Spaghetti Western
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The Spaghetti Western is a broad subgenre of
Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...
films produced in Europe. It emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's film-making style and international box-office success. The term was used by foreign critics because most of these Westerns were produced and directed by Italians. Leone's films and other core Spaghetti Westerns are often described as having eschewed, criticized, or even "demythologized" many of the conventions of traditional U.S. Westerns. This was partly intentional and partly the context of a different cultural background.


Terminology

According to veteran Spaghetti Western actor Aldo Sambrell, the phrase "Spaghetti Western" was coined by Spanish journalist Alfonso Sánchez in reference to the Italian food
spaghetti Spaghetti () is a long, thin, solid, cylindrical pasta.spaghetti
Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com Unabridg ...
. Spaghetti Westerns are also known as Italian Westerns or, primarily in Japan, Macaroni Westerns. In Italy, the genre is typically referred to as western all'italiana (Italian-style Western). Italo-Western is also used, especially in Germany.


Similar concepts

The term Eurowesterns has been used to broadly refer to all non-Italian Western movies from Europe, including the
West German West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
Winnetou Winnetou is a fictional Native American hero of several novels written in German by Karl May (1842–1912), one of the best-selling German writers of all time with about 200 million copies worldwide, including the ''Winnetou'' trilogy. The ch ...
films or the
Eastern Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...
Red Western The Ostern (Eastern; , ''Istern''; or остерн) or Red Western was a film genre created in the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc as a variation of the Western films that originated in the United States. The word "Ostern" is a portmanteau derive ...
films.
Paella Paella (, , , , , ) is a rice dish originally from Valencia. While non-Spaniards commonly view it as Spain's national dish, Spaniards almost unanimously consider it to be a dish from the Valencian region. Valencians, in turn, regard ''paella'' ...
Western has been used to refer to Western films produced in Spain, taking its name from the Spanish rice dish.


Production

The majority of the films in the Spaghetti Western genre were actually
international co-production A co-production is a joint venture between two or more different production companies for the purpose of film production, television production, video game development, and so on. In the case of an international co-production, production companie ...
s between Italy and Spain, and sometimes France, West Germany, Britain, Portugal, Greece, Israel, Yugoslavia, or the United States. Over six hundred European Westerns were made between 1960 and 1978. These movies were originally released in Italian or with Italian
dubbing Dubbing (re-recording and mixing) is a post-production process used in filmmaking and video production, often in concert with sound design, in which additional or supplementary recordings are lip-synced and "mixed" with original production sou ...
, but as most of the films featured multilingual casts and sound was post-synched, most "western all'italiana" do not have an official dominant language. The typical Spaghetti Western team was made up of an Italian director, Italo-Spanish technical staff, and a cast of Italian, Spanish, and (sometimes) West German and American actors.


Filming locations

Most Spaghetti Westerns filmed between 1964 and 1978 were made on low budgets and shot at
Cinecittà studios Cinecittà Studios (; Italian for Cinema City Studios), is a large film studio in Rome, Italy. With an area of 400,000 square metres (99 acres), it is the largest film studio in Europe, and is considered the hub of Italian cinema. The studios we ...
and various locations around southern Italy and Spain. Many of the stories take place in the dry landscapes of the
American Southwest The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent portions of California, Colorado, N ...
and
Northern Mexico Northern Mexico ( es, el Norte de México ), commonly referred as , is an informal term for the northern cultural and geographical area in Mexico. Depending on the source, it contains some or all of the states of Baja California, Baja California ...
, hence common filming locations were the
Tabernas Desert The Tabernas Desert ( es, Desierto de Tabernas) is one of Spain's semi-arid deserts, located within Spain's south-eastern province of Almería. It is in the interior, about north of the provincial capital Almería, in the Tabernas municipalit ...
and the
Cabo de Gata-Níjar Natural Park ''Cabo de Gata-Níjar'' Natural Park in the southeastern corner of Spain is Andalusia's largest protected coastal area, a wild and isolated landscape. Spain's southeast coast, where the park is situated, is a region in mainland Europe with a h ...
, an area of volcanic origin known for its wide sandy beaches, both of which are in the Province of Almería in southeastern Spain. Some sets and studios built for Spaghetti Westerns survive as theme parks, such as
Texas Hollywood Texas Hollywood/Fort Bravo is a Western-styled theme park in the province of Almería in Spain. Built in the early 1970s, it lies a few kilometres to the north of the N-340 road highway (468 km mark), near the town of Tabernas. History Arou ...
,
Mini Hollywood Oasys (formerly known as Mini Hollywood) is a Spanish Western-styled theme park, located off the 364 km mark of the N-340 road, near the town of Tabernas in the province of Almería, Andalusia. Originally known as Yucca City, the set was des ...
, and
Western Leone Western Leone is a Western-style theme park in the province of Almeria, Andalusia (Spain). Located at the 378.9 km mark on the A-92 motorway, it is the smallest of three such theme parks in the Tabernas Desert; the other two are Mini Hollyw ...
, and continue to be used as film sets. Other filming locations used were in
central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...
and
southern Italy Southern Italy ( it, Sud Italia or ) also known as ''Meridione'' or ''Mezzogiorno'' (), is a macroregion of the Italian Republic consisting of its southern half. The term ''Mezzogiorno'' today refers to regions that are associated with the peop ...
, such as the parks of Valle del Treja (between Rome and
Viterbo Viterbo (; Viterbese: ; lat-med, Viterbium) is a city and ''comune'' in the Lazio region of central Italy, the capital of the province of Viterbo. It conquered and absorbed the neighboring town of Ferento (see Ferentium) in its early history ...
), the area of Camposecco (next to
Camerata Nuova Camerata Nuova is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Rome in the Italian region of Lazio, located about east of Rome. Camerata Nuova borders the following municipalities: Cappadocia, Cervara di Roma, Rocca di Botte, Subiaco, ...
, characterized by a karst topography), the hills around Castelluccio, the area around the
Gran Sasso Gran Sasso d'Italia (; ) is a massif in the Apennine Mountains of Italy. Its highest peak, Corno Grande (2,912 metres), is the highest mountain in the Apennines, and the second-highest mountain in Italy outside the Alps. The mountain lies wi ...
mountain, and the Tivoli's quarries and
Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...
. ''
God's Gun ''God's Gun'' (also known as ''Diamante Lobo'') is a 1976 Italian-Israeli Spaghetti Western directed by Gianfranco Parolini (credited as Frank Kramer) and starring Lee Van Cleef, Jack Palance, Leif Garrett and Sybil Danning. Palance plays the he ...
'' was filmed in Israel.


European Westerns before the Spaghetti Western

European Westerns are as old as filmmaking itself. The
Lumière brothers Lumière is French for 'light'. Lumiere, Lumière or Lumieres may refer to: * Lumières, the philosophical movement in the Age of Enlightenment People *Auguste and Louis Lumière, French pioneers in film-making Film and TV * Institut Lumière, ...
made their first public screening of films in 1895 and already in 1896 Gabriel Veyre shot ''Repas d'Indien'' ("Indian Banquet") for them. Joe Hamman starred as Arizona Bill in films made in the French horse country of
Camargue Camargue (, also , , ; oc, label= Provençal, Camarga) is a region of France located south of Arles, between the Mediterranean Sea and the two arms of the Rhône delta. The eastern arm is called the ''Grand Rhône''; the western one is the ''P ...
1911–12. In Italy, the American West as a dramatic setting for spectacles goes back at least as far as
Giacomo Puccini Giacomo Puccini (Lucca, 22 December 1858Bruxelles, 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he was descended from a long li ...
's 1910 opera ''
La fanciulla del West ''La fanciulla del West'' (''The Girl of the West'') is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by and , based on the 1905 play '' The Girl of the Golden West'' by the American author David Belasco. ''Fanciulla'' follow ...
'' (“The Girl of the West”) it is sometimes considered to be the first Spaghetti Western. The first Western movie made in Italy was ''La voce del sangue'' produced by Turin's film studio
Itala Film Itala Film was an Italian film production company. Silent era It was founded during the silent era. In 1905, industrialists Carlo Rossi and William Remmert established a company in Turin, recruiting filmmakers from Pathé. Two years later, they ...
(1910). In 1913 appeared ''La vampira Indiana''—a combination of Western and vampire film. It was directed by Vincenzo Leone, father of Sergio Leone, and starred his mother Bice Waleran in the title role as Indian princess Fatale. The Italians also made
Wild Bill Hickok James Butler Hickok (May 27, 1837August 2, 1876), better known as "Wild Bill" Hickok, was a folk hero of the American Old West known for his life on the frontier as a soldier, scout, lawman, gambler, showman, and actor, and for his involvement ...
films, while the Germans released back-woods Westerns featuring
Bela Lugosi Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó (; October 20, 1882 – August 16, 1956), known professionally as Bela Lugosi (; ), was a Hungarian and American actor best remembered for portraying Count Dracula in the 1931 horror classic ''Dracula'', Ygor in ''S ...
as
Uncas Uncas () was a ''sachem'' of the Mohegans who made the Mohegans the leading regional Indian tribe in lower Connecticut, through his alliance with the New England colonists against other Indian tribes. Early life and family Uncas was born n ...
. Of the Western-related European films before 1964, the one attracting most attention is probably Luis Trenker's '' Der Kaiser von Kalifornien'' (1936), about
John Sutter John Augustus Sutter (February 23, 1803 – June 18, 1880), born Johann August Sutter and known in Spanish as Don Juan Sutter, was a Swiss immigrant of Mexican and American citizenship, known for establishing Sutter's Fort in the area th ...
. Another Italian western was '' Girl of the Golden West'' (1942). The film's title alludes to the opera '' The Girl of the Golden West'' by
Giacomo Puccini Giacomo Puccini (Lucca, 22 December 1858Bruxelles, 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he was descended from a long li ...
, but is not an adaptation of it. It was one of only a handful of Westerns to be made during the silent and Fascist eras. Forerunners of the genre was also
Giorgio Ferroni Giorgio Ferroni (12 April 1908 – 1981) was an Italian film director. Life and career Giorgio Ferroni was born in Perugia on 12 April 1908. Ferroni began his career in film with short documentaries during World War II World War  ...
's '' Il fanciullo del West'' (''The Boy in the West'', 1943) and
Fernando Cerchio Fernando Cerchio (7 August 1914 – 19 August 1974) was an Italian film director and screenwriter. He directed more than 30 films between 1940 and 1972. Selected filmography * '' Men of the Mountain'' (1943) * ''Mistress of the Mountains'' ...
's ''
Il bandolero stanco ''The Tired Outlaw'' (Italian: ''Il bandolero stanco'') is a 1952 Italian comedy western film directed by Fernando Cerchio and starring Renato Rascel, Lauretta Masiero and Lia Di Leo.Curti p.77 The film's sets were designed by the art director G ...
'' (1952), starring respectively
Erminio Macario Erminio Macario (27 May 1902 – 25 March 1980), best known as Macario, was an Italian film actor and comedian. He appeared in 42 films between 1933 and 1975. Life and career Born in Turin, Macario made his debut at a young age in the amate ...
and
Renato Rascel Renato Rascel (), stage name of Renato Ranucci (; 27 April 1912 – 2 January 1991), was an Italian film actor and singer. He appeared in 50 films between 1942 and 1972. He represented Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1960 with the s ...
. After the Second World War, there were scattered European uses of Western settings, mostly for comedy or musical comedy. A cycle of Western comedies was initiated in 1959 with ''
La sceriffa ''La sceriffa'' (''The Sheriff'') is a 1959 Italian Western comedy in black-and-white, directed by Roberto Bianchi Montero. It stars Italian comedy star Ugo Tognazzi. It was released on 16 August 1959. The film starred several comedians and spawne ...
'' and ''Il terrore dell’Oklahoma'', followed by other films starring comedy specialists like
Walter Chiari Walter Annicchiarico (8 March 1924 – 20 December 1991), known as Walter Chiari , was an Italian stage and screen actor, mostly in comedy roles. Biography Walter Annicchiarico was born in Verona, Italy on 8 March 1924 to a family originally ...
,
Ugo Tognazzi Ugo Tognazzi (23 March 1922 – 27 October 1990) was an Italian actor, director, and screenwriter. Early life Tognazzi was born in Cremona, in northern Italy but spent his youth in various localities as his father was a travelling clerk fo ...
,
Raimondo Vianello Raimondo Vianello (7 May 1922 – 15 April 2010) was an Italian film actor, comedian, and television host. He was a well-known Italian television personality. Biography He was born in Rome, but spent his youth in Pula, where his father, an ...
or
Fernandel Fernand Joseph Désiré Contandin (8 May 1903 – 26 February 1971), better known as Fernandel, was a French actor and singer. Born near Marseille, France, to Désirée Bedouin and Denis Contandin, originating in Perosa Argentina, an Occitan t ...
. An Italian critic has compared these comedies to American
Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in Bob Hope filmography, more than 70 short and ...
vehicles.


