Spaghetti Western Info

Spaghetti Westerns are Western Films usually produced and directed by Italians, often in conjunction with a Spanish partner. They are typically filmed in Spain which has areas like Sardinia, Almeria and Andalusia which resemble the desert around the American/Mexican border. Many, therefore, have themes involving Mexicans.

The lower cost of production in Spain - actors, extras and film crew - meant that many Spaghetti Westerns were made on very small budgets. The early films were made in Italian and were dubbed into many other languages.

Spaghetti First

The first film which we’d now class as a Spaghetti Western was Tierra Brutal (Savage Guns) in 1961 and actually a British-Spanish co-production starring the America actor, Richard Basehart.

The most famous Spaghetti Western series is a trilogy, the first of which, A Fist Full Of Dollars, was released in 1965. It was directed by Sergio Leone and starred Clint Eastwood as The Man With No Name, a part which, arguably, made his name and career. The unforgettable score was by Ennio Morricone.

The film was notable for many reasons, not least being Leone’s stylistic direction such as camera angles and the drawn-out extension of time superbly complimented by Morricone’s haunting music. The cynical anti-hero and ‘raw west’ storyline found favour with audiences and many, many other films used similar elements.

It's All Good!

This was followed by two sequels. For A Few Dollars More was released in 1965 and added Lee Van Cleef to the line-up. The Good, The Bad And The Ugly in 1966 added Eli Wallach to the other two stars and featured Morricone’s seminal Spaghetti Western music score which is undoubtedly one of the best known film themes of all time.

Unusually for the genre, but on the strength of the popularity of the first two films, The Bad And The Ugly had a relatively large budget of one million dollars. A Fist Full Of Dollars had a budget of $200,000.

Sergio went on to make Once Upon A Time In The West which typically features in the Top Ten Western Films of all time. The score was, again, by Ennio Morricone but Clint Eastwood was not involved.

More Spaghetti

In the 1960s, the Spaghetti Western grew in popularity, produced and directed by Italians and other Europeans. The quality was variable but most had the Spaghetti Western stamp which fans of the genre love so much.

In 1966 Sergio Corbucci directed Django whose theme was revenge. It lead to over 30 sequels (although only one was official) and raised featured increased violence which the fans loved but which caused the film to be banned in several areas.

How many...?

The popularity of the Spaghetti Western lasted until the late 1970s and although it’s difficult to be precise, well over 600 films in the genre were made. Notable films were still made after this time, however, including Django 2 (1987), Troublemakers (1995) and Sons Of Trinity (1995).

Video, Cable TV and DVD have brought Spaghetti Westerns to a new generation who can appreciate their stylistic and often humorous or tongue-in-cheek qualities.