Clint Eastwood’s Major Script Change Turned the Man With No Name Into a Western Icon

The big picture

• Clint Eastwood's decision to significantly cut his character's dialogue in the
  Dollars Trilogy
  made him iconic, keeping the mysterious Man With No Name elusive and intriguing.
• The lack of dialogue in
  A handful of dollars
  it added to the strength and mystery of the character.
• Eastwood's portrayal of the Man with No Name set a standard for silent heroes in Hollywood.

There is one more famous Clint Eastwood character there than the famous Man With No Name Sergio Leone's Dollars Trilogy? Granted, “Dirty” Harry Callahan certainly comes close, but Eastwood's Western icon is often held up as the absolute standard for the errant gunslinger archetype, firmly establishing all the usual tropes we associate with such protagonists. The Old West was a dangerous place, and with characters like the man with no name, Eastwood also makes it even more mysterious. But there was one move in particular that the actor did during the shoot A handful of dollars this made the Man With No Name the staple we know him as today. It's a simple but profound change that changed our entire perspective on the character: he cut his dialogue.

“Less is more” was Clint Eastwood's western mantra

Part of the reason we care so much about the man with no name is because of how little we know about him. As far as we can tell, he's an honorable man, and often fights on behalf of the little guy (or, at least, fights a bigger guy). When we first meet him, we're not even sure if he's the hero or the villain, but as he continues to slowly reveal more about himself, his side of the conflict becomes clear. With all that Eastwood charm, we can't help but be drawn to the man with no name, and that's by design. Although the script of A handful of dollars initially revealed more about this mysterious vagabond through choice dialogue, Clint Eastwood thought it would have been too distracting from the image he hoped to convey with this image.

“The part wasn't as reserved as it was in the script,” Eastwood told the BBC while on set in 1977. “But for me, the more the character got into exposition scenes and started telling things, more would dissipate the mystery of the character or the strength of the characterBecause of this, Eastwood and director Sergio Leone cut the script hugely, hoping to turn the Man With No Name character into something a little more unique. “You're not quite sure who it is,” Eastwood explained. “You're not even sure you're the hero until about three-quarters or halfway through the movie.” Leone had no problem cutting the script down to its bare bones; indeed, the director himself notes that many of his images are “basically silent.” movies,” noting that the dialogue just adds extra depth.

This is very much the case a The Dollars Trilogy, which is based on its ability to tell a powerful tale without the use of many words. Naturally, the man with no name is also a man of few words, and given that his own “name” shifts and changes with the wind (he's called Joe, Manco, or Blondie, depending on the image), he takes us away from really knowing a lot about him. Actor and comedian Jim Carrey he once said this Eastwood played the man with no name so that we, the audience, could insert our own. There is something remarkably true about this statement. Since this character didn't have a name of his own, we could become him. When it became clear that he was the hero (or “The Good One,” if you will), it was also clear that he was the guy we could hope to be.

The mystery behind Clint Eastwood's Man With No Name gives him power

How much can you really say about a man who barely says anything? Dressed in a poncho, a cigarette and those cowboy boots, the man with no name wanders aimlessly through the desert lands of the mythical Old West generating his own myth at every step. Clint Eastwood's freshness as the character contrasts with his famous TV role as Rowdy Yates (especially in raw leatherprevious years) and increases his value as an actor. He's always calm, collected, and wears an even better poker face than the brown hat on his uncovered head. To say that the look and feel of the man with no name is not essential to the character itself is to misunderstand the whole concept.

It is the mystery behind this character that makes him both elusive and interesting. We don't know where it's coming from or where it's going. All we know is what he's doing now, at every moment. This is an even greater advantage to his character than the six-shooter strapped to his hip, as it keeps his enemies at bay and his allies far enough away from immediate danger. “What you know about man comes from his actions” explained the comic book writer Christos Gagewhich wrote Dynamite Entertainment's The man with no namea sequel to the comic The good, the bad and the ugly. “It's what he does.” This is exactly the idea that Eastwood hoped to convey with his portrayal of the Western hero, which was largely made remarkable. because of his “act first, never talk” approach.

Part of what makes The Man With No Name such an important icon for the Western genre is the air of strangeness that surrounds it. Unlike John WayneEastwood's Western heroes, who are generally more outgoing and boisterous, Eastwood's signature character would rather not retaliate. But when he sees injustice done to another, especially those who can't help themselves, the man with no name rises to the challenge. This type of Hollywood hero that Leone and Eastwood created would go on to be copied, parodied and emulated by countless others, from Boba Fett to War of the galaxies to the main character a Stephen King's The Dark Tower series The most recent, Walton Goggins“The ghoul” of the Negative consequence TV series evokes a very “man with no name” behavior. In fact, Goggins has since admitted as much The Dollars Trilogy was his main inspiration for the role.

Clint Eastwood became an instant western star after 'The Dollars Trilogy'

Although Clint Eastwood had been one of the main stars raw leather for years, and probably would have continued but for the infamous rural purge, before it did A handful of dollars, the actor eventually used the Spaghetti Western to launch his career as a well-known and respected movie star. Throughout the 60s and 70s, Eastwood made a name for himself as a Hollywood actor, appearing in two dozen pictures during this time. Although he did not always appear in westerns (the dirty harry movies were also quite popular), his name remained synonymous with the genre, and still is even now. It's no surprise that he and John Wayne were at odds over their respective claims to the title of “Western King.” As Eastwood began to establish himself as a director, the filmmaker returned to westerns for Pale Rider (his only equestrian opera of the 80s) and in short unforgivablewhich effectively concluded his tenure as the face of the then fading genre.

Of course, while Eastwood continued to star in thrillers and direct remarkable true stories, he was never able to escape the Western entirely. 30 years later unforgivableEastwood tackled the neo-western period drama, Macho cry, in which he plays the closest thing to a traditional cowboy he's had in decades. While not your usual shoot-em-up action feature, it was a return to form that felt natural for the longtime Western actor, despite the intervening years. Although Clint Eastwood has yet to return to the traditional western, there is no doubt that no role will be as memorable as the infamous Man With No Name, a character that remains one of the most powerful pillars of the genre even today.

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