A Fistful of Dollars
Movie, 1964, Named by the studio, Set in First in the trilogy
A Fistful of Dollars is #4 of 48 in release order and #31 of 48 in chronological order in the Spiritual Trilogies.
The story
The Man With No Name enters the Mexican village of San Miguel in the midst of a power struggle among the three Rojo brothers and sheriff John Baxter. When a regiment of Mexican soldiers bearing gold intended to pay for new weapons is waylaid by the Rojo brothers, the stranger inserts himself into the middle of the long-simmering battle, selling false information to both sides for his own benefit.
A Fistful of Dollars recap
A nameless drifter, called Joe by the undertaker, rides into the Mexican border town of San Miguel, which is split between two smuggling families, the Rojos and the Baxters. After shooting four Baxter men who mocked him, he hires on with the Rojos, then sells information to both sides. When Ramon Rojo massacres a troop of Mexican soldiers to steal their gold, the stranger props two of the dead in a cemetery so each gang believes the other has a witness, and the families fight it out. He then frees Marisol, a woman Ramon keeps as a prisoner, and sends her away with her husband and son. The Rojos catch him, beat him badly, and burn out the Baxters while he crawls away to hide in a mine, nursing his hands. This is the first of Sergio Leone's Dollars Trilogy, three films with Clint Eastwood as a laconic gunman in a poncho, scored by Ennio Morricone.
A Fistful of Dollars ending explained
The stranger returns and kills Ramon and the rest of the Rojos. When the Rojos string up the innkeeper Silvanito, the stranger walks out through dynamite smoke. Ramon, who boasts that a rifle shot to the heart always kills, keeps hitting him in the chest, and he keeps standing up: he is wearing a steel plate under his poncho. He shoots the rifle out of Ramon's hand and challenges him to reload faster than he can, then kills him. Silvanito shoots the last Rojo, and the stranger rides out of town.
Post-credits scenes
No. There is no post-credits scene.
Where to watch A Fistful of Dollars
A Fistful of Dollars is streaming on fuboTV, Philo, MGM Plus, and YouTube (free) in the US. You can rent or buy it on Amazon, Apple TV, and Google Play.
Ratings
IMDb 7.9/10, Rotten Tomatoes 98%
Where it fits
- Release order: after L'Eclisse, before Repulsion.
- Chronological order: after Burn After Reading, before For a Few Dollars More.
Cast
- Clint Eastwood as Joe
- Marianne Koch as Marisol
- Gian Maria Volonté as Ramón Rojo
- Wolfgang Lukschy as John Baxter
- Sieghardt Rupp as Esteban Rojo
- Joseph Egger as Piripero
- Antonio Prieto as Don Benito Rojo / Don Miguel Rojo
- José Calvo as Silvanito
- Margarita Lozano as Consuelo Baxter
- Daniel Martín as Julián
- Benito Stefanelli as Rubio
- Mario Brega as Chico
Directed by Sergio Leone.