A Fistful of DollarsA Fistful of Dollars

With this film, the genre of "spaghetti western" was born. A lean, cold-eyed, cobra-quick gunfighter arrives in a grim and dusty border town where two rival bands of smugglers terrorize the impoverished citizens. Though he receives lucrative offers of employment from each gang, his loyalty cannot be bought. He accepts both jobs and sets in motion a deadly plan to destroy the criminals, pitting one against the other in a series of brilliantly orchestrated setups, showdowns, and deadly confrontations. An instant international phenomenon, this hard-hitting epic stunned audiences with its violence, gritty realism, and tongue-in-cheek humor.