Origins

The first American-British western filmed in Spain was ''
The Sheriff of Fractured Jaw ''The Sheriff of Fractured Jaw'' is a 1958 British-American Western comedy directed by Raoul Walsh, starring Kenneth More and Jayne Mansfield. Mansfield's singing voice is dubbed by Connie Francis. It was one of the first Westerns to be shot in ...
'' (1958), directed by Raoul Walsh. It was followed in 1961 by '' Savage Guns'', a British-Spanish western, again filmed in Spain. This marked the beginning of Spain as a suitable film shooting location for any kind of European western. In 1961 an Italian company co-produced the French ''Taste of Violence'', with a Mexican Revolution theme. In 1963, three non-comedy Italo-Spanish westerns were produced: ''
Gunfight at Red Sands ''Duello nel Texas'', also known as ''Gunfight at Red Sands'' and ''Gringo'', is a 1963 Italian/Spanish international co-production directed by Ricardo Blasco and Mario Caiano, and produced by Albert Band as his first Spaghetti Western. It was al ...
'', ''
Implacable Three ''Implacable Three'' ( es, Tres hombres buenos) is a 1963 Spanish/Italian mystery western film directed by Joaquín Luis Romero Marchent, written by José Mallorquí and starring Geoffrey Horne, Paul Piaget and Fernando Sancho Fernando Sa ...
'' and '' Gunfight at High Noon''. In 1965,
Bruno Bozzetto Bruno Bozzetto (born 3 March 1938) is an Italian cartoon animator and film director, creator of many short pieces, mainly of a political or satirical nature. He created his first animated short "Tapum! the weapons' story" in 1958 at the age of ...
released his traditionally animated feature film ''
West and Soda ''West and soda'' (also known as ''The West Way Out'') is a 1965 traditionally animated Italian feature film directed by Bruno Bozzetto. It is a parody of the traditional American Western. In an interview, Bozzetto claimed to have invented th ...
'', a Western
parody A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its subj ...
with a marked Spaghetti Western-theme; despite having been released a year after Sergio Leone's seminal Spaghetti Western ''
A Fistful of Dollars ''A Fistful of Dollars'' ( it, Per un pugno di dollari, lit=For a Fistful of Dollars titled on-screen as ''Fistful of Dollars'') is a 1964 Spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood in his first leading role, ...
'', development of ''West and Soda'' actually began a year earlier than ''Fistfuls and lasted longer, mainly because of the use of more time-demanding animation over regular acting. For this reason, Bozzetto himself claims to have invented the Spaghetti Western genre. Since there is no real consensus about where to draw the exact line between Spaghetti Westerns and other Eurowesterns (or other Westerns in general) one cannot say which one of the films mentioned so far was the first Spaghetti Western. However, 1964 saw the breakthrough of this genre, with more than twenty productions or co-productions from Italian companies, and more than half a dozen Westerns by Spanish or Spanish/American companies. Furthermore, by far the most commercially successful of this lot was Sergio Leone's ''A Fistful of Dollars''. It was the innovations in cinematic style, music, acting and story of Leone's first Western that decided that Spaghetti Westerns became a distinct subgenre and not just a number of films looking like American Westerns.


''A Fistful of Dollars'' and its impact on the Spaghetti Western genre

In this seminal film, Leone used a distinct visual style with large face close ups to tell the story of a hero entering a town that is ruled by two outlaw gangs, and ordinary social relations are non-existent. The hero betrays and plays the gangs against one another in order to make money. He then uses his cunning and exceptional weapons skill to assist a family threatened by both gangs. His treachery is exposed and he is severely beaten, but in the end, he defeats the remaining gang. The interactions in this story range between cunning and irony (the tricks, deceits, unexpected actions and sarcasm of the hero) on the one hand, and pathos (terror and brutality against defenseless people and against the hero after his double-cross has been revealed) on the other. Ennio Morricone's innovative score expresses a similar duality between quirky and unusual sounds and instruments on the one hand and sacral dramatizing for the big confrontation scenes on the other. Another important novelty was
Clint Eastwood Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western TV series '' Rawhide'', he rose to international fame with his role as the "Man with No Name" in Sergio Leone's "''Doll ...
's performance as the
man with no name The Man with No Name ( it, Uomo senza nome) is the antihero character portrayed by Clint Eastwood in Sergio Leone's "''Dollars Trilogy''" of Italian Spaghetti Western films: ''A Fistful of Dollars'' (1964), ''For a Few Dollars More'' (1965), ...
—an unshaven, sarcastic, insolent Western
antihero An antihero (sometimes spelled as anti-hero) or antiheroine is a main character in a story who may lack conventional heroic qualities and attributes, such as idealism, courage, and morality. Although antiheroes may sometimes perform actions ...
set on his own gain, with distinct visuals to boot—the squint, the cigarillo, the poncho. The Spaghetti Western was born, flourished and faded in a highly commercial production environment. The Italian "low" popular film production was usually low-budget and low-profit, and the easiest way to success was imitating a proven success. When the typically low-budget production ''
A Fistful of Dollars ''A Fistful of Dollars'' ( it, Per un pugno di dollari, lit=For a Fistful of Dollars titled on-screen as ''Fistful of Dollars'') is a 1964 Spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood in his first leading role, ...
'' turned into a remarkable box office success, the industry eagerly lapped up its innovations. Most succeeding Spaghetti Westerns tried to get a ragged, laconic hero with superhuman weapon skill, preferably one who looked like
Clint Eastwood Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western TV series '' Rawhide'', he rose to international fame with his role as the "Man with No Name" in Sergio Leone's "''Doll ...
:
Franco Nero Francesco Clemente Giuseppe Sparanero (born 23 November 1941), known professionally as Franco Nero, is an Italian actor, producer, and director. His breakthrough role was as the title character in the Spaghetti Western film '' Django'' (1966), ...
, John Garko and
Terence Hill Terence Hill (born Mario Girotti; 29 March 1939) is an Italian actor, film director, screenwriter and producer. He began his career as a child actor and gained international fame for starring roles in action and comedy films, many with longtim ...
started out that way;
Anthony Steffen Anthony Steffen, born Antonio Luiz de Teffé von Hoonholtz (July 21, 1930 – June 4, 2004), was an Italian-Brazilian character actor, screenwriter and film producer. Steffen achieved fame as a leading man in Spaghetti Western features. He was also ...
and others stayed that way all their Spaghetti Western careers. Whoever the hero was, he would join an outlaw gang to further his own secret agenda, as in ''
A Pistol for Ringo ''A Pistol for Ringo'' ( it, Una pistola per Ringo) is a 1965 Spaghetti Western, a joint Italian and Spanish production. Originally written and directed by Duccio Tessari, the film's success led to a sequel, ''The Return of Ringo'', later that y ...
'', ''
Blood for a Silver Dollar ''Blood for a Silver Dollar'' ( it, Un dollaro bucato) is a 1965 Spaghetti Western, Spaghetti Western film directed by Giorgio Ferroni, written by Giorgio Stegani and Ferroni, and starring Giuliano Gemma and Ida Galli. Plot synopsis Gary O'Hara, ...
'', ''
Vengeance Is a Dish Served Cold ''Vengeance Is a Dish Served Cold'' ( it, La vendetta è un piatto che si serve freddo), also known as ''Death's Dealer'', is a 1971 Italian Western film directed by Pasquale Squitieri and starring Klaus Kinski. Plot Jeremias was 12 years ol ...
'', '' Renegade Riders'' and others, while '' Beyond the Law'' instead has a bandit infiltrate society and become a sheriff. There would be a flamboyant Mexican bandit ( Gian Maria Volonté from ''A Fistful of Dollars'', otherwise
Tomas Milian Tomas Milian (born Tomás Quintín Rodríguez-Varona Milián Salinas de la Fé y Álvarez de la Campa; 3 March 1933 – 22 March 2017) was a Cuban-born actor and singer with American and Italian citizenship, known for the emotional intensity and ...
or most often
Fernando Sancho Fernando Sancho Les (7 January 1916 – 31 July 1990) was a Spanish actor. Biography He was born in Zaragoza, in Aragon, Spain on 7 January 1916 and died at Hospital Militar Gómez Ulla in Madrid on 31 July 1990 from a liver failure during o ...
) and a grumpy old man—more often than not an undertaker, to serve as
sidekick A sidekick is a slang expression for a close companion or colleague (not necessarily in fiction) who is, or is generally regarded as, subordinate to the one they accompany. Some well-known fictional sidekicks are Don Quixote's Sancho Panza, ...
for the hero. For love interest, rancher's daughters, schoolmarms and barroom maidens were overshadowed by young Latin women desired by dangerous men, where actresses like
Nicoletta Machiavelli Nicoletta Machiavelli (1 August 1944 – 15 November 2015) was an Italian film actress, also known as Nicoletta Rangoni Machiavelli and Nicoletta Macchiavelli. Life and career The daughter of a Florentine father and of an American mother, Mach ...
or
Rosalba Neri Rosalba Neri (born 19 June 1939) is a retired Italian actress. Early life Born in Forlì, Emilia-Romagna, Italy, Neri was regarded for her beauty even in youth, winning a beauty pageant when she was still young. Eventually pursuing an acting ca ...
carried on
Marianne Koch Marianne Koch (; born 19 August 1931) is a German actress of the 1950s and 1960s, best known for her appearances in Spaghetti Westerns and adventure films of the 1960s. She later worked as a television host and as a physician. Career Betwe ...
's role of Marisol in the Leone film. The terror of the villains against their defenseless victims became just as ruthless as in ''
A Fistful of Dollars ''A Fistful of Dollars'' ( it, Per un pugno di dollari, lit=For a Fistful of Dollars titled on-screen as ''Fistful of Dollars'') is a 1964 Spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood in his first leading role, ...
'', or more, and their brutalization of the hero when his treachery is disclosed became just as merciless, or more—just like the cunning used to secure the latter's retribution. In the beginning some films mixed some of these new devices with the borrowed US Western devices typical for most of the 1963–64 Spaghetti Westerns. For example, in
Sergio Corbucci Sergio Corbucci (; 6 December 1926 – 1 December 1990) was an Italian film director, screenwriter and producer. He directed both very violent Spaghetti Westerns and bloodless Bud Spencer and Terence Hill action comedies. He is the older bro ...
's '' Minnesota Clay'' (1964) that appeared two months after ''
A Fistful of Dollars ''A Fistful of Dollars'' ( it, Per un pugno di dollari, lit=For a Fistful of Dollars titled on-screen as ''Fistful of Dollars'') is a 1964 Spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood in his first leading role, ...
'', an American style "tragic gunfighter" hero confronts two evil gangs, one Mexican and one Anglo, and (just as in ''A Fistful of Dollars'') the leader of the latter is the town sheriff. In the same director's ''
Johnny Oro ''Ringo and His Golden Pistol'' ( it, Johnny Oro) is a 1966 Italian Spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Corbucci and starring Mark Damon. Synopsis Renamed to cash in on the success of Duccio Tessari’s Ringo movies, ''Ringo and His Golde ...
'' (1966) a traditional Western sheriff and a mixed-race bounty killer are forced into an uneasy alliance when Mexican bandits and Native Americans together assault the town. In ''A Pistol for Ringo'' a traditional sheriff commissions a money-oriented hero played by Giuliano Gemma (as deadly but with more pleasing manners than Eastwood's character) to infiltrate a gang of Mexican bandits whose leader is played typically by
Fernando Sancho Fernando Sancho Les (7 January 1916 – 31 July 1990) was a Spanish actor. Biography He was born in Zaragoza, in Aragon, Spain on 7 January 1916 and died at Hospital Militar Gómez Ulla in Madrid on 31 July 1990 from a liver failure during o ...
.


