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For a Few Dollars More (Italian: Per qualche dollaro in più) is a 1965 Italian-Spanish spaghetti western film directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef and Gian Maria Volontè. German actor Klaus Kinski also plays a supporting role as a secondary villain. The film was released in the United States in 1967 and is the second part of what is commonly known as the "Dollars Trilogy."

Plot[]

Eastwood (marketed as the 'Man with No Name') and Van Cleef (as Colonel Douglas Mortimer, and marketed as the 'Man in Black') 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 (one of whom is played by Kinski). Indio is a ruthless, intelligent man. He has a musical pocket watch that he plays before engaging in gun duels. "When the chimes finish, begin" he says. Flashbacks reveal that the watch originates from a young woman (Rosemary Dexter), who killed herself while being raped by Indio after he had found her with her lover (in Joe Millard's novelization of the film, the young man is her newly-wed husband) and killed him. The watch bears a photo of the woman and was presented as a gift by the young man before being killed.

The film begins with Colonel Mortimer (Cleef) illegally stopping a train in Tucumcari, and soon after, collecting a bounty of $1,000 on Guy Calloway (José Terrón). Mortimer's gunslinging skill is displayed as he easily kills him from a fairly long distance. After collecting the bounty, he inquires about Red "Baby" Cavanagh (José Marco), who has a $2,000 bounty, and was last seen in White Rocks.

Mortimer is told that Cavanagh has already been targeted by Eastwood's character, who is referred to as 'Monco.' We see Monco ride into town and track down Cavanagh at a saloon playing five-card draw poker. Monco kills him and his men, and takes the bounty. Eventually, the two bounty hunters, after learning about each other from different sources, meet in El Paso and, after butting heads, decide to team up to take down Indio and his gang.

Indio's primary goal is to rob the Bank of El Paso and its disguised safe containing "almost a million dollars". Mortimer persuades a reluctant Monco to join Indio's gang during the robbery in order to "get him between two fires". Monco is offered membership in the gang, after rescuing one of Indio's friends from prison.

When Indio robs the bank, he brings the gang and the money to the small border town of Agua Caliente , where Mortimer reunites with Monco. The hunchback Wild (Klaus Kinski) recognizes the Colonel from a previous encounter in which the Colonel had deliberately insulted him and forces a showdown in which he is killed by the Colonel. The Colonel then proves his worth to Indio by cracking open the safe without using explosives, but Indio states his intention to wait a month if necessary to allow the furor over the bank robbery to die down and locks the money away. Monco and the Colonel plan to steal the bank money from Indio, but the bandits catch them in the act and severely beat them. Indio's right-hand man Nino (Mario Brega), on orders from Indio, kills their guard and releases the bounty hunters. Indio informs his gang that they "got away", and sends them after the escaped bounty hunters. He intends to kill off his gang with the bounty killers while he and Nino take all the loot for themselves. However, the smarter Groggy (Luigi Pistilli) figures out what Indio is up to, and kills Nino. Before he can kill Indio, he finds that the Colonel has already removed the stolen money from where Indio had hidden it. Indio convinces Groggy to join forces with him to trap the bounty-killers.

The next morning, Monco and Mortimer shoot down the gang, one by one, in the streets of the town. Standing alone, Mortimer shoots Groggy when the outlaw tries to run for it, but then has his gun shot out of his hand by Indio, who then takes out his pocket watch and begins playing it. As the chimes nears the end, Monco suddenly appears with an identical pocket watch, playing the same tune as Indio's, which Mortimer realizes had been taken from him earlier. As this happens, Monco holds a Henry rifle on Indio and gives his gun belt and pistol to Mortimer, evening the odds. "Now we start", Monco announces and sits while Mortimer and Indio face off. During the standoff, Monco looks down at the pocket watch and sees the same picture of the woman Indio had raped. The music finishes, and Mortimer outdraws and guns down Indio.

At this juncture, Mortimer takes Indio's pocket watch. Monco gives him back the other watch and remarks on a family resemblance; the Colonel replies, "Naturally, between brother and sister," indicating that the young woman's portrait was that of Mortimer's sister. His revenge complete, he decides to take no part of the bounty. As Monco tosses the last of the bodies into a wagon and counts them by the reward for each one, he realizes he is short of the $27,000 total, and spins around to gun down Groggy, who had survived and waited in ambush. As he leaves, he recovers the money stolen from the bank of El Paso, though it is not clear whether he intends to return it. He then rides off into the distance with his horse towing the wagon full of the lifeless bodies of the entire gang.

