Don’t mess with Clint Eastwood.
Even those with little familiarity (or interest) in the Western genre have some basic knowledge of The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. The iconic Western epic from Sergio Leone doesn’t just stand as one of the greatest Westerns ever, but one of the best movies of all-time. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly effectively launched Clint Eastwood as an international star, established the “Spaghetti Western” subgenre as a permanent fixation within world cinema, and breezed through its nearly three-hour running time. It’s a great encapsulation of everything that a Western can do right. However, the endless acclaim for The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly means that there isn’t as much attention paid to the film’s two predecessors in Leone’s “The Man With No Name Trilogy.” Both A Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More are Spaghetti Western classics in their own right, and the second installment in the series features one of the all-time greatest saloon battles in any Western.
‘For a Few Dollars More’ Is an Underrated Western
Unlike trilogies such as The Lord of the Rings or the original Star Wars franchise, “The Man With No Name Trilogy” doesn’t require that viewers have seen any of the previous installments. While there are a few scant references to the mysterious gunslinger’s past adventures peppered throughout For a Few Dollars More and The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, they aren’t essential to his story arc in each adventure. This makes A Fistful of Dollars a great initiation point for new fans. It doesn’t boast the epic runtime of The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, but features more confident direction from Leone and a more compelling story than A Fistful of Dollars. Even though each of the stories is largely similar, For a Few Dollars More forced Eastwood to share the screen with the same actor who would become his nemesis in the third film.
For a Few Dollars More picks up with the mysterious “Man With No Name” (who is given the moniker “Manco”) as he forms a risky partnership with the former military official Colonel Douglas Mortimer (Lee Van Cleef in his first collaboration with Leone). While Manco is cagey about joining forces with Mortimer and has suspicions about the former serviceman’s real ambitions, the pair are forced to work together in order to track down the ruthless bank robber “El Indio” (Gian Maria Volonté), who has a massive bounty on his head. In this Western, Leone proves that the awkward alliance between Manco and Mortimer is more than a gimmick early on, as it’s evident that Indio presents a danger that is more critical than any of Manco’s misgivings about Mortimer. In an early sequence, Indio’s backstory is detailed in a gnarly flashback sequence in which he mercilessly executes the family of his intended jailer. Given that Indio has now reunited with a gang that is completely loyal to him, it will take the combined efforts of Manco and Mortimer to take him out.
However, that doesn’t mean that the notion of Manco and Mortimer being forced to work together isn’t inherently entertaining. The two have such clashing personalities and methods of justice that they’re often drawn into conflict with each other. Mortimer forces Manco to join him and go undercover within Indio’s gang in order to stop his planned El Paso bank robbery before it begins. While Mortimer’s strategic justification, it’s obviously something that Manco is uncomfortable about, as he prefers not to spend his time in the company of criminals. However, Mortimer has his reasons for forcing Manco into an uncomfortable situation. Manco had already collected the bounty on the dangerous gambler Red “Baby” Cavanagh (José Marco). This is detailed early on in one of the coolest introductory sequences in the series.
‘For a Few Dollars More’ Saloon Is the Best in Any Western
Manco’s toughness had been established in a prior scene where he casually walks into a crowded saloon packed with gamblers, outlaws, and clearly corrupt members of law enforcement. Manco doesn’t necessarily stand out when he enters the room and draws as little attention to himself as possible. It was evident that tracking down a dangerous target was something that he had done before. He didn’t immediately start drawing his weapon and declaring his mission in a way that would initiate chaos. It’s this subtly that Eastwood brings to his performance that made him such a beloved recurring star in Western films.
Manco’s method of drawing out Red is one of the most unexpectedly hilarious. After Manco beats Red at a game of cards, thus embarrassing him in front of his cronies, the crooked gambler angrily asks the mysterious stranger what his bet was. Manco’s sharp response of “your life” sends Red into an angry spell, but he’s unable to reach his weapon in time. Manco easily sends Red to an early grave. When another batch of assassins attempts to corner him, he fearlessly whirls around and takes them out with a blaze of gunfire. It’s stylized with sharp notes of violence consistent with the Spaghetti Western subgenre.