Further developments of the genre

Just like Leone's first Western, the following works in his
Dollars Trilogy ''Dollars Trilogy'' ( it, link=no, Trilogia del dollaro), also known as the ''Man with No Name Trilogy'' ( it, link=no, Trilogia dell'Uomo senza nome) or the ''Blood Money Trilogy'', is an Italian film series consisting of three Spaghetti Weste ...
— '' For a Few Dollars More'' (1965) and ''
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly ''The Good, the Bad and the Ugly'' ( it, Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo, literally "The good, the ugly, the bad") is a 1966 Italian epic spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood as "the Good", Lee Van Clee ...
'' (1966) — strongly influenced the further developments of the genre, as did
Sergio Corbucci Sergio Corbucci (; 6 December 1926 – 1 December 1990) was an Italian film director, screenwriter and producer. He directed both very violent Spaghetti Westerns and bloodless Bud Spencer and Terence Hill action comedies. He is the older bro ...
's '' Django'' and
Enzo Barboni Enzo Barboni (7 July 1922 – 23 March 2002), sometimes credited by his pseudonym E.B. Clucher; the surname of his grandmotherp. 115 Wong, Alzia S. ''Spaghetti Westerns: A Viewer's Guide (National Cinemas)'' Rowman & Littlefield Publishers (15 ...
's two Trinity films, as well as some other successful Spaghetti Westerns.


''For a Few Dollars More'' and unstable partnerships

After 1965 when Leone's second Western '' For a Few Dollars More'' brought a larger box office success, the profession of bounty hunter became the choice of occupation of Spaghetti Western heroes in films like '' Arizona Colt'', '' Vengeance Is Mine'', ''
Ten Thousand Dollars for a Massacre ''10.000 dollari per un massacro'' (internationally released as ''$10.000 Blood Money'' and ''Guns of Violence'') is a 1967 Italian Spaghetti Western film directed by Romolo Guerrieri. The film was one of the unofficial sequels of '' Django'', a ...
'', ''
The Ugly Ones ''The Ugly Ones'' ( es: ''El precio de un hombre'', lit. "The Price of a Man", it: ''The Bounty Killer'', later ''La morte ti segue... ma non ha fretta'', lit. "Death follows you... but not in a hurry") is a 1966 Spanish- Italian Spaghetti ...
'', ''
Dead Men Don't Count ''Dead Men Don't Count'' ( es, ¿Quién grita venganza?, it, I morti non si contano, also known as ''Cry for Revenge'') is a 1968 Spanish-Italian Spaghetti Western film written and directed by Rafael Romero Marchent Rafael Romero Marchent (3 Ma ...
'' and ''
Any Gun Can Play ''Any Gun Can Play'' ( it, Vado... l'ammazzo e torno) is a 1967 spaghetti Western starring Gilbert Roland, Edd Byrnes Edward Byrne Breitenberger (July 30, 1932 – January 8, 2020), known professionally as Edd Byrnes, was an American actor, b ...
''. In ''
The Great Silence ''The Great Silence'' ( it, Il grande silenzio) is a 1968 revisionist Spaghetti Western film directed and co-written by Sergio Corbucci. An Italian-French co-production, the film stars Jean-Louis Trintignant, Klaus Kinski, Vonetta McGee (in ...
'' and '' A Minute to Pray, a Second to Die'', the heroes instead fight bounty killers. During this era, many heroes and villains in Spaghetti Westerns began carrying a musical watch, after its ingenious use in '' For a Few Dollars More''. Spaghetti Westerns also began featuring a pair of different heroes. In Leone's film Eastwood's character is an unshaven bounty hunter, dressed similarly to his character in ''
A Fistful of Dollars ''A Fistful of Dollars'' ( it, Per un pugno di dollari, lit=For a Fistful of Dollars titled on-screen as ''Fistful of Dollars'') is a 1964 Spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood in his first leading role, ...
'', who enters an unstable partnership with Colonel Mortimer (
Lee Van Cleef Clarence LeRoy Van Cleef Jr. (January 9, 1925 – December 16, 1989) was an American actor. He appeared in over 170 film and television roles in a career spanning nearly 40 years, but is best known as a star of Italian Spaghetti Westerns, parti ...
), an older bounty killer who uses more sophisticated weaponry and wears a suit, and in the end turns out to also be an avenger. In the following years there was a deluge of Spaghetti Westerns with a pair of heroes with (most often) conflicting motives. Examples include: a lawman and an outlaw (''
And the Crows Will Dig Your Grave ''And the Crows Will Dig Your Grave'' ( es, Los buitres cavarán tu fosa) is a 1971 Spanish western film directed by Juan Bosch and starring Craig Hill, Fernando Sancho and Dominique Boschero. It is composed by Bruno Nicolai. Cast * Craig Hi ...
''), an army officer and an outlaw (''
Bury Them Deep ''Bury Them Deep'' ( it, All'ultimo sangue, also known as ''To the Last Drops of Blood'') is a 1968 Italian Spaghetti Western film written and directed by Paolo Moffa and starring Craig Hill. Plot Cast * Craig Hill as Clive Norton * Et ...
''), an avenger and a (covert) army officer ('' The Hills Run Red''), an avenger and a (covert) guilty party (''Viva! Django'' aka ''
W Django! ''W Django!'' (also known as ''A Man Called Django!'' ) is a 1971 Italian Spaghetti Western film directed by Edoardo Mulargia and starring Anthony Steffen. Plot With the help of the horse thief Carranza, Django tracks down and kills one by one th ...
''), an avenger and a con-man (''
The Dirty Outlaws ''The Dirty Outlaws'', also known as ''Big Ripoff'', ''King of the West'' and ''The Desperado'' (in original Italian, ''El desperado''), is a 1967 Italian Spaghetti Western starring Andrea Giordana. Quentin Tarantino ranked the film 13th in his ...
''), an outlaw posing as a sheriff and a bounty hunter (''Man With the Golden Pistol'' aka ''
Doc, Hands of Steel ''Doc, Hands of Steel'' ( es, Doc, manos de plata, it, L'uomo dalla pistola d'oro, also known as ''The Man Who Came to Kill'' and ''Man with the Golden Pistol'') is a 1965 Spanish-Italian Spaghetti Western film directed by Alfonso Balcázar. ...
'') and an outlaw posing as his twin and a bounty hunter posing as a sheriff (''
A Few Dollars for Django ''A Few Dollars for Django'' ( it, Pochi dollari per Django) is a 1966 Spaghetti Western film directed by León Klimovsky and Enzo G. Castellari and starring Anthony Steffen. Although credited only to León Klimovsky, ''A Few Dollars for Django'' ...
''). The theme of age in '' For a Few Dollars More'', where the younger bounty killer learns valuable lessons from his more experienced colleague and eventually becomes his equal, is taken up in ''
Day of Anger ''Day of Anger'' ( it, I giorni dell'ira, lit. "The Days of Wrath") is a 1967 Spaghetti Western film directed and co-written by Tonino Valerii and starring Lee Van Cleef and Giuliano Gemma, and features a musical score by Riz Ortolani. The film c ...
'' and ''
Death Rides a Horse ''Death Rides a Horse'' ( it, Da uomo a uomo, lit=As man to man) is a 1967 Italian Spaghetti Western directed by Giulio Petroni, written by Luciano Vincenzoni and starring Lee Van Cleef and John Phillip Law. Plot Bill (John Phillip Law), a boy ...
''. In both cases Lee Van Cleef carries on as the older hero versus Giuliano Gemma and John Phillip Law, respectively.


Zapata Westerns

One variant of the hero pair was a revolutionary Mexican bandit and a mostly money-oriented American from the United States frontier. These films are sometimes called Zapata Westerns. The first was
Damiano Damiani Damiano Damiani (23 July 1922 – 7 March 2013) was an Italian screenwriter, film director, actor and writer. Poet and director Pier Paolo Pasolini referred to him as "a bitter moralist hungry for old purity", while film critic Paolo Mere ...
's '' A Bullet for the General'' and then followed
Sergio Sollima Sergio Sollima (17 April 1921 – 1 July 2015) was an Italian film director and script writer. Biography Sollima graduated from the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in 1935. During World War II he was in the Italian Resistance. After the ...
's trilogy: ''
The Big Gundown ''The Big Gundown'' ( it, La resa dei conti, lit=The Settling of Scores) is a 1966 Spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Sollima, and starring Lee Van Cleef and Tomas Milian. Plot Possessing a reputation for bringing criminals to justice, ...
'', '' Face to Face'' and ''
Run, Man, Run ''Run, Man, Run'' ( it, Corri uomo corri, also known as ''Big Gundown 2'') is an Italian- French Zapata Western film. It is the second film of Sergio Sollima centred on the character of Cuchillo, again played by Tomas Milian, after the two-years e ...
''.
Sergio Corbucci Sergio Corbucci (; 6 December 1926 – 1 December 1990) was an Italian film director, screenwriter and producer. He directed both very violent Spaghetti Westerns and bloodless Bud Spencer and Terence Hill action comedies. He is the older bro ...
's '' The Mercenary'' and '' Compañeros'' also belong here, as does ''
Tepepa ''Tepepa'', also known as ''Blood and Guns'', is an Italian epic Spaghetti Western film starring Tomas Milian and Orson Welles. The film was directed by Giulio Petroni. It was co-produced with Spain, where the film was released with the title ''T ...
'' by
Giulio Petroni Giulio Petroni (21 September 1917 – 31 January 2010) was an Italian director, writer, and screenwriter, best known for his spaghetti westerns ''Death Rides a Horse'' (1967), with Lee Van Cleef in one of his first starring roles, '' A Sky Full of ...
—among others. Many of these films enjoyed both good takes at the box office and attention from critics. They are often interpreted as a leftist critique of the typical Hollywood handling of the Mexican Revolution, and of imperialism in general.


''The Good, the Bad and the Ugly'' and universal betrayal

In Leone's ''
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly ''The Good, the Bad and the Ugly'' ( it, Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo, literally "The good, the ugly, the bad") is a 1966 Italian epic spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood as "the Good", Lee Van Clee ...
'' there is still the scheme of a pair of heroes vs. a villain but it is somewhat relaxed, as here all three parties were driven by a money motive. In subsequent films like ''
Any Gun Can Play ''Any Gun Can Play'' ( it, Vado... l'ammazzo e torno) is a 1967 spaghetti Western starring Gilbert Roland, Edd Byrnes Edward Byrne Breitenberger (July 30, 1932 – January 8, 2020), known professionally as Edd Byrnes, was an American actor, b ...
'' (which's Italian title, "''Vado... l'ammazzo e torno''", is itself a quote from Leone's masterpiece), '' One Dollar Too Many'' and ''
Kill Them All and Come Back Alone ''Kill Them All and Come Back Alone'' (Italian: ''Ammazzali tutti e torna solo'') is a 1968 Italian Spaghetti Western film directed by Enzo G. Castellari. It stars American actors Chuck Connors and Frank Wolff, and features a film score by Fr ...
'' several main characters repeatedly form alliances and betray each other for monetary gain. '' Sabata'' and ''
If You Meet Sartana Pray for Your Death ''If You Meet Sartana Pray for Your Death'' ( it, Se incontri Sartana prega per la tua morte) is a 1968 Spaghetti Western film directed by Gianfranco Parolini. The film stars Gianni Garko, William Berger, Fernando Sancho and Klaus Kinski, and ...
'', directed by
Gianfranco Parolini Gianfranco Parolini (20 February 1925 in Rome, Italy – 26 April 2018 in Rome, Italy) was an Italian film director. He is often credited as Frank Kramer. Among his films are '' The Sabata Trilogy'', several sword and sandal films, most of the Ko ...
, introduce into similar betrayal environments a kind of hero molded on the Mortimer character from '' For a Few Dollars More'', only without any vengeance motive and with more outrageous trick weapons. Fittingly enough Sabata is portrayed by
Lee Van Cleef Clarence LeRoy Van Cleef Jr. (January 9, 1925 – December 16, 1989) was an American actor. He appeared in over 170 film and television roles in a career spanning nearly 40 years, but is best known as a star of Italian Spaghetti Westerns, parti ...
himself, while John Garko plays the very similar
Sartana ''Sartana'' is a series of Spaghetti Western films which follows the adventures of the title character, a gunfighter and gambler who uses mechanical gadgets and seemingly supernatural powers to trick his rivals. The series features five official ...
protagonist. Parolini made some more Sabata movies while
Giuliano Carnimeo Giuliano Carnimeo (born Carmineo; 4 July 1932 – 10 September 2016) was an Italian director and screenwriter, sometimes credited as Anthony Ascott or Antony Ascot. Life and career Born in Bari, Carmineo started his career as assistant direct ...
made a whole series of Sartana films with Garko.


