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{{Character
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{{Infobox Character
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|Title=
|name = Man with No Name
 
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|Image=
|image = File:Man with No Name.jpg
 
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|AKA=
|played by = [[Clint Eastwood]]
 
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*Joe{{fod}}
|appears in = *[[A Fistful of Dollars]] <br> *[[For a Few Dollars More]] <br> *[[The Good, the Bad and the Ugly]]
 
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*Manco{{fafdm}}
|status = Alive
 
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*Blondie{{gbu}}
|location = Transitory
 
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|Age=
|Place of birth = Illinois
 
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|Death=
 
|Place=[[Illinois]]
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|Occupation=Bounty hunter
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|Family=
 
|Actor=[[Clint Eastwood]]
 
}}
 
}}
 
An '''unidentified bounty hunter''' (best known by nicknames such as "'''Joe'''", "'''Manco'''", and "'''Blondie'''") was active as early as the [[Civil War]] and as late as the following decade.
 
An '''unidentified bounty hunter''' (best known by nicknames such as "'''Joe'''", "'''Manco'''", and "'''Blondie'''") was active as early as the [[Civil War]] and as late as the following decade.
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*"Blondie" is the most popular of nicknames for '''The Man with No Name''', mainly because Tuco calls him Blondie more frequently than any other given nickname (even though he is truly not blond but does have lighter hair color than most of the other actors in ''The Good, the Bad and the Ugly'').
 
*"Blondie" is the most popular of nicknames for '''The Man with No Name''', mainly because Tuco calls him Blondie more frequently than any other given nickname (even though he is truly not blond but does have lighter hair color than most of the other actors in ''The Good, the Bad and the Ugly'').
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==References==
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{{Reflist}}
 
[[Category:Characters]]
 
[[Category:Characters]]
 
[[Category:A Fistful of Dollars Characters]]
 
[[Category:A Fistful of Dollars Characters]]

Revision as of 04:22, 28 November 2017

An unidentified bounty hunter (best known by nicknames such as "Joe", "Manco", and "Blondie") was active as early as the Civil War and as late as the following decade.

During his career, he retrieved gold buried in Sad Hill Cemetery, helped apprehend the outlaw El Indio, and brought peace to the town of San Miguel.

Characteristics

The "Man With No Name", as personified by Eastwood, embodies the archetypical characteristics of the American movie cowboy — toughness, exceptional physical strength or size, independence, and skill with a gun — but departed from the original archetype due to his moral ambiguity. Unlike the traditional cowboy, exemplified by actors John Wayne, Alan Ladd and Randolph Scott, the Man with No Name will fight dirty and shoot first, if required by his own self-defined sense of justice. Although he tends to look for ways to benefit himself; he has, in a few cases, aided others if he feels an obligation to, such as freeing a couple held captive in A Fistful of Dollars and comforting a dying soldier after the bridge explosion in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

He is generally portrayed as an outsider, a mercenary or bounty hunter, or even an outlaw. He is characteristically soft-spoken and laconic. The character is an oft-cited example of an anti-hero, although he has a soft spot for people in deep trouble. While rescuing the young mother Marisol in A Fistful of Dollars, he responds to query about his motives with a curt "I knew somebody like you, once... and there was no one to help." This, along with the comment "I never found home that great" and stating that he hails from Illinois (in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly), sums up the only personal history the viewer ever receives about the character.

The character's distinctive appearance consists of a battered brown hat with a telescope crown, pale blue shirt, black jeans, tan boots, a sheepskin vest, and a green patterned sarape or "poncho". He is usually armed with one revolver with a silver rattlesnake on the grip, which is holstered on a right-handed gunbelt. Part of the reason why The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is