Cast[]

Italian version[]

  • Enrico Maria Salerno as Monco
  • Emilio Cigoli as Colonel Douglas Mortimer
  • Nando Gazzolo as El Indio ("The Indian")
  • Renato Turi as Niño, member of Indio's gang
  • Vittorio Sanipoli as Groggy, member of Indio's gang
  • Pino Locchi as Cuchillio, member of Indio's gang
  • Bruno Persa as Wild, the hunchback, member of Indio's gang
  • Manilo Busnoi as Sancho Perez, member of Indio's gang
  • Sergio Tedesco as Paco, member of Indio's gang (uncredited)
  • Rita Savagnone as Calloway's girl in tub
  • Lauro Gazzolo as Old Prophet
  • Gualtiero De Angelis as Tomaso, El Indio's traitor
  • Gino Baghetti as Train conductor
  • Luigi Pavese as Station clerk
  • Gianfranco Bellini as Tucumcari's bank manager
  • Giorgio Capecchi as Tucumcari's sheriff

German version[]

1st Dub[]

  • Klaus Kindler as Monco
  • Heinz Engelmann as Colonel Douglas Mortimer
  • Horst Naumann as El Indio ("The Indian")
  • Erik Jelde as Niño, member of Indio's gang
  • Norbert Gastell as Cuchillio, member of Indio's gang
  • Werner Uschkurat as Wild, the hunchback, member of Indio's gang
  • Panos Papadopulos as Sancho Perez, member of Indio's gang
  • Werner Abrolat as Slim, Member of Indio's gang (uncredited)
  • Anton Reimer as Old Prophet
Redub of lost audio[]
  • Fritz von Hardenberg as Colonel Douglas Mortimer

2nd Dub[]

  • Klaus Kindler as Monco
  • Heinz Petruo as Colonel Douglas Mortimer
  • Hans-Werner Bussinger as El Indio ("The Indian")
  • Helmut Krauss as Niño, member of Indio's gang
  • Wolfgang Völz as Groggy, member of Indio's gang
  • Wolfgang Pampel as Cuchillio, member of Indio's gang
  • Friedrich Georg Beckhaus as Wild, the hunchback, member of Indio's gang
  • Joachim Tennstedt as Sancho Perez, member of Indio's gang
  • Manfred Grote as Slim, Member of Indio's gang (uncredited)
  • Hans F. Wilhelm as Old Prophet
  • Toni Herbert as Train conductor
  • Gerd Holtenau as Station clerk and Tucumcari's bank manager
  • Joachim Cadenbach as Tucumcari's sheriff

Spanish version[]

European Spanish[]

  • Félix Acaso as Monco
  • Claudio Rodríguez as Colonel Douglas Mortimer
  • José Guardiola as El Indio ("The Indian")
  • Teófilo Martínez as Niño, member of Indio's gang
  • Santos Paniagua as Groggy, member of Indio's gang
  • Francisco Arenzana as Cuchillio, member of Indio's gang
  • Juan Logar as Wild, the hunchback, member of Indio's gang
  • Eduardo Calvo as Hughie (aka Luke), member of Indio's gang and Old Prophet
  • José Luis Baltanás as Sancho Perez, member of Indio's gang
  • Juan Miguel Cuesta as Blackie, member of Indio's gang (uncredited) and Tucumcari's bank manager
  • Manuel Guitián as Santa Cruz telegraphist
  • María Romero as Mary, hotel manager's beautiful wife
  • Antonio García Quijada as Train conductor
  • Benjamín Domingo as Station clerk
  • Pedro Sempson as Tucumcari's sheriff

Latin Spanish[]

  • Luis Puente as Monco
  • Óscar Morelli as Colonel Douglas Mortimer
  • Raúl de la Fuente as El Indio ("The Indian")
  • Eduardo Borja as Niño, member of Indio's gang
  • Victor Mares as Groggy, member of Indio's gang and Station clerk
  • Paco Mauri as Wild, the hunchback, member of Indio's gang
  • Jesús Colín as Sancho Perez, member of Indio's gang and Train conductor
  • María Becerril as Calloway's girl in tub
  • Humberto Valdepeña as Old Prophet
  • Mario Castañeda as Tomaso, El Indio's traitor
  • Yolanda Vidal as Mary, hotel manager's beautiful wife

French version[]