''Django'' and the tragic hero

Beside the first three Spaghetti Westerns by Leone, a most influential film was
Sergio Corbucci Sergio Corbucci (; 6 December 1926 – 1 December 1990) was an Italian film director, screenwriter and producer. He directed both very violent Spaghetti Westerns and bloodless Bud Spencer and Terence Hill action comedies. He is the older bro ...
's '' Django'' starring
Franco Nero Francesco Clemente Giuseppe Sparanero (born 23 November 1941), known professionally as Franco Nero, is an Italian actor, producer, and director. His breakthrough role was as the title character in the Spaghetti Western film '' Django'' (1966), ...
. Django was one of the most violent Spaghetti Westerns. The titular character is torn between several motives – money or revenge – and his choices bring misery to him and to a woman close to him. Indicative of this film's influence on the Spaghetti Western style, "Django" is the hero's name in a plenitude of subsequent westerns. Even though his character is not named Django, Franco Nero brings a similar ambience to ''
Texas, Adios ''Texas, Adios'' (Italian language, Italian: ''Texas, addio'') is a 1966 Italian/Spanish international co-production Spaghetti Western film directed by Ferdinando Baldi and starring Franco Nero. It is often referenced in connection with ''Django ...
'' and ''
Massacre Time ''Massacre Time'' ( it, Le colt cantarono la morte e fu... tempo di massacro, lit=The Colt Sang Death and it was... Massacre Time) is a 1966 Italian Spaghetti Western film starring Franco Nero and George Hilton. Plot In New Mexico, Tom Corbett ...
'' where the hero must confront surprising and dangerous family relations. Similar "prodigal son" stories followed, including '' Chuck Moll'', ''
Keoma Keoma is a hamlet in southern Alberta under the jurisdiction of Rocky View County. Keoma is located approximately 35 km (21 mi) northeast of Downtown Calgary, on Highway 566, 2.0 km (1.2 mi) east of Highway 9 and 19 km (12 mi) north of the ...
'', ''
The Return of Ringo ''The Return of Ringo'' ( it, Il ritorno di Ringo) is a 1965 Italian Spaghetti Western film directed by Duccio Tessari and the sequel to the earlier film ''A Pistol for Ringo''. Like its predecessor, the film features a score composed by Ennio Mo ...
'', ''
The Forgotten Pistolero ''The Forgotten Pistolero'' (Italian: ''Il pistolero dell'Ave Maria'', lit. "The Gunman of Hail Mary") is a 1969 Italian Spaghetti Western film co-written and directed by Ferdinando Baldi. The film is a western adaptation of the Greek myth of Or ...
'', '' One Thousand Dollars on the Black'', ''
Johnny Hamlet ''Johnny Hamlet'' ( it, Quella sporca storia nel West, lit=That Dirty Story in the West is a 1968 Italian film directed by Enzo G. Castellari. The film is a Spaghetti Western version of William Shakespeare's tragedy ''Hamlet''. Plot Johnny Hamil ...
'' and also ''
Seven Dollars on the Red '' Sette dollari sul rosso '' (released in the United States as ''Seven Dollars on the Red'' or ''Seven Dollars to Kill'') is a 1966 Italian Spaghetti Western film directed by Alberto Cardone. It stars Anthony Steffen as the main character. ...
''. Another type of wronged hero is set up and must clear himself from accusations. Giuliano Gemma starred in a series of successful films carrying this theme – ''
Adiós gringo ''Adiós gringo'' is a 1965 Spaghetti Western directed by Giorgio Stegani. It stars Giuliano Gemma and was co produced between Italy, Spain and France. A major success in Italy, it was the 4th highest grossing Italian picture of the year. Plot A ...
'', ''
For a Few Extra Dollars ''Fort Yuma Gold'' ( it, Per pochi dollari ancora, lit=For a Few Extra Dollars) is a 1966 Italian/Spanish/French international co-production Spaghetti Western film directed by Giorgio Ferroni. Plot Confederate Major Sanders (Jacques Sernas), co ...
'', ''
Long Days of Vengeance ''Long Days of Vengeance'' ( it, I lunghi giorni della vendetta is a 1967 Western film directed by Florestano Vancini. It is the only western directed by Vancini, here credited as Stan Vance. The film is a Spaghetti Western version of Alexandre ...
'', '' Wanted'', and to some extent ''
Blood for a Silver Dollar ''Blood for a Silver Dollar'' ( it, Un dollaro bucato) is a 1965 Spaghetti Western, Spaghetti Western film directed by Giorgio Ferroni, written by Giorgio Stegani and Ferroni, and starring Giuliano Gemma and Ida Galli. Plot synopsis Gary O'Hara, ...
– ''where most often his character is called "Gary". The wronged hero who becomes an avenger appears in many Spaghetti Westerns. Among the more commercially successful films with a hero dedicated to vengeance – '' For a Few Dollars More'', ''
Once Upon a Time in the West ''Once Upon a Time in the West'' ( , "Once upon a time (there was) the West") is a 1968 epic Spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Leone, who co-wrote it with Sergio Donati based on a story by Dario Argento, Bernardo Bertolucci, and Leone ...
'', '' Today We Kill... Tomorrow We Die!'', ''
A Reason to Live, a Reason to Die ''A Reason to Live, a Reason to Die'' (originally titled ''Una Ragione Per Vivere E Una Per Morire'', also known as ''Massacre at Fort Holman'') is a 1972 in film, 1972 Technicolor Italian Spaghetti Western movie starring James Coburn, Bud Spencer ...
'', ''
Death Rides a Horse ''Death Rides a Horse'' ( it, Da uomo a uomo, lit=As man to man) is a 1967 Italian Spaghetti Western directed by Giulio Petroni, written by Luciano Vincenzoni and starring Lee Van Cleef and John Phillip Law. Plot Bill (John Phillip Law), a boy ...
'', ''
Django, Prepare a Coffin ''Django, Prepare a Coffin'' ( it, Preparati la bara!, “Prepare the Coffin!”), alternatively titled ''Viva Django'', is a List of Italian films of 1968, 1968 Cinema of Italy, Italian Spaghetti Western film directed by Ferdinando Baldi. The f ...
'', ''
The Deserter The Deserter or Deserter (s) may refer to: Film and television * ''The Deserter'' (1912 film), a silent film by Thomas H. Ince * ''The Deserter'' (1933 film), a film by Vsevolod Pudovkin * ''The Deserter'' (1971 film), a film by Burt Kennedy ...
'', '' Hate for Hate'', ''
Halleluja for Django ''La più grande rapina del West'' (released as ''Halleluja for Django'' in the US and as ''The Greatest Kidnapping in the West'' in Great Britain) is a 1967 Italian Spaghetti Western film directed by Maurizio Lucidi. It was referred as a film ...
– ''those with whom he cooperates typically have conflicting motivations.


The "Trinity" films and triumph of comedy

In 1968, the wave of Spaghetti Westerns reached its crest, comprising one-third of the Italian film production, only to collapse to one-tenth in 1969. However, the considerable box office success of
Enzo Barboni Enzo Barboni (7 July 1922 – 23 March 2002), sometimes credited by his pseudonym E.B. Clucher; the surname of his grandmotherp. 115 Wong, Alzia S. ''Spaghetti Westerns: A Viewer's Guide (National Cinemas)'' Rowman & Littlefield Publishers (15 ...
's ''
They Call Me Trinity ''They Call Me Trinity'' ( it, Lo chiamavano Trinità...) is a 1970 Italian Spaghetti Western comedy film written and directed by Enzo Barboni (under the pseudonym of E.B. Clucher) and produced by Italo Zingarelli. The film stars Terence Hill an ...
'' and the pyramidal one of its follow-up ''
Trinity Is Still My Name ''Trinity Is Still My Name'' ( it, ...continuavano a chiamarlo Trinità, lit. "...they kept calling him Trinity") is a 1971 Italian Spaghetti Western comedy film directed by Enzo Barboni. Starring Terence Hill and Bud Spencer, it is a sequel ...
'' gave Italian filmmakers a new model to emulate. The main characters were played by
Terence Hill Terence Hill (born Mario Girotti; 29 March 1939) is an Italian actor, film director, screenwriter and producer. He began his career as a child actor and gained international fame for starring roles in action and comedy films, many with longtim ...
and
Bud Spencer Carlo Pedersoli (31 October 1929 – 27 June 2016), known professionally as Bud Spencer, was an Italian actor, professional swimmer and water polo player. He was known for action-comedy and Spaghetti Western roles with his long-time film partn ...
, who had already cooperated as hero pair in earlier Spaghetti Westerns '' God Forgives... I Don't!'', ''
Boot Hill Boot Hill, or Boothill, is the given name of many cemeteries, chiefly in the Western United States. During the 19th and early 20th century it was a common name for the burial grounds of gunfighters, or those who " died with their boots on" (i.e ...
'' and ''
Ace High Allied Command Europe Highband, better known as ACE High, was a fixed service NATO radiocommunication and early warning system dating back to 1956. After extensive testing ACE High was accepted by NATO to become operational in 1964/1965. The fr ...
'' directed by
Giuseppe Colizzi Giuseppe Colizzi (28 June 1925 – 23 August 1978) was an Italian film director, writer and producer. Colizzi was best known for his spaghetti westerns starring Bud Spencer and Terence Hill. Filmography * ''Beautiful Families'' (1964) * '' ...
. The humor started in those movies already, with scenes with comedy fighting, but the Barboni films became burlesque comedies. They feature the quick but lazy Trinity (Hill) and his big, strong and irritable brother Bambino (Spencer). The stories lampoon stereotypical Western characters such as diligent farmers, lawmen and bounty hunters. There was a wave of Trinity-inspired films with quick and strong heroes, the former kind often called Trinity or perhaps coming from "a place called Trinity", and with no or few killings. Because the two model stories contained religious pacifists to account for the absence of gunplay, all the successors contained religious groups or at least priests, sometimes as one of the heroes. The music for the two Trinity westerns (composed by Franco Micalizzi and
Guido & Maurizio De Angelis Guido and Maurizio De Angelis, also known as Oliver Onions, are a prolific duo of Italian musicians, multi-instrumentalists, composers and singers, as well as television and film producers. They reached the height of their popularity in the 1970 ...
, respectively) also reflected the change into a lighter and more sentimental mood. The Trinity-inspired films also adopted this less serious and often maligned style. Some critics deplore these post-Trinity films and their soundtracks as a degeneration of the "real" Spaghetti Westerns. Indeed, Hill's and Spencer's skillful use of body language was a hard act to follow and it is significant that the most successful of the post-Trinity films featured Hill (''
Man of the East Man of the East ( it, E poi lo chiamarono il magnifico) is a 1972 Italian Spaghetti Western film directed by Enzo Barboni starring Terence Hill. The film is set in the Wild West during the time of the railway construction. A recurring theme is ...
'', '' A Genius, Two Partners and a Dupe''), Spencer (''
It Can Be Done Amigo ''It Can Be Done Amigo'' (Italian: ''Si può fare... amigo'') is a 1972 Spanish / Italian / French film directed by Maurizio Lucidi. The film is also known as ''Saddle Tramps'' (English title in Canada) Plot summary Coburn is pursued by the gu ...
'') and a pair of Hill/Spencer look-alikes in ''Carambola''. Spaghetti Western old hand
Franco Nero Francesco Clemente Giuseppe Sparanero (born 23 November 1941), known professionally as Franco Nero, is an Italian actor, producer, and director. His breakthrough role was as the title character in the Spaghetti Western film '' Django'' (1966), ...
also worked in this subgenre with '' Cipolla Colt'' and
Tomas Milian Tomas Milian (born Tomás Quintín Rodríguez-Varona Milián Salinas de la Fé y Álvarez de la Campa; 3 March 1933 – 22 March 2017) was a Cuban-born actor and singer with American and Italian citizenship, known for the emotional intensity and ...
plays an outrageous "quick" bounty hunter modeled on
Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr. (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is consider ...
's Little Tramp in '' Sometimes Life Is Hard, Eh Providence?'' and ''Here We Go Again, Eh, Providence?''


