The Good, the Bad and the Ugly in the context of "Man with No Name"

A Fistful of Dollars (Italian: Per un pugno di dollari, "For a Fistful of Dollars") is a 1964 spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood in his first leading role, alongside Gian Maria Volonté, Marianne Koch, Wolfgang Lukschy, Sieghardt Rupp, José Calvo, Antonio Prieto and Joseph Egger. The film, an international co-production between Italy, West Germany and Spain, was filmed on a low budget (reported to be US$200,000), and Eastwood was paid $15,000 for his role.

Released in Italy in 1964 and in the United States in 1967, the film initiated the popularity of the spaghetti Western genre. It is considered a landmark in cinema and one of the greatest and most influential films of all time. It was followed by For a Few Dollars More and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, both also starring Eastwood. Collectively, these three films became known as the Dollars Trilogy, or the Man with No Name Trilogy, after the United Artists publicity campaign referred to Eastwood's characters in all three films as the "Man with No Name". All three films were released in sequence in the United States in 1967, making Eastwood a national celebrity.

Sergio Leone (/liˈoʊni/ lee-OH-nee; Italian: [ˈsɛrdʒo leˈoːne]; 3 January 1929 – 30 April 1989) was an Italian filmmaker, credited as the pioneer of the spaghetti Western genre. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest directors in the history of cinema.

Leone's film-making style includes juxtaposing extreme close-up shots with lengthy long shots. His films include the Dollars Trilogy of Westerns featuring Clint Eastwood: A Fistful of Dollars (1964), For a Few Dollars More (1965), and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966); and the Once Upon a Time films: Once Upon a Time in the West (1968), Duck, You Sucker! (1971), and Once Upon a Time in America (1984).

The Dollars Trilogy (Italian: Trilogia del dollaro), also known as the Man with No Name Trilogy (Italian: Trilogia dell'Uomo senza nome), is an Italian 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). Their English versions were distributed by United Artists, while the Italian ones were distributed by Unidis and PEA.

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 in history.

Once Upon a Time in the West (Italian: C'era una volta il West) is a 1968 epic spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Leone from a screenplay he co-wrote with Sergio Donati. It stars Claudia Cardinale, Henry Fonda, Jason Robards, Charles Bronson, Gabriele Ferzetti, Woody Strode, Jack Elam, Lionel Stander, Paolo Stoppa, Frank Wolff, and Keenan Wynn. The widescreen cinematography was by Tonino Delli Colli and the film score was composed and conducted by Ennio Morricone.

After directing The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Leone decided to retire from Westerns and aimed to produce his film based on the novel The Hoods, which eventually became Once Upon a Time in America. However, Leone accepted an offer from Paramount Pictures providing Henry Fonda and a budget to produce another Western. He recruited Bertolucci and Argento to devise the plot, researching other Westerns in the process. After Clint Eastwood turned down an offer to play the protagonist, Bronson was offered the role. During production, Leone recruited Donati to rewrite the script due to concerns over time limitations. The film is the first installment in Leone's Once Upon a Time trilogy, followed by Duck, You Sucker! and Once Upon a Time in America, though the films do not share any characters.

Clarence LeRoy Van Cleef Jr. (January 9, 1925 – December 16, 1989) was an American actor. He appeared in over 170 film and television roles in a career spanning nearly 40 years, but is best known as a star of spaghetti Westerns, particularly the Sergio Leone-directed Dollars Trilogy films, For a Few Dollars More (1965) and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966). In 1983, he received a Golden Boot Award for his contribution to the Western film and television genre.

Van Cleef served in the United States Navy during World War II aboard a minesweeper, earning a Bronze Star for his actions. After acting on stage in regional theatre, he made his film debut in the Oscar-winning Western High Noon (1952) in a non-speaking outlaw cast role. With distinctive, angular features and a taciturn screen persona, Van Cleef was typecast as minor villain and supporting player in Westerns and crime dramas. After suffering serious injuries in a car crash, Van Cleef's acting career started to decline. He achieved stardom when Leone gave him the co-leading role in For a Few Dollars More (1965).

Age & Scarpelli (Italian: [ˈaːdʒe e skarˈpɛlli]) is the stage name used by the pair of Italian screenwriters Agenore Incrocci (1914–2005) and Furio Scarpelli (1919–2010). Together, they wrote the scripts for about a hundred movies, mainly satirical comedies.

The duo started working together in Totò cerca casa of 1949, and ended their collaboration in the 1980s. They worked for many famous Italian directors, like Sergio Leone (The Good, the Bad and the Ugly), Mario Monicelli (including their major work, For Love and Gold), Dino Risi, Luigi Comencini, Pietro Germi and Ettore Scola and they wrote the dialogues of many Totò movies.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack was released in 1966 alongside the Western film The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, directed by Sergio Leone. The score is composed by frequent Leone collaborator Ennio Morricone, whose distinctive original compositions, containing gunfire, whistling, and yodeling permeate the film. The main theme, resembling the howling of a coyote, is a two-note melody that is a frequent motif, and is used for the three main characters, with a different instrument used for each one: flute for Blondie, arghilofono for Angel Eyes, and human voices for Tuco.

Among other elements, the score complements the film's American Civil War scenes, containing the mournful ballad "The Story of a Soldier", which is sung by prisoners as Tuco is being tortured by Angel Eyes. The film's famous climax, a three-way Mexican standoff, begins with the melody of "The Ecstasy of Gold" and is followed by "The Trio".