of friends for a debut screening at CBS Production Center and, not knowing what to expect, tried to keep expectations low by downplaying the film. As the reels unspool, however, Eastwood's concerns proved to be unfounded. The audience may not have understood Italian, but in terms of style and action, the film spoke volumes. "Everybody enjoyed it just as much as if it had been in English", Eastwood recalled. Soon, he was on the phone with the filmmakers' representative: "Yeah, I'll work for that director again," he said. Charles Bronson
Charles Bronson
Charles Bronson , born Charles Dennis Buchinsky was an American actor, best-known for such films as Once Upon a Time in the West, The Magnificent Seven, The Dirty Dozen, The Great Escape, Rider on the Rain, The Mechanic, and the popular Death Wish series...
was again approached for a starring role but he passed, citing that the sequel's script was like the first film. Instead, Lee Van Cleef accepted the role. Eastwood received $50,000 for returning in the sequel, while Van Cleef received $17,000.
The film was shot in Almería
Almería
Almería is a city in Andalusia, Spain, on the Mediterranean Sea. It is the capital of the province of the same name.-Toponym:Tradition says that the name Almería stems from the Arabic المرية Al-Mariyya: "The Mirror", comparing it to "The Mirror of the Sea"...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, with interiors done at Rome's
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
Cinecittà
Cinecittà
Cinecittà is a large film studio in Rome that is considered the hub of Italian cinema.-History:The studios were founded in 1937 by Benito Mussolini and his head of cinema Luigi Freddi for propaganda purposes, under the slogan "Il cinema è l'arma più forte"...
Studios.
The production designer, Carlo Simi
Carlo Simi
Carlo Simi was an Italian architect, production designer and costume designer, who worked frequently with Sergio Leone and Sergio Corbucci, giving their spaghetti westerns a unique look...
built the town of "El Paso" in the Almería
Almería
Almería is a city in Andalusia, Spain, on the Mediterranean Sea. It is the capital of the province of the same name.-Toponym:Tradition says that the name Almería stems from the Arabic المرية Al-Mariyya: "The Mirror", comparing it to "The Mirror of the Sea"...
desert: it still exists, as a tourist attraction Mini Hollywood
Mini Hollywood
Mini Hollywood or Oasys is a Spanish Western-styled theme park, located off the 364km mark of the N-340 road, near the town of Tabernas in the province of Almería, Andalusia. Originally known as Yucca City, the set was designed by Carlo Simi and built for Sergio Leone's For a Few Dollars More in...
. The town of Agua Caliente, where Indio and his gang flee after the bank robbery, is Albaricoques, a small "pueblo blanco" on the Nijar
Níjar
-External links: - Sistema de Información Multiterritorial de Andalucía - Diputación Provincial de Almería...
plain.
As all of the film's footage was shot silent, Eastwood and Van Cleef returned to Italy where they dubbed over their dialogue and sound effects were added.
Manco
In the English-dubbed version of the film, Eastwood's character is said to "go by the name of 'Manco.'" "Manco" is a Portuguese/Spanish word that means "one-armed" and "lame of one hand" in Spanish and "hand cripple" in Portuguese (Portugal), but "limp" in Brazil; Eastwood's character performs nearly all actions using only his left hand, to leave free his right hand, with which he draws. His behavior thus bears a joking resemblance to that of a one-armed man.In the original Italian version, Eastwood's character's sobriquet is "Monco", the Italian equivalent of the word "manco". Thus in many written sources, the Man with No Name is called Monco, due to the Italian form. In any case, the English-dubbed voices of the film's characters seemingly pronounce "Manco" when they refer to him.
El Indio
El Indio (Spanish for "The Indian"), played by Gian Maria VolontéGian Maria Volontè
Gian Maria Volonté was an Italian actor. He is perhaps most famous outside of Italy for his roles as the main villain in Sergio Leone's A Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More.-Early life:Volonté was born in Milan, and graduated in Rome in 1957...
, is a ruthless character, considered by the authorities in the film to be one of the worst criminals of the times; according to a bank official "Not even Indio would dare to rob that one." In a flashback sequence it is revealed that he shot a young man (Peter Lee Lawrence
Peter Lee Lawrence
Peter Lee Lawrence born Karl Hirenbach, , was a German actor. He enjoyed brief fame as a prolific leading man of Spaghetti Westerns before dying at the age of 29....
) and raped his wife (Rosemary Dexter). The girl shot herself in the process. The girl was the sister of Van Cleef's character. El Indio smokes what seems to be marijuana
Cannabis (drug)
Cannabis, also known as marijuana among many other names, refers to any number of preparations of the Cannabis plant intended for use as a psychoactive drug or for medicinal purposes. The English term marijuana comes from the Mexican Spanish word marihuana...
or opium
Opium
Opium is the dried latex obtained from the opium poppy . Opium contains up to 12% morphine, an alkaloid, which is frequently processed chemically to produce heroin for the illegal drug trade. The latex also includes codeine and non-narcotic alkaloids such as papaverine, thebaine and noscapine...
to ease the intensity of the memory. In the film El Indio has a gang of fourteen men who rob the bank in El Paso
El Paso
El Paso, a city in the U.S. state of Texas, on the border with Mexico.El Paso may also refer to:-Geography:Colombia:* El Paso, CesarSpain:*El Paso, Santa Cruz de TenerifeUnited States:...