Twilight of the genre

In 1975, Terence Hill still could draw large audiences in the post-Trinity
caper story The caper story is a subgenre of crime fiction. The typical caper story involves one or more crimes (especially thefts, swindles, or occasionally kidnappings) perpetrated by the main characters in full view of the reader. The actions of police or ...
Western '' A Genius, Two Partners and a Dupe'', and the following year Franco Nero achieved likewise as a Django-style hero in ''
Keoma Keoma is a hamlet in southern Alberta under the jurisdiction of Rocky View County. Keoma is located approximately 35 km (21 mi) northeast of Downtown Calgary, on Highway 566, 2.0 km (1.2 mi) east of Highway 9 and 19 km (12 mi) north of the ...
''. However, by the end of the 1970s, the different types of Spaghetti Westerns had lost their following among mainstream cinema audiences and the production had ground to a virtual halt. Belated attempts to revive the genre included the comedy film ''
Buddy Goes West ''Buddy goes West'' ( it, Occhio alla penna, also known as ''A fist goes West'') is a 1981 Spaghetti Western comedy film directed by Michele Lupo. Plot In the Old West, a mysterious man, nicknamed "Doc", arrives in a dusty town. Doc is a band ...
'' (1981), the Spanish-American coproduction '' Comin' at Ya!'' (also 1981) shot in 3D, and ''
Django Strikes Again ''Django Strikes Again'' ( it, Django 2 - Il grande ritorno, lit. "Django 2 - The Great Return") is a 1987 Italian Spaghetti Western film directed by Nello Rossati, under the pseudonym Ted Archer. It is the only official sequel to '' Django''. S ...
'' (1987).


Other notable themes in Spaghetti Westerns


"Cult" Spaghetti Westerns

Some movies that were not very successful at the box office still earn a "cult" status in some segment of the audience because of certain exceptional features in story and/or presentation. One "cult" Spaghetti Western that also has drawn attention from critics is
Giulio Questi Giulio Questi (18 March 1924 – 3 December 2014) was an Italian film director and screenwriter.Marco Giusti, Dizionario dei film italiani stracult, Roma, Frassinelli, 2004. Questi was born in Bergamo. He wrote short stories and filmed se ...
's ''
Django Kill ''Django Kill... If You Live, Shoot!'' ( it, Se sei vivo spara, lit=If You Live Shoot) is a 1967 Spaghetti Western film directed by Giulio Questi and starring Tomas Milian, Marilù Tolo, Roberto Camardiel, and Ray Lovelock in his film debut. ...
''. Other "cult" items are
Cesare Canevari Cesare Canevari (13 October 1927 - 25 October 2012) was an Italian actor, director and screenwriter. Life and career Born in Milan, Canevari began his career shortly after World War II as a stage actor, occasionally also appearing in films in ...
's ''
Matalo! ''Matalo!'' (also spelled as ''Mátalo'') is a 1970 Italian Spaghetti Western film directed by Cesare Canevari. The film is considered among the most original western ever produced in Italy.Dossier Nocturno n. 31, ''Ai confini del western. Zone ...
'',
Tony Anthony Darrell W. Anthony (born April 12, 1960) is a retired American professional wrestler, also known by his ring name Dirty White Boy. He wrestled primarily for independent promotions in the Southeastern United States. He was most active throughout ...
's ''
Blindman ''Blindman'' (also known in Italian as ''Il Pistolero Cieco'', lit. "The Blind Gunfighter") is a 1971 Spaghetti Western film directed by Ferdinando Baldi and co-written and co-produced by Tony Anthony. The film's protagonist, played by Anthony, ...
'' and
Joaquín Luis Romero Marchent Joaquín Luis Romero Marchent (26 August 1921 – 16 August 2012) was a Spanish screenwriter and film director. He directed several Spaghetti Westerns during the 1960s. He died on 16 August 2012 at the age of 91 in Madrid Madrid ( , ) is ...
's ''Cut-Throats Nine'' (the latter among
gore film A splatter film is a subgenre of horror films that deliberately focuses on graphic portrayals of wikt:gore, gore and graphic violence. These films, usually through the use of special effects, display a fascination with the vulnerability of the h ...
audiences).


Historical backgrounds

The few Spaghetti Westerns containing historical characters like Buffalo Bill,
Wyatt Earp Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp (March 19, 1848 – January 13, 1929) was an American lawman and gambler in the American West, including Dodge City, Deadwood, and Tombstone. Earp took part in the famous gunfight at the O.K. Corral, during which l ...
,
Billy the Kid Billy the Kid (born Henry McCarty; September 17 or November 23, 1859July 14, 1881), also known by the pseudonym William H. Bonney, was an outlaw and gunfighter of the American Old West, who killed eight men before he was shot and killed at t ...
etc. mainly appear before ''
A Fistful of Dollars ''A Fistful of Dollars'' ( it, Per un pugno di dollari, lit=For a Fistful of Dollars titled on-screen as ''Fistful of Dollars'') is a 1964 Spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood in his first leading role, ...
'' had put its mark on the genre. Likewise, and in contrast to the contemporary German Westerns, few films feature Native Americans. When they appear they are more often portrayed as victims of discrimination than as dangerous foes. The only fairly successful Spaghetti Western with a Native American main character (played by
Burt Reynolds Burton Leon Reynolds Jr. (February 11, 1936 – September 6, 2018) was an American actor, considered a sex symbol and icon of 1970s American popular culture. Reynolds first rose to prominence when he starred in television series such as ' ...
in his only European Western outing) is
Sergio Corbucci Sergio Corbucci (; 6 December 1926 – 1 December 1990) was an Italian film director, screenwriter and producer. He directed both very violent Spaghetti Westerns and bloodless Bud Spencer and Terence Hill action comedies. He is the older bro ...
's ''
Navajo Joe ''Navajo Joe'' is a 1966 Spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Corbucci and starring Burt Reynolds as the titular Navajo Indian who opposes a group of bandits responsible for killing his tribe. Plot Having massacred an Indian village with h ...
'', where the (supposedly) Navajo village is wiped out by bandits during the first minutes, and the avenger hero spends the rest of the film dealing mostly with Anglos and Mexicans until the final showdown at a Native American burial ground.


Ancient myths and Classic literature

Several Spaghetti Westerns are inspired by classical myths and dramas. Titles like ''Fedra West'' (also called '' Ballad of a Bounty Hunter'') and ''
Johnny Hamlet ''Johnny Hamlet'' ( it, Quella sporca storia nel West, lit=That Dirty Story in the West is a 1968 Italian film directed by Enzo G. Castellari. The film is a Spaghetti Western version of William Shakespeare's tragedy ''Hamlet''. Plot Johnny Hamil ...
'' signify the connection to
Greek myth A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities of d ...
and possibly the plays by
Euripides Euripides (; grc, Εὐριπίδης, Eurīpídēs, ; ) was a tragedian Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful e ...
and
Racine Jean-Baptiste Racine ( , ) (; 22 December 163921 April 1699) was a French dramatist, one of the three great playwrights of 17th-century France, along with Molière and Corneille as well as an important literary figure in the Western traditi ...
and the
play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * Pla ...
by
William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
, respectively. The latter also inspired ''Dust in the Sun (1972)'', which follows its original more closely than Johnny Hamlet, where the hero survives. ''
The Forgotten Pistolero ''The Forgotten Pistolero'' (Italian: ''Il pistolero dell'Ave Maria'', lit. "The Gunman of Hail Mary") is a 1969 Italian Spaghetti Western film co-written and directed by Ferdinando Baldi. The film is a western adaptation of the Greek myth of Or ...
'' is based on the vengeance of
Orestes In Greek mythology, Orestes or Orestis (; grc-gre, Ὀρέστης ) was the son of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon, and the brother of Electra. He is the subject of several Ancient Greek plays and of various myths connected with his madness an ...
. There are similarities between the story of ''
The Return of Ringo ''The Return of Ringo'' ( it, Il ritorno di Ringo) is a 1965 Italian Spaghetti Western film directed by Duccio Tessari and the sequel to the earlier film ''A Pistol for Ringo''. Like its predecessor, the film features a score composed by Ennio Mo ...
'' and the last canto of
Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...
's ''
Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; grc, Ὀδύσσεια, Odýsseia, ) is one of two major Ancient Greek literature, ancient Greek Epic poetry, epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by moder ...
''. ''
Fury of Johnny Kid ''Fury of Johnny Kid'' ( it, Dove si spara di più, es, La furia de Johnny Kidd, also known as ''Ultimate Gunfighter'') is a 1967 Italian-Spanish film directed by Gianni Puccini. The Italian and Spanish versions of the film have different endings ...
'' follows Shakespeare's ''
Romeo and Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetim ...
'', but (again) with a different ending—the loving couple leave together while their families annihilate each other.


Spaghetti Western musicals

Some Italian Western films were made as vehicles for musical stars, like
Ferdinando Baldi Ferdinando Baldi (19 May 1917 – 12 September 2007) was an Italian film director and screenwriter. Biography Baldi was born in Cava de' Tirreni, Salerno, on 19 May 1917. His early film work began in Italy in the early 1950s with films s ...
's ''Rita of the West'' featuring Rita Pavone and
Terence Hill Terence Hill (born Mario Girotti; 29 March 1939) is an Italian actor, film director, screenwriter and producer. He began his career as a child actor and gained international fame for starring roles in action and comedy films, many with longtim ...
. In non-singing roles were
Ringo Starr Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the ...
as a villain in ''
Blindman ''Blindman'' (also known in Italian as ''Il Pistolero Cieco'', lit. "The Blind Gunfighter") is a 1971 Spaghetti Western film directed by Ferdinando Baldi and co-written and co-produced by Tony Anthony. The film's protagonist, played by Anthony, ...
'' and French rock 'n' roll veteran
Johnny Hallyday Jean-Philippe Léo Smet (; 15 June 1943 – 5 December 2017), better known by his stage name Johnny Hallyday, was a French rock and roll and pop singer and actor, credited for having brought rock and roll to France. During a career spanning 57 ...
as the gunfighter/avenger hero in
Sergio Corbucci Sergio Corbucci (; 6 December 1926 – 1 December 1990) was an Italian film director, screenwriter and producer. He directed both very violent Spaghetti Westerns and bloodless Bud Spencer and Terence Hill action comedies. He is the older bro ...
's '' The Specialists''.


