Biographic - Sunday October 19, 2014 Comic Strip Licensing and Permissions

Transcript

It's been 50 years since "A Fistful of Dollars," the first in a triology of low-budget westerns from the most unlikely source, captured the imaginations of moviegoers and launched a tv actoron the path to movie immortality. When Eric Fleming, star of the TV series "Rawhide" rejected the offer to star in an italian-made western to be shot in Spain, the lead role was given to his co-star on the show, Clint Eastwood. His portrayal of "The Man With No Name" as a taciturn, morally ambiguous anti-hero- for which he was paid $15,000 and a new car struck a chord with Italian audiences and he was hired to make two more movies in the series. "A Fistful of Dollars" was followed by 1965's "For A Few Dollars More" and 1966's "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly." All three films were directed by Sergio Leone and featured a score by Ennio Morricone. The triology was finally released in the states throughout 1967 and by the end of that year, "Spaghetti Westerns" were all the range, and Eastwood was on the fast track to Superstardom! "The Good, The Bad and the Ugly" which featured one of the most memorable theme songs in movie history- starred Eastwood, Lee Van Cleff, and Eli Wallach respectively in the title roles and was the biggest box-office success of the three. Van Cleef, who had also starred in "For A Few Dollars More" went on to enjoy an extensive career in "Spaghetti Westerns" including the lead in the "Sabatha" movies. 50 years after the advent of "Spaghetti Westerns" the genre's influence can be seen in the work of many of today's directors, most notably Quentin Tarantino,

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