  • Jacques Deschamps as Monco
  • Georges Atlas as Colonel Douglas Mortimer
  • Henry Djanik as El Indio ("The Indian")
  • Claude Bertrand as Niño, member of Indio's gang
  • Raymond Loyer as Groggy, member of Indio's gang
  • Jacques Brel as Cuchillio, member of Indio's gang
  • Serge Sauvion as Wild, the hunchback, member of Indio's gang
  • Marc de Georgi as Slim, Member of Indio's gang (uncredited)
  • Pierre Collet as Blackie, member of Indio's gang (uncredited)
  • Paul Villé as Old Prophet
  • Maurice Pierrat as Train conductor
  • Stéphane Audel as Station clerk
  • Michel Gudin as Tucumcari's bank manager

English version[]

  • Clint Eastwood as Monco
  • Lee Van Cleef as Colonel Douglas Mortimer
  • Bernie Grant/Gian Maria Volontè (various loops) as El Indio ("The Indian")
  • Ray Owens as Niño and Hughie (aka Luke), members of Indio's gang
  • Lloyd Battista as Groggy, member of Indio's gang
  • Gilbert Mack as Wild, the hunchback, member of Indio's gang
  • Joyce Gordon as Calloway's girl in tub and Mary, hotel manager's beautiful wife
  • Robert Dryden as Old Prophet

Different Versions[]

More than even The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, For a Few Dollars More is notorious for being available in many different versions, both aurally and visually.

  • The uncut version was released theatrically in Italy in 1965. An English-dubbed version was available on home video in the United States from 1982 to 1997, as well as in the United Kingdom from Warner Home Video. The same print appears to have been used for all English-language releases during this period; it was apparently prepared for the UK release in 1982 during the pre-cert era, which explains why the film appears sped up on the American releases of this version. This is the version that MGM/UA submitted to the MPAA in 1989; it was rated R.
  • Some international prints had the initial credit for producer Alberto Grimaldi translated, while others omitted it entirely.
  • The French version is one that preserved the initial Grimaldi credit, and also has the film's French title appear below the English title during the opening credits. The German Blu-ray release of the uncut version also preserves the initial Grimaldi credit.
  • United Artists prepared an international version that trimmed footage from Manco's introduction (in line with its efforts to promote the film as part of a trilogy about a man with no name) and the beating scene.
  • This international version was cut further in the United States for general approval from the MPAA and in the United Kingdom for an X rating. The version cut for the US theatrical release was rated PG shortly after the establishment of the MPAA's film rating system, and released on laser videodisc by MGM/UA Home Video in 1991.
  • An initial restoration was attempted in 1997, attempting to combine the Italian and American release versions. Different cuts were made to Manco's introduction and the beating scene while others were restored, and an additional cut was made at the end of El Indio's escape that introduces a jarring edit between that scene and his wanted poster. Sync issues were introduced to the audio track as a result, most notably a jump in the music during Manco's introduction and the thunderclap when Manco's face is revealed for the first time sounding several seconds sooner than it's supposed to. This restoration uses a print that translates the initial Grimaldi credit. Instead of resubmitting the film to the MPAA, MGM/UA simply carried over the R rating from the uncut version.
  • The same restoration was the source of an audio track restoration in 2010 that repairs the syncing issues present in Manco's introduction but replaces numerous sound effects.
  • Kino Lorber restored the film in 2019 using a print that omits the initial Grimaldi credit but is cut exactly like the 1997 restoration and uses the audio from the 2010 restoration. Eventually, they would release a new restoration in the summer of 2022 that retains the Grimaldi credit; unlike the previous restorations, it's based on the uncut version, albeit with a few seconds missing from a scene where Manco interacts with a young informant.

Music[]

Ennio Morricone composed the film's soundtrack as he did for A Fistful of Dollars: before production had started, under Leone's explicit direction. In fact, Leone often shot to Morricone's music on set. In the United States, Hugo Montenegro released a cover version as did Leroy Holmes who released a cover version of the soundtrack album with the original American poster art. Maurizio Graf sang a vocal "Occhio Per Occhio"/"Eye For An Eye" to the music of the cue "Sixty Seconds to What" track that did not appear in the film but was released as a tie-in 45rpm record.

The rock band Year Long Disaster has recorded a song called "Per qualche dollaro in più". However, it is unknown how large the connection with it is.

British band Babe Ruth famously covered the main theme as part of their song "The Mexican."

The theme "La resa dei conti" was used as a ringtone for Vertu phones

Videos[]

For_A_Few_Dollars_More_American_Trailer

For A Few Dollars More American Trailer

For A Few Dollars More American Trailer

For_A_Few_Dollars_More_Theme_Music

For A Few Dollars More Theme Music

For A Few Dollars More Theme Music

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