East Asian connections

The story of ''A Fistful of Dollars'' was closely based on
Akira Kurosawa was a Japanese filmmaker and painter who directed thirty films in a career spanning over five decades. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema. Kurosawa displayed a bold, dyna ...
's ''
Yojimbo is a 1961 Japanese Samurai cinema, samurai film co-written, produced, edited, and directed by Akira Kurosawa. The film stars Toshiro Mifune, Tatsuya Nakadai, Yoko Tsukasa, Isuzu Yamada, Daisuke Katō, Takashi Shimura, Kamatari Fujiwara, and Ats ...
''. Kurosawa sued Sergio Leone for plagiarism, and was compensated with the exclusive distribution rights to the movie in Japan, where its hero, Clint Eastwood, was already a huge star due to the popularity of the TV series ''Rawhide'': Leone would have done far better financially by obtaining Kurosawa's advance permission to use ''Yojimbos script. ''
Requiem for a Gringo ''Requiem for a Gringo'' ( it, Requiem per un gringo, es, Réquiem para el gringo, also known as ''Duel in the Eclipse'') is a 1968 Italian-Spanish Spaghetti Western film directed by Eugenio Martín and José Luis Merino and starring Lang Jeffr ...
'' shows many traces from another well-known Japanese film,
Masaki Kobayashi was a Japanese film director and screenwriter, best known for the epic trilogy ''The Human Condition'' (1959–1961), the samurai films '' Harakiri'' (1962) and '' Samurai Rebellion'' (1967), and the horror anthology ''Kwaidan'' (1964). ''Sens ...
's ''
Harakiri , sometimes referred to as hara-kiri (, , a native Japanese kun reading), is a form of Japanese ritual suicide by disembowelment. It was originally reserved for samurai in their code of honour but was also practised by other Japanese people ...
''. When Asian
martial arts film Martial arts films are a subgenre of action films that feature numerous martial arts combat between characters. These combats are usually the films' primary appeal and entertainment value, and often are a method of storytelling and character expres ...
s started to draw crowds in European cinema houses, the producers of Spaghetti Westerns tried to hang on, this time not by adapting story-lines but rather by directly including martial arts in the films, performed by Eastern actors—for example Chen Lee in ''
My Name Is Shanghai Joe ''The Fighting Fist of Shanghai Joe'' (Italian: ''Il mio nome è Shanghai Joe'', lit. "My name is Shanghai Joe") is a 1973 Spaghetti Western kung fu film directed by Mario Caiano and starring Chen Lee as Shanghai Joe. The film was released in a ...
'' or
Lo Lieh Wang Lap Tat (June 29, 1939 – November 2, 2002), better known by his stage name Lo Lieh, was an Indonesian-born Hong Kong film actor and martial artist. Lo was perhaps best known as Chao Chih-Hao in the 1972 martial arts film '' King Boxer' ...
teaming up with
Lee Van Cleef Clarence LeRoy Van Cleef Jr. (January 9, 1925 – December 16, 1989) was an American actor. He appeared in over 170 film and television roles in a career spanning nearly 40 years, but is best known as a star of Italian Spaghetti Westerns, parti ...
in '' The Stranger and the Gunfighter''.


Political allegories

Some Spaghetti Westerns incorporated political overtones, particularly from the
political left Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...
. An example of such a film is ''
Requiescant ''Requiescant'', also known as ''Kill and Pray'', is a 1967 Spaghetti Western film directed by Carlo Lizzani. Synopsis After surviving his family being massacred, a young boy is taken in and raised by a priest. Years later he comes face to face ...
'', featuring Italian author/film director
Pier Paolo Pasolini Pier Paolo Pasolini (; 5 March 1922 – 2 November 1975) was an Italian poet, filmmaker, writer and intellectual who also distinguished himself as a journalist, novelist, translator, playwright, visual artist and actor. He is considered one of ...
as a major supporting character. Pasolini's character is a priest who espouses
Liberation theology Liberation theology is a Christian theological approach emphasizing the liberation of the oppressed. In certain contexts, it engages socio-economic analyses, with "social concern for the poor and political liberation for oppressed peoples". In ...
. The film concerns oppression of poor Mexicans by rich Anglos and ends on a call for arms but it does not fit easily as a
Zapata Western The Spaghetti Western is a broad subgenre of Western films produced in Europe. It emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's film-making style and international box-office success. The term was used by foreign critics because most o ...
, as it lacks the typical hero pair of a flamboyant Latin revolutionary and an Anglo specialist. ''
The Price of Power ''The Price of Power'' ( it, Il prezzo del potere) is a 1969 Spaghetti Western directed by Tonino Valerii. The film stars Giuliano Gemma as the hero Bill Willer who tries to get revenge against the killers of his father while at the same time tr ...
'' serves a political allegory about the
assassination of John F. Kennedy John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, was assassinated on Friday, November 22, 1963, at 12:30 p.m. CST in Dallas, Texas, while riding in a presidential motorcade through Dealey Plaza. Kennedy was in the vehicle with ...
, and racism. The movie concerns the assassination of an American president in Dallas, Texas by a group of Southern white supremacists who frame an innocent African American. They are opposed by an unstable partnership between a whistle-blower ( Giuliano Gemma) and a political aide.


Sexuality in the Spaghetti Western

Though the Spaghetti Westerns from ''A Fistful of Dollars'' and on featured more violence and killings than earlier American Western films, they generally shared the parental genre's restrictive attitude toward explicit sexuality. However, in response to the growing commercial success of various shades of sex films, there was a greater exposure of naked skin in some Spaghetti Westerns, among others '' Dead Men Ride'' (1971) and ''
Heads or Tails Coin flipping, coin tossing, or heads or tails is the practice of throwing a coin in the air and checking obverse and reverse, which side is showing when it lands, in order to choose between two alternatives, heads or tails, sometimes used to res ...
'' (1969). In the former and partly the latter, the sex scenes feature coercion and violence against women. Even though it is hinted at in some films, like ''
Django Kill ''Django Kill... If You Live, Shoot!'' ( it, Se sei vivo spara, lit=If You Live Shoot) is a 1967 Spaghetti Western film directed by Giulio Questi and starring Tomas Milian, Marilù Tolo, Roberto Camardiel, and Ray Lovelock in his film debut. ...
'' and ''
Requiescant ''Requiescant'', also known as ''Kill and Pray'', is a 1967 Spaghetti Western film directed by Carlo Lizzani. Synopsis After surviving his family being massacred, a young boy is taken in and raised by a priest. Years later he comes face to face ...
'', open homosexuality plays a marginal part in Spaghetti Westerns. The exception is
Giorgio Capitani Giorgio Capitani (29 December 1927 – 25 March 2017) was an Italian film director and screenwriter. He directed 40 films between 1954 and 2012. He also wrote for 12 films. He was born in Paris, France. Selected filmography * '' The Flam ...
's ''
The Ruthless Four ''The Ruthless Four'' ( it, Ognuno per sé, lit=Everyone for Himself) is a 1968 Western film directed by Giorgio Capitani and starring Van Heflin. Cast * Van Heflin as Sam Cooper * Gilbert Roland as Mason * Klaus Kinski as Brent the Blonde ...
– ''in effect a gay version of
John Huston John Marcellus Huston ( ; August 5, 1906 – August 28, 1987) was an American film director, screenwriter, actor and visual artist. He wrote the screenplays for most of the 37 feature films he directed, many of which are today considered ...
's '' The Treasure of the Sierra Madre – ''where the explicit homosexual relation between two of its male main characters and some gay cueing scenes are embedded with other forms of man-to-man relations through the story.


Reception

In the 1960s, critics recognized that the American genres were rapidly changing. The genre most identifiably American, the Western, seemed to be evolving into a new, rougher form. For many critics, Sergio Leone's films were part of the problem. Leone's ''
Dollars Trilogy ''Dollars Trilogy'' ( it, link=no, Trilogia del dollaro), also known as the ''Man with No Name Trilogy'' ( it, link=no, Trilogia dell'Uomo senza nome) or the ''Blood Money Trilogy'', is an Italian film series consisting of three Spaghetti Weste ...
'' (1964–1966) was not the beginning of the "Spaghetti Western" cycle in Italy, but for some Americans Leone's films represented the true beginning of the Italian invasion of an American genre. Christopher Frayling, in his noted book on the Italian Western, describes American critical reception of the Spaghetti Western cycle as, to "a large extent, confined to a sterile debate about the 'cultural roots' of the American/Hollywood Western." He remarks that few critics dared admit that they were, in fact, "bored with an exhausted Hollywood genre."
Pauline Kael Pauline Kael (; June 19, 1919 – September 3, 2001) was an American film critic who wrote for ''The New Yorker'' magazine from 1968 to 1991. Known for her "witty, biting, highly opinionated and sharply focused" reviews, Kael's opinions oft ...
, Frayling notes, was willing to acknowledge this critical ennui and thus appreciate how a film such as
Akira Kurosawa was a Japanese filmmaker and painter who directed thirty films in a career spanning over five decades. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema. Kurosawa displayed a bold, dyna ...
's ''
Yojimbo is a 1961 Japanese Samurai cinema, samurai film co-written, produced, edited, and directed by Akira Kurosawa. The film stars Toshiro Mifune, Tatsuya Nakadai, Yoko Tsukasa, Isuzu Yamada, Daisuke Katō, Takashi Shimura, Kamatari Fujiwara, and Ats ...
'' (1961) "could exploit the conventions of the Western genre, while debunking its morality." Frayling and other film scholars such as Bondanella argue that this revisionism was the key to Leone's success and, to some degree, to that of the Spaghetti Western genre as a whole.


