A stranger arrives at the little Mexican border town of San Miguel. Silvanito, the town's innkeeper, tells the Stranger about a feud between two families vying to gain control of the town: on the one side, the Rojo brothers; on the other, the family of the town sheriff, John Baxter. The Stranger decides to play each family against the other in order to make money.

Tuco(Wallach):left   Blondie(Eastwood):right

The "Man with No Name" (Eastwood) and the "Man in Black"(Van Cleef) portray two bounty hunters in pursuit of "El Indio" (Gian Maria Volonté), one of the most wanted fugitives in the western territories, and his gang. Indio is a ruthless, intelligent man, and He has a musical pocketwatch that he plays before engaging in gun duels.

Eastwood:left   Van Cleef:right

"The Ecstasy of Gold" by Ennio Morricone

During the American Civil War, three men set off to find $200,000 in buried gold coins. Tuco and Blondie have known each other for some time now having used the reward on Tuco's head as a way of earning money. They come across a dying man, Bill Carson, who tells them of a treasure in gold coins. By chance, he tells Tuco the name of the cemetery and tells Blondie the name of the grave where the gold is buried. Now rivals, the two men have good reason to keep each other alive. The third man, Angel Eyes, hears of the gold stash from someone he's been hired to kill. All he knows is to look for for someone named Bill Carson. The three ultimately meet in a showdown that takes place amid a major battle between Confederate and Union forces.

From Clint Eastwood'siconic performance to Ennio Morricone's unforgettable musical score, A Fistful of Dollars took the Western down trails it had never explored.

— C. Covert

Here is a gloriously greasy, sweaty, hairy, bloody and violent Western. It is delicious.

— R. Ebert

Though ordained from the beginning, the three-way showdown that climaxes the film is tense and thoroughly astonishing..

— D. Kehr