. The act of killing Mortimer's sister distresses him to an ascertainable degree, as it lingers in his memory profoundly; notable in most Sergio Leone films as there being antagonistic or authoritarian characters having psychological or physical disabilities.
Colonel Douglas Mortimer
Colonel Douglas Mortimer is a rival bounty hunter, though he is much older than Eastwood's character: "almost fifty years of age." Manco, Clint Eastwood's character, travels to visit a man known as "The Prophet" early in the movie to find out all he can about his rival. "The Prophet" explains Colonel Douglas Mortimer to have "once been a great man, a soldier" and "the finest shot in the Carolinas. Now he's reduced to being a bounty killer same as you." At the bank in Tucumcari, Mortimer explains to a bank manager he was from the Carolinas. The bank manager is encouraged by Mortimer's presence, giving the indication Mortimer has a large amount of money elsewhere which the bank of Tucumcari would be glad to accept. Unlike Manco, Mortimer's motivation throughout the movie is not the bounty over El Indio and his gang, but vengeance for the death of Mortimer's sister many years before, who killed herself while being raped by Indio. During an encounter with El Indio in the movie, Mortimer exclaims, "This is Colonel Mortimer, Douglas Mortimer. Does the name mean anything to you?" Having seen the death of Indio, Mortimer leaves all of the bounty to be collected by Manco at the end of the movie. Mortimer says to Manco, after being questioned by Manco about the bounty, "It's all for you, I think you deserve it." Mortimer rides off alone at the end, as his purposes were then completed.Music
Ennio MorriconeEnnio Morricone
Ennio Morricone, Grand Officer OMRI, , is an Italian composer and conductor, who wrote music to more than 500 motion pictures and television series, in a career lasting over 50 years. His scores have been included in over 20 award-winning films as well as several symphonic and choral pieces...
composed the film's soundtrack as he did for A Fistful of Dollars: before production had started, under Leone's explicit direction. In fact Leone often shot to Morricone's music on set. In the United States, Hugo Montenegro
Hugo Montenegro
Hugo Montenegro was an American orchestra leader and composer of film soundtracks. His best known work is derived from interpretations of the music from Spaghetti westerns, especially his cover version of the main theme from the 1966 film The Good, the Bad and the Ugly...
released a cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
as did Leroy Holmes
LeRoy Holmes
LeRoy Holmes was an American songwriter, composer, arranger and conductor....
who released a cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of the soundtrack album
Soundtrack album
A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television program. In some cases, not all the tracks from the movie are included in the album; however there are rare cases of songs in the trailers that do not appear in...
with the original American poster art. Maurizio Graf sang a vocal "Occhio Per Occhio"/"Eye For An Eye" to the music of the cue "Sixty Seconds to What" track that did not appear in the film but was released as a tie-in
Tie-in
A tie-in is an authorized product based on a media property a company is releasing, such as a movie or video/DVD, computer game, video game, television program/television series, board game, web site, role-playing game or literary property...
45rpm record.
The rock band Year Long Disaster
Year Long Disaster
Year Long Disaster is a Stoner rock band from Los Angeles, California.-History:The band had its beginnings in 2003 when guitarist and singer Daniel Davies met bassist Rich Mullins of Karma to Burn in a Hollywood grocery store; at the time Mullins was having drug problems and was homeless...
has recorded a song called "Per qualche dollaro in più". However, it is unknown how large the connection with it is.
British band Babe Ruth
Babe Ruth (band)
Babe Ruth are a rock music group, primarily active through the 1970s, from Hatfield, Hertfordshire, England. Their characteristically 'heavy' sound is marked by powerful vocals from Janita Haan and full arrangements by Alan Shacklock...
famously covered the main theme as part of their song The Mexican
The Mexican (song)
"The Mexican" is a piece of music on the album First Base by the 1970s British band Babe Ruth.The song is based on the whistling from the music soundtrack by Ennio Morricone for the film For a Few Dollars More...
.
The theme "La resa dei conti" was used as a ringtone for Vertu
Vertú
Vertú is a jazz fusion band consisting of bassist Stanley Clarke and drummer Lenny White , keyboardist Rachel Z, violinist Karen Briggs and guitarist Richie Kotzen. The band released one eponymous album in 1999....
phones.
Release
The film was released in Italy in December 1965 as Per Qualche Dollaro in Piu. In the United States, it debuted four months after the release to A Fistful of Dollars, grossing $5 million.The film currently holds a 92% rating on Rottentomatoes.com
External links
- For a Few Dollars More at the Spaghetti Western Database