60 years ago, the opening scene of this western was unheard of, and we still talk about it today!

This western marked a generation and its very first scene is one of the most original (and cynical) of the genre!

Allocine

By Corentin Palanchini

February 12, 2025

And For a Few Dollars More marked the history of the western by confirming the talent and style of Sergio Leone, while launching the wave of the Italian western. But remember the opening scene of the film? Brilliant, cynical and original, it has become cult over time by its audacity and always the black humor of its director in the background.

In the distance, a horseman is advancing quietly in the desert. The silence of the scene is broken by a relaxed whistle from a person who we guess is close to us, on a height, observing the rider. The latter continues his advance at a walk, and the whistles continue. When suddenly, a noise sounds.

It's the sound of a Winchester cocking. We can't see it, but the threat exists. The whistle stops. A shot rings out, the rider falls off his mount, which moves away. Our whistler was also a gunslinger. And the credits begin.

Each inscription of this credits is evacuated by a gunshot, as if the whistler was unleashed and firing at all costs, all accompanied by the original theme of the film signed by composer Ennio Morricone.

A not only surprising and hard-hitting way to start a film, but also completely in line with its subject, since And for a Few Dollars More tells the story of two bounty hunters. And what better way to enter their world than to show us one of them shooting down a mobster in cold blood and without taking the slightest risk?

For the anecdote, the whistle on this sequence is made by Sergio Leone himself.

This opening sequence leads to the first scene of the film, a close-up of a Bible hiding the face of Colonel Mortimer, a character played by Lee Van Cleef. And For a Few Dollars More marked Sergio Leone's first major commercial success, and it was from this success that Americans began to speak of the "spaghetti western" to refer to this emerging genre in Italy and to understand its impact.