The retrospective of the Venice Film Festival

In 2007 a
retrospective A retrospective (from Latin ''retrospectare'', "look back"), generally, is a look back at events that took place, or works that were produced, in the past. As a noun, ''retrospective'' has specific meanings in medicine, software development, popu ...
took place, as part of the
Venice International Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival he ...
, which wanted to pay homage to the genre. The retrospective included 32 films: *''
The Seven from Texas ''The Seven from Texas'' ( es, Antes llega la muert, it, I sette del Texas, also known as ''Seven Guns from Texas'' and ''Hour of Death'') is a 1964 Spanish-Italian western film directed by Joaquín Luis Romero Marchent. It was shown as part of ...
'' (1964) by Joaquin Luis Romero Marchent *'' 100.000 dollari per Ringo'' (1965) by
Alberto De Martino Alberto De Martino (12 June 1929 – 2 June 2015) was an Italian film director and screenwriter. Born in Rome, De Martino started as a child actor and later returned to the cinema where worked as a screenwriter, director and dubbing supervis ...
*''
The Return of Ringo ''The Return of Ringo'' ( it, Il ritorno di Ringo) is a 1965 Italian Spaghetti Western film directed by Duccio Tessari and the sequel to the earlier film ''A Pistol for Ringo''. Like its predecessor, the film features a score composed by Ennio Mo ...
'' (1965) by
Duccio Tessari Duccio Tessari (11 October 1926 – 6 September 1994) was an Italian director, screenwriter and actor, considered one of the fathers of Spaghetti Westerns. Born in Genoa, Tessari started in the fifties as documentarist and as screenwriter of pe ...
*'' Savage Gringo'' (1965) by
Mario Bava Mario Bava (31 July 1914 – 27 April 1980) was an Italian filmmaker who worked variously as a director, cinematographer, special effects artist and screenwriter, frequently referred to as the "Master of Italian Horror" and the "Master of the M ...
and
Antonio Román Antonio Román (9 November 1911 – 16 June 1989) was a prolific Spanish film director, screenwriter, film producer. Antonio Román was born Ourense, Spain on 9 November 1911. Román began directing films in the later 1930s starting with doc ...
*''
Blood for a Silver Dollar ''Blood for a Silver Dollar'' ( it, Un dollaro bucato) is a 1965 Spaghetti Western, Spaghetti Western film directed by Giorgio Ferroni, written by Giorgio Stegani and Ferroni, and starring Giuliano Gemma and Ida Galli. Plot synopsis Gary O'Hara, ...
'' (1965) by
Giorgio Ferroni Giorgio Ferroni (12 April 1908 – 1981) was an Italian film director. Life and career Giorgio Ferroni was born in Perugia on 12 April 1908. Ferroni began his career in film with short documentaries during World War II World War  ...
*'' Django'' (1965) - Full version - by
Sergio Corbucci Sergio Corbucci (; 6 December 1926 – 1 December 1990) was an Italian film director, screenwriter and producer. He directed both very violent Spaghetti Westerns and bloodless Bud Spencer and Terence Hill action comedies. He is the older bro ...
*''
The Ugly Ones ''The Ugly Ones'' ( es: ''El precio de un hombre'', lit. "The Price of a Man", it: ''The Bounty Killer'', later ''La morte ti segue... ma non ha fretta'', lit. "Death follows you... but not in a hurry") is a 1966 Spanish- Italian Spaghetti ...
'' (1966) by Eugenio Martin *''
The Big Gundown ''The Big Gundown'' ( it, La resa dei conti, lit=The Settling of Scores) is a 1966 Spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Sollima, and starring Lee Van Cleef and Tomas Milian. Plot Possessing a reputation for bringing criminals to justice, ...
'' (1966) by
Sergio Sollima Sergio Sollima (17 April 1921 – 1 July 2015) was an Italian film director and script writer. Biography Sollima graduated from the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in 1935. During World War II he was in the Italian Resistance. After the ...
*''
Navajo Joe ''Navajo Joe'' is a 1966 Spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Corbucci and starring Burt Reynolds as the titular Navajo Indian who opposes a group of bandits responsible for killing his tribe. Plot Having massacred an Indian village with h ...
'' (1966) by
Sergio Corbucci Sergio Corbucci (; 6 December 1926 – 1 December 1990) was an Italian film director, screenwriter and producer. He directed both very violent Spaghetti Westerns and bloodless Bud Spencer and Terence Hill action comedies. He is the older bro ...
*'' Sugar Colt'' (1966) by
Franco Giraldi Franco Giraldi (11 July 1931 – 2 December 2020) was an Italian director and screenwriter. Life and career Born in Komen, Giraldi spent his childhood and adolescence between the Carso, Trieste and Gorizia. During the Second World War, still ...
*'' The Hills Run Red'' (1966) by
Carlo Lizzani Carlo Lizzani (3 April 1922 – 5 October 2013) was an Italian film director, screenwriter and critic. Biography Born in Rome, before World War II Lizzani worked as a scenarist on such films as Roberto Rossellini's '' Germany Year Zero' ...
*''
Yankee The term ''Yankee'' and its contracted form ''Yank'' have several interrelated meanings, all referring to people from the United States. Its various senses depend on the context, and may refer to New Englanders, residents of the Northern United St ...
'' (1966) by
Tinto Brass Giovanni "Tinto" Brass (born 26 March 1933) is an Italian film director and screenwriter. In the 1960s and 1970s, he directed many critically acclaimed avant-garde films of various genres. Today, he is mainly known for his later work in the er ...
*''
Ten Thousand Dollars for a Massacre ''10.000 dollari per un massacro'' (internationally released as ''$10.000 Blood Money'' and ''Guns of Violence'') is a 1967 Italian Spaghetti Western film directed by Romolo Guerrieri. The film was one of the unofficial sequels of '' Django'', a ...
'' (1967) by
Romolo Guerrieri Romolo Guerrieri, aka ''Romolo Girolami'' (born 5 December 1931) is an Italian film director and screenwriter. He directed 17 films between 1961 and 1992. Selected filmography ;Director * '' Ten Thousand Dollars for a Massacre'' (1966) * '' ...
*''
The Dirty Outlaws ''The Dirty Outlaws'', also known as ''Big Ripoff'', ''King of the West'' and ''The Desperado'' (in original Italian, ''El desperado''), is a 1967 Italian Spaghetti Western starring Andrea Giordana. Quentin Tarantino ranked the film 13th in his ...
'' (1967) by
Franco Rossetti Franco Rossetti was an Italian film director and screenwriter . Life and career Born in Siena, Rossetti started his career as a film critic, then in the early 1950s he entered the film industry as an assistant director. With the rise of the ...
*'' Il tempo degli avvoltoi'' (1967) by
Nando Cicero Fernando Cicero, better known as Nando Cicero (22 January 1931 – 30 July 1995), was an Italian film director, screenwriter and actor. Born in Asmara, Cicero debuted as an actor, working with directors such as Luchino Visconti ('' Senso'', 195 ...
*'' La morte non conta i dollari'' (1967) by
Riccardo Freda Riccardo Freda (24 February 1909 – 20 December 1999) was an Italian film director. He worked in a variety of genres, including sword-and-sandal, horror, ''giallo'' and spy films. Freda began directing '' I Vampiri'' in 1956. The film became ...
*'' Django Kill... If You Live, Shoot!'' (1967) - Full version - by
Giulio Questi Giulio Questi (18 March 1924 – 3 December 2014) was an Italian film director and screenwriter.Marco Giusti, Dizionario dei film italiani stracult, Roma, Frassinelli, 2004. Questi was born in Bergamo. He wrote short stories and filmed se ...
*''
The Ruthless Four ''The Ruthless Four'' ( it, Ognuno per sé, lit=Everyone for Himself) is a 1968 Western film directed by Giorgio Capitani and starring Van Heflin. Cast * Van Heflin as Sam Cooper * Gilbert Roland as Mason * Klaus Kinski as Brent the Blonde ...
'' (1967) by
Giorgio Capitani Giorgio Capitani (29 December 1927 – 25 March 2017) was an Italian film director and screenwriter. He directed 40 films between 1954 and 2012. He also wrote for 12 films. He was born in Paris, France. Selected filmography * '' The Flam ...
*''
Django, Prepare a Coffin ''Django, Prepare a Coffin'' ( it, Preparati la bara!, “Prepare the Coffin!”), alternatively titled ''Viva Django'', is a List of Italian films of 1968, 1968 Cinema of Italy, Italian Spaghetti Western film directed by Ferdinando Baldi. The f ...
'' (1967) by
Ferdinando Baldi Ferdinando Baldi (19 May 1917 – 12 September 2007) was an Italian film director and screenwriter. Biography Baldi was born in Cava de' Tirreni, Salerno, on 19 May 1917. His early film work began in Italy in the early 1950s with films s ...
*''
Tepepa ''Tepepa'', also known as ''Blood and Guns'', is an Italian epic Spaghetti Western film starring Tomas Milian and Orson Welles. The film was directed by Giulio Petroni. It was co-produced with Spain, where the film was released with the title ''T ...
'' (1968) by
Giulio Petroni Giulio Petroni (21 September 1917 – 31 January 2010) was an Italian director, writer, and screenwriter, best known for his spaghetti westerns ''Death Rides a Horse'' (1967), with Lee Van Cleef in one of his first starring roles, '' A Sky Full of ...
*''
A Noose for Django ''No Room To Die'' ( it, Una lunga fila di croci, also known as ''Hanging for Django'' and ''A Noose for Django'') is a 1969 Italian Spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Garrone Sergio Garrone (born 15 April 1925) is an Italian director, s ...
'' (1968) by
Sergio Garrone Sergio Garrone (born 15 April 1925) is an Italian director, screenwriter and film producer. Life and career Born in Rome, the brother of the actor Riccardo, Garrone began his career in 1948 working as assistant director, documentary filmmaker, ...
*''
And God Said to Cain ''And God Said to Cain'' ( it, E Dio disse a Caino, german: Satan der Rache) is a 1970 Spaghetti Western film directed by Antonio Margheriti and starring Klaus Kinski. The story is about Gary Hamilton, who is granted a free pardon from a pris ...
'' (1969) by
Antonio Margheriti Antonio Margheriti (19 September 1930 – 4 November 2002), also known under the pseudonyms Anthony M. Dawson and Antony Daisies ("daisies" is "margherite" in Italian), was an Italian filmmaker. Margheriti worked in many different genres in th ...
*'' The Reward's Yours... The Man's Mine'' (1969) by
Edoardo Mulargia Edoardo Mulargia (10 December 1925 – 7 September 2005) was an Italian director and screenwriter. Life and career Born in Torpè, Nuoro, Mulargia graduated in Law, first working as a journalist, then directing numerous scientific and indu ...
*''
They Call Me Trinity ''They Call Me Trinity'' ( it, Lo chiamavano Trinità...) is a 1970 Italian Spaghetti Western comedy film written and directed by Enzo Barboni (under the pseudonym of E.B. Clucher) and produced by Italo Zingarelli. The film stars Terence Hill an ...
'' (1970) by
Enzo Barboni Enzo Barboni (7 July 1922 – 23 March 2002), sometimes credited by his pseudonym E.B. Clucher; the surname of his grandmotherp. 115 Wong, Alzia S. ''Spaghetti Westerns: A Viewer's Guide (National Cinemas)'' Rowman & Littlefield Publishers (15 ...
*''
Matalo! ''Matalo!'' (also spelled as ''Mátalo'') is a 1970 Italian Spaghetti Western film directed by Cesare Canevari. The film is considered among the most original western ever produced in Italy.Dossier Nocturno n. 31, ''Ai confini del western. Zone ...
'' (1970) by
Cesare Canevari Cesare Canevari (13 October 1927 - 25 October 2012) was an Italian actor, director and screenwriter. Life and career Born in Milan, Canevari began his career shortly after World War II as a stage actor, occasionally also appearing in films in ...
*'' Compañeros'' (1970) by
Sergio Corbucci Sergio Corbucci (; 6 December 1926 – 1 December 1990) was an Italian film director, screenwriter and producer. He directed both very violent Spaghetti Westerns and bloodless Bud Spencer and Terence Hill action comedies. He is the older bro ...
*''
Vengeance Is a Dish Served Cold ''Vengeance Is a Dish Served Cold'' ( it, La vendetta è un piatto che si serve freddo), also known as ''Death's Dealer'', is a 1971 Italian Western film directed by Pasquale Squitieri and starring Klaus Kinski. Plot Jeremias was 12 years ol ...
'' (1971) by
Pasquale Squitieri Pasquale Squitieri (27 November 1938 – 18 February 2017) was an Italian film director and screenwriter. Life and career Born in Naples, Squitieri graduated in law, then was briefly involved in stage, as author ("''La battaglia''") and even a ...
*'' The Grand Duel'' (1972) by Giancarlo Santi *''
The Fighting Fist of Shanghai Joe ''The Fighting Fist of Shanghai Joe'' (Italian: ''Il mio nome è Shanghai Joe'', lit. "My name is Shanghai Joe") is a 1973 Spaghetti Western kung fu film directed by Mario Caiano and starring Chen Lee as Shanghai Joe. The film was released in a ...
'' (1973) by
Mario Caiano Mario Caiano (February 13, 1933 – September 20, 2015) was an Italian film director, screenwriter, producer, art director and second unit director. Career Born in Rome, he directed nearly 50 films between 1961 and 2001 and wrote some 27 ...
*''
A Reason to Live, a Reason to Die ''A Reason to Live, a Reason to Die'' (originally titled ''Una Ragione Per Vivere E Una Per Morire'', also known as ''Massacre at Fort Holman'') is a 1972 in film, 1972 Technicolor Italian Spaghetti Western movie starring James Coburn, Bud Spencer ...
'' (1973) by
Tonino Valerii Tonino Valerii (20 May 1934 – 13 October 2016) was an Italian film director, most known for his Spaghetti Westerns. Tonino (Antonio) Valerii started his film career as an assistant director on Sergio Leone's ''A Fistful of Dollars'', before mo ...
*''
Four of the Apocalypse ''Four of the Apocalypse'' ( it, I quattro dell'apocalisse) is a 1975 Italian Spaghetti Western film directed by Lucio Fulci and starring Fabio Testi, Tomas Milian, Lynne Frederick and Michael J. Pollard. Plot Set in the year 1873, professio ...
'' (1975) by
Lucio Fulci Lucio Fulci (; 17 June 1927 – 13 March 1996) was an Italian film director, screenwriter, and actor. Although he worked in a wide array of genres through a career spanning nearly five decades, including comedies and Spaghetti Westerns, he garn ...
*''
Keoma Keoma is a hamlet in southern Alberta under the jurisdiction of Rocky View County. Keoma is located approximately 35 km (21 mi) northeast of Downtown Calgary, on Highway 566, 2.0 km (1.2 mi) east of Highway 9 and 19 km (12 mi) north of the ...
'' (1976) by Enzo Castellari


Legacy

Spaghetti Westerns have left their mark on popular culture, strongly influencing numerous works produced in and outside of Italy. In later years there were "return of stories" ''
Django Strikes Again ''Django Strikes Again'' ( it, Django 2 - Il grande ritorno, lit. "Django 2 - The Great Return") is a 1987 Italian Spaghetti Western film directed by Nello Rossati, under the pseudonym Ted Archer. It is the only official sequel to '' Django''. S ...
'' with
Franco Nero Francesco Clemente Giuseppe Sparanero (born 23 November 1941), known professionally as Franco Nero, is an Italian actor, producer, and director. His breakthrough role was as the title character in the Spaghetti Western film '' Django'' (1966), ...
and '' Troublemakers'' with
Terence Hill Terence Hill (born Mario Girotti; 29 March 1939) is an Italian actor, film director, screenwriter and producer. He began his career as a child actor and gained international fame for starring roles in action and comedy films, many with longtim ...
and
Bud Spencer Carlo Pedersoli (31 October 1929 – 27 June 2016), known professionally as Bud Spencer, was an Italian actor, professional swimmer and water polo player. He was known for action-comedy and Spaghetti Western roles with his long-time film partn ...
. Clint Eastwood's first American Western film, ''
Hang 'Em High ''Hang 'Em High'' is a 1968 American DeLuxe Color revisionist Western film directed by Ted Post and written by Leonard Freeman and Mel Goldberg. It stars Clint Eastwood as Jed Cooper, an innocent man who survives a lynching; Inger Stevens ...
'' (1968), incorporates elements of Spaghetti Westerns. American director
Quentin Tarantino Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, writer, producer, and actor. His films are characterized by stylized violence, extended dialogue, profanity, Black comedy, dark humor, Nonlinear narrative, non-lin ...
has utilized elements of Spaghetti Westerns in his films ''
Kill Bill ''Kill Bill: Volume 1'' is a 2003 American martial arts film Martial arts films are a subgenre of action films that feature numerous martial arts combat between characters. These combats are usually the films' primary appeal and entertainment ...
'' (combined with
kung fu Chinese martial arts, often called by the umbrella terms kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (), are multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater China. These fighting styles are often classified according to common ...
movies), ''
Inglourious Basterds ''Inglourious Basterds'' is a 2009 war film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, starring Brad Pitt, Christoph Waltz, Michael Fassbender, Eli Roth, Diane Kruger, Daniel Brühl, Til Schweiger and Mélanie Laurent. The film tells an altern ...
'' (set in Nazi-occupied France), ''
Django Unchained ''Django Unchained'' () is a 2012 American revisionist Western film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, starring Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry Washington, and Samuel L. Jackson, with Walton Goggins, Dennis Ch ...
'' (set in the American South during the time of slavery)., ''
The Hateful Eight ''The Hateful Eight'' (sometimes marketed as ''The H8ful Eight'' or ''The Hateful 8'') is a 2015 American Western mystery thriller film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. It stars Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leig ...
'' (set in Wyoming post-US Civil War), and ''
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood ''Once Upon a Time in Hollywood'' is a 2019 comedy-drama film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. Produced by Columbia Pictures, Bona Film Group, Heyday Films, and Visiona Romantica and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing, it is a ...
'' (about fictional American actor
Rick Dalton Rick may refer to: People *Rick (given name), a list of people with the given name *Alan Rick (born 1976), Brazilian politician, journalist, pastor and television personality *Johannes Rick (1869–1946), Austrian-born Brazilian priest and mycol ...
sometimes working in Spaghetti Westerns). The ''
Back to the Future ''Back to the Future'' is a 1985 American science fiction film directed by Robert Zemeckis, and written by Zemeckis and Bob Gale. It stars Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover, and Thomas F. Wilson. Set in 1985, ...
'' trilogy pays homage to Spaghetti Westerns (especially Sergio Leone's Dollars Trilogy) on a variety of occasions, most notably in the third film. The American animated film '' Rango'' incorporates elements of Spaghetti Westerns, including a character (the mystical "Spirit of the West", regarded as a sort of
deity A deity or god is a supernatural being who is considered divine or sacred. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines deity as a god or goddess, or anything revered as divine. C. Scott Littleton defines a deity as "a being with powers greate ...
among the characters) appearing to the protagonist as an elderly Man with No Name. The 1985 Japanese film ''
Tampopo is a 1985 Japanese comedy film written and directed by Juzo Itami, and starring Tsutomu Yamazaki, Nobuko Miyamoto, Kōji Yakusho, and Ken Watanabe. The publicity for the film calls it the first "ramen western", a play on the term Spaghetti We ...
'' was promoted as a "
ramen is a Japanese noodle dish. It consists of served in a broth; common flavors are soy sauce and miso, with typical toppings including , nori (dried seaweed), menma (bamboo shoots), and scallions. Ramen has its roots in Chinese noodle di ...
Western". Japanese director
Takashi Miike is a Japanese film director, film producer and screenwriter. He has directed over one hundred theatrical, video, and television productions since his debut in 1991. His films run through a variety of different genres, and range from violent a ...
paid tribute to the genre with '' Sukiyaki Western Django'', a Western set in Japan which derives influence from both ''Django'' and the Dollars Trilogy. The
Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...
film ''
Sholay ''Sholay'' (, ) is a 1975 Indian Hindi-language action-adventure film directed by Ramesh Sippy, produced by his father G. P. Sippy, and written by Salim–Javed. The film is about two criminals, Veeru (Dharmendra) and Jai (Amitabh Bachchan) ...
'' (1975) was often referred to as a "
Curry A curry is a dish with a sauce seasoned with spices, mainly associated with South Asian cuisine. In southern India, leaves from the curry tree may be included. There are many varieties of curry. The choice of spices for each dish in tradit ...
Western". A more accurate genre label for the film is the "
Dacoit Western Dacoity is a term used for " banditry" in the Indian subcontinent. The spelling is the anglicised version of the Hindi word ''daaku''; "dacoit" is a colloquial Indian English word with this meaning and it appears in the ''Glossary of Colloqu ...
", as it combined the conventions of Indian
dacoit film Dacoity is a term used for "banditry" in the Indian subcontinent. The spelling is the anglicised version of the Hindi word ''daaku''; "dacoit" is a colloquial Indian English word with this meaning and it appears in the ''Glossary of Colloqui ...
s such as ''
Mother India ''Mother India'' is a 1957 Indian epic drama film, directed by Mehboob Khan and starring Nargis, Sunil Dutt, Rajendra Kumar and Raaj Kumar. A remake of Khan's earlier film '' Aurat'' (1940), it is the story of a poverty-stricken village wom ...
'' (1957) and ''
Gunga Jumna ''Ganga Jamna'' (ISO 15919: ''Gaṅgā Jamunā''), also transliterated as ''Ganga Jamuna'' or ''Gunga Jumna'', is a 1961 Indian crime drama film, written and produced by Dilip Kumar, and directed by Nitin Bose, with dialogues written by Wajaha ...
'' (1961) with that of Spaghetti Westerns. ''Sholay'' spawned its own genre of "Dacoit Western" films in Bollywood during the 1970s. In the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
, the Spaghetti Western was adapted into the
Ostern The Ostern (Eastern; , ''Istern''; or остерн) or Red Western was a film genre created in the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc as a variation of the Western films that originated in the United States. The word "Ostern" is a portmanteau derived ...
("Eastern") genre of
Soviet films The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
. The
Wild West The American frontier, also known as the Old West or the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that began with European colonial ...
setting was replaced by an Eastern setting in the
steppes In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes. Steppe biomes may include: * the montane grasslands and shrublands biome * the temperate grassland ...
of the
Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range, have historically ...
, while Western stock characters such as "
cowboy A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the '' vaquer ...
s and Indians" were replaced by
Caucasian Caucasian may refer to: Anthropology *Anything from the Caucasus region ** ** ** ''Caucasian Exarchate'' (1917–1920), an ecclesiastical exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Caucasus region * * * Languages * Northwest Caucasian l ...
stock characters such as bandits and
harems Harem (Persian: حرمسرا ''haramsarā'', ar, حَرِيمٌ ''ḥarīm'', "a sacred inviolable place; harem; female members of the family") refers to domestic spaces that are reserved for the women of the house in a Muslim family. A har ...
. A famous example of the genre was ''
White Sun of the Desert ''White Sun of the Desert'' (russian: Белое солнце пустыни, Beloye solntse pustyni) is a 1970 Soviet Ostern film. Its blend of action, comedy, music and drama, as well as memorable quotes, made it highly successful at the Russi ...
'' (1970), which was popular in the Soviet Union. American heavy metal band
Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...
has used Ennio Morricone's composition "
The Ecstasy of Gold "The Ecstasy of Gold" ( it, L'estasi dell'oro) is a musical composition by Ennio Morricone, part of his score for the 1966 Sergio Leone film ''The Good, the Bad and the Ugly''. It is played while Tuco (Eli Wallach) is frantically searching a ce ...
" from ''The Good, the Bad and the Ugly'' to open several of their concerts. The Australian band
The Tango Saloon The Tango Saloon is an Australian experimental tango band from Sydney, Australia. Their self-titled debut, a "tango-flavored album with a twist of spaghetti western", was released in 2006 by Ipecac Recordings, the American record label run by Mi ...
combines elements of
Tango Tango is a partner dance and social dance that originated in the 1880s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. The tango was born in the impoverished port areas of these countries as the result of a combina ...
music with influences from Spaghetti Western scores. The band
Ghoultown Ghoultown is an American rock band from Dallas, Texas, formed in 1999. They are a cowpunk band, combining elements of Western, heavy metal, punk rock and mariachi music. The band has released six studio albums to date, plus an EP and a live ...
also derives influence from Spaghetti Westerns. The music video for the song "
Knights of Cydonia "Knights of Cydonia" is a song by English alternative rock band Muse and is the closing track on their 2006 album ''Black Holes and Revelations''. The song's title refers to the Cydonia region of Mars, which gained public attention from the ill ...
" by the English rock band
Muse In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the ...
was influenced by Spaghetti Westerns. The band Big Audio Dynamite used music samples from Spaghetti Westerns when mixing their song "
Medicine Show Medicine shows were touring acts (traveling by truck, horse, or wagon teams) that peddled "miracle cure" patent medicines and other products between various entertainments. They developed from European mountebank shows and were common in the Unit ...
". Within the song one can hear samples from Spaghetti Western movies such as ''A Fistful of Dollars'', ''The Good, the Bad and the Ugly'', and ''Duck, You Sucker!''. Video game studio
Rockstar Games Rockstar Games, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in New York City. The company was established in December 1998 as a subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive, using the assets Take-Two had previously acquired from BMG Interactive. Foun ...
utilized aspects of the Spaghetti Western and paid homage to it in their series ''
Red Dead Redemption ''Red Dead Redemption'' is a 2010 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar San Diego and published by Rockstar Games. A spiritual successor to 2004's '' Red Dead Revolver'', it is the second game in the '' Red Dead'' series. ''Red Dead Rede ...
'' along with its predecessor, ''
Red Dead Revolver ''Red Dead Revolver'' is a 2004 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar San Diego and published by Rockstar Games. It is the first entry in the ''Red Dead'' series, and was released for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox in May 2004. Set in the 1880 ...
''.


Notable personalities


See also

* Cinema of Italy *
List of Spaghetti Western films This list of Spaghetti Western films includes Western films primarily produced and directed by Italian production companies between 1913 and 1978. For a list of non-Italian produced European Westerns see List of Euro-Western films. In the 19 ...
* Co-productions in Spanish cinema *
Ostern The Ostern (Eastern; , ''Istern''; or остерн) or Red Western was a film genre created in the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc as a variation of the Western films that originated in the United States. The word "Ostern" is a portmanteau derived ...
*
Revisionist Western The revisionist Western (also called the anti-Western, sometimes revisionist antiwestern) is a sub-genre of the Western film. Designated a post-classical variation of the traditional Western, the revisionist subverts the myth and romance of th ...
* ZWAM, a youth movement in Madagascar inspired by Spaghetti Westerns *
Bang! (card game) ''Bang!'' is a Spaghetti Western-themed Deduction board game, social deduction card game designed by Emiliano Sciarra and released by Italian publisher DV Giochi in 2002. In 2004, ''Bang!'' won the Origins Award for Best Traditional Card Game ...
, inspired by the genre


Notes


References

* * * Frayling, Christopher: ''Sergio Leone: Something to Do with Death'' (London: Faber, 2000) * Fridlund, Bert: ''The Spaghetti Western. A Thematic Analysis''. Jefferson, NC and London: McFarland & Company Inc., 2006. Print. * *Liehm, Mira. Passion and Defiance: Film in Italy from 1942 to the Present. Berkeley: U of California P, 1984. Print. * *Riling, Yngve P, ''The Spaghetti Western Bible. Limited Edition'', (Riling, 2011). Print *Weisser, Thomas, ''Spaghetti Westerns: the Good, the Bad and the Violent — 558 Eurowesterns and Their Personnel'', 1961–1977. (Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 1992) *


External links


The Spaghetti Western Database


a book about Spaghetti Westerns made between 1963 and 1973, released under a Creative Commons license by its author
Alex Cox Alexander B. H. Cox (born 15 December 1954) is an English film director, screenwriter, actor, non-fiction author and broadcaster. Cox experienced success early in his career with '' Repo Man'' and ''Sid and Nancy'', but since the release and co ...
{{Authority control Spaghetti Western * Exploitation films Film genres
Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...
Metaphors referring to spaghetti Western (genre) films by genre