For a Few Dollars More (1965)

- Per qualche dollaro in più
"When the chimes end, pick up your gun.", 9 July 2007

Two bounty hunters are going after the same man – a crazed escaped convict named Indio (Gian Maria Volontè). Realizing that the job is too big for either one alone, Col. Douglas Mortimer (Lee Van Cleef) and Monco (Clint Eastwood) decide to put their egos aside a team-up to get their man. But can these two men take on and take out an army of outlaws?

A Fistful of Dollars may have come first and The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly may be the fanboy's choice, but my favorite movie in Sergio Leone's Dollar's Trilogy is For a Few Dollars More. In contrast to the first movie in the trilogy, For a Few Dollars More is a more sophisticated, more confident film. Leone took the ideas he developed in A Fistful of Dollars and ran with them. There's definite growth in Leone as a director. Similarly, you can see growth in Eastwood and Morricone. All three – director, actor, and composer – were coming into their own with confidence to spare. And in comparison with the better known third movie in the trilogy, For a Few Dollars More is a tighter, more fluid film. It may be one of the best movies ever made, but The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly does tend to drag every now and then. That's not he case with For a Few Dollars More. There's not a wasted moment. But please, don't misinterpret anything I've written – I think all three movies are works of genius. I just happen to prefer For a Few Dollars More to the other two.

Beyond Leone, Eastwood, and Morricone, any discussion of For a Few Dollars More wouldn't be complete without mentioning the rest of the cast and the sets.

• The Cast: Eastwood may be the more known commodity, but he often is upstaged in this movie by both Van Cleef and Volontè. In fact, Volontè steals most every scene in which he appears. His dope-smoking, homicidal Indio is one of the most ruthless and memorable characters I've seen in a Spaghetti Western. Another interesting casting decision is that of Klaus Kinski. His screen time may be limited, but his scenes with Van Cleef are among the most memorable in the movie. The rest of the cast, especially Mario Brega and Luigi Pistilli, are just as solid.

• The Sets: For a Few Dollars more looks like a million dollars thanks to some wonderful sets. Some of the villages found in and around Almeria, Spain, are incredible looking. It would be difficult to duplicate the authenticity of a place like Los Albaricoques with its cobbled streets and white-washed adobe buildings. Yet when called upon to do so, Carlo Simi designed and built some equally impressive sets. His attention to detail in the planning and set decoration is impressive.

9/10