ABSTRACT
Sergio Leone’s trilogy of so-called spaghetti westerns-A Fistful of Dollars (1964), For a Few Dollars More (1965), and The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966)—whatever their merits as movies, constitute an undoubtedly important and almost unique moment in the history of Hollywood cinema. Even though they were financed primarily by European capital, were shot in Italy’s Cinecittà studios and on location in Spain, and used a mostly Italian work force, they have had a significant impact on the shape, style, and potentials of American movies ever since. Their importance is partly a function of the fact that they are the bestknown instances of the production of what has been the only major and sustained revision of that central Hollywood movie genre, the western, that has ever been undertaken outside Hollywood and largely without its capital. These movies are also, of course, what constitute not so much the start of Clint Eastwood’s career (which dates back to 1955 and includes small parts in a number of minor movies, as well as a long regular stint in the television series Rawhide),1 but certainly the beginning of his status as a major international star.
