Classic Revisited: Fistful of Dollars (1964)

An American cowboy (Joe or "The Man with No Name") wanders around into a town called San Miguel. This town is deserted and the only two people who have a job are the bell-ringer and the coffin maker. Silvanito gives him shelter and tells him about the bitter rivalry between two rival clans in the town, the Baxters and the Rojos. The Rojos, led by Ramon are the more powerful.

Joe decides to two-time these 2 gangs and succeeds in causing more tensions between the 2 gangs. He gets caught by the Rojos when he decides to help Marisol (Ramon's secret mistress, who is married and has a small kid). He escapes, makes one last comeback and vanquishes the Rojos after the Baxters are wiped out by the Rojos when Joe escapes.

The film runs purely on the star power of Clint Eastwood with his nonchalance, lazy yet macho mannerisms and elegant style. It is a fairly simple story but very fresh if we consider the fact that this movie came 48 years back.

This is the first movie in the Dollars trilogy made by Sergio Leone with Clint in the lead. It has a super catchy, haunting and cheeky soundtrack by the master, Ennio Morricone. The shots with the characters riding their galloping horses in vast dry lands are a delight to the eyes. The gun shots sound simply awesome.

VERDICT: A pioneering movie that kick-started the spaghetti-western genre and made Clint Eastwood a demi-god.