A Fistful of Dollars (1964)

The film that started it all the genre of spaghetti western was born, The Man with No Name was introduced and the iconic talents of star Clint Eastwood (The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, High Plains Drifter), director Sergio Leone (For a Few Dollars More, A Fistful of Dynamite) and composer Ennio Morricone (Navajo Joe, Death Rides a Horse) were launched. An instant international phenomenon, this hard-hitting epic stunned audiences with it's violence, gritty realism and tongue-in-cheek humor. A lean, cold-eyed, cobra-quick gunfighter (Eastwood) arrives in a grim and dusty border town where two rival bands of smugglers terrorize the impoverished citizens. Though he receives lucrative offers of employment from each gang, his loyalty cannot be bought. He accepts both jobs and sets in motion a deadly plan to destroy the criminals, pitting one against the other in a series of brilliantly orchestrated setups, showdowns and deadly confrontations. Co-starring Marianne Koch (Night People, The Devil's General) and Gian Maria Volonte (Face to Face, Lucky Luciano), A Fistful of Dollars is the western taken to the extreme.