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Per un pugno di dollari (1964) More at IMDbPro »

The following FAQ entries may contain spoilers. Only the biggest ones (if any) will be covered with spoiler tags. Spoiler tags are used sparingly in order to make the page more readable.

For detailed information about the amounts and types of (a) sex and nudity, (b) violence and gore, (c) profanity, (d) alcohol, drugs, and smoking, and (e) frightening and intense scenes in this movie, consult the IMDb Parents Guide for this movie. The Parents Guide for A Fistful of Dollars can be found here.

A Fistful of Dollars (Per un Pugno di Dollari ) is an unofficial remake of the Akira Kurosawa film Yojimbo (1961), which Kurosawa has admitted to basing on The Glass Key (1942), an adaptation of the 1931 novel of the same name by Dashiell Hammett [1894-1961]. It is the first in a series of three "spaghetti westerns" by Italian director Sergio Leone known as "The Dollar Trilogy." A Fistful of Dollars is followed by For a Few Dollars More (Per qualche dollaro in più) (1965) and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo.) (1966).

"Spaghetti western" is a term applied to various low-budget old American west films made by a European, especially an Italian, film company.

Those who have seen all three movies say that it's not important to watch them in order considering that none of them follow the same story or include the same characters, other than Clint Eastwood. The only other similiarities would include the direction and the music. It is, however, of note that at the end of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, the man with no name acquires the poncho that he wears in the previous two films (leading some to believe that The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is a prequel to the first two films, and is therefore first chronologically).

All Italian films were shot MOS (without sound) and everything--the gunshots, the horses noises, and the actors' lines--were added post production.

Italian composer Ennio Morricone.

In every film he has a different name, in A Fistful of Dollars he is called Joe, in For A Few Dollars More, he is called Monco, and in The Good, The Bad and The Ugly he is named Blondie. In Fistful he never says his name, the undertaker just starts calling him Joe, as it's a common name. Blondie is just the nickname Tuco gives him because, once again, he didn't reveal his name. However, in For A Few Dollars More, the sheriff is talking about the bounty hunter named Monco and that's the name he signed in the ledger, but it does mean "one-armed" in Italian, and at that stage he was only using his left hand for most things so it's most likely TMWNN's sense of humour. His full name may be Joe 'Blondie' Manco. Or not...