For A Few Dollars More

Of Sergio Leone's "Man With No Name" trilogy, I've seen For A Few Dollars More the fewest times.  Many argue that of all of Leone's westerns, this film is his finest.  I'm not so sure.

I've always preferred the rough-hewn style of A Fistful of Dollars, and the slick, refined cinematography in The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.  That's not to say this film is bad, or doesn't deserve a spot right in the middle.  I just rarely take this one out.

Actually, having taken another look, there's a lot to love here.  Lee Van Cleef is a total badass in this film, a sharpshooting bounty hunter with a saddlebag that unravels to reveal multiple rifles, and he frequently steals scenes from Clint Eastwood.  Van Cleef is not here as some kind of cold blooded killer, like his character "Angel Eyes" in The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, though.  His intentions and true identity are revealed later in the film.

Lee Van Cleef was maybe the first character actor whose name I learned, simply because he seemed to show up in the B-grade action movies, such as Armed Response, which my dad rented when I was growing up.  In 1986, Van Cleef would've been more than 60, and even when I was much younger, I couldn't feel much excitement for an old, balding man running around with a gun — not exactly much of an action star.  But in Leone's films, Van Cleef owns the screen.  I always thought he looked like a vulture.

As for Eastwood, this film is a return to the poncho-wearing, gunslinging character he played in A Fistful of Dollars.  What's interesting here is how much Eastwood's look reminds me of my dad and uncles, many of whom grew beards and swept their hair back in a similar style to Eastwood's character (and many of whom kept their look that way, to this day).  I don't know, maybe this was the style of the times — virtually everybody had a beard.  Whatever the case, I can't see Eastwood in these films and not think of my dad and uncles.

For A Few Dollars More was one of the first westerns — if not, then one of the best— to put a spin on the idea of a bank robbery.  Most westerns depicted bank robbers as thugs showing up on horses, running inside, and taking all the money from the safe.  In this film, the villains steal the entire safe.

I'm still not convinced For A Few Dollars More is superior to the other two films in the trilogy.  In fact, sometimes I prefer Leone's Once Upon A Time in the West over anything with Eastwood.  I will say that one of Leone's funniest and most badass moments is in this film, when Van Cleef's character strikes a match — on Klaus Kinski's hunchback.  Leone sometimes used the old match-striking bit to great humorous effect, but I haven't seen one funnier than this one.

I guess that's another reason why I generally like Leone's westerns — even the ones I don't consider favorites.  He lets some humor happen.  Yeah, the writing is excellent and the violence is far ahead of most American films of the same period, but Leone also brings the funny, and is so comfortable with "badass moments."  In this way, Leone connects quite neatly to Quentin Tarantino's style.

Really, all Tarantino needs to do is make a true western.   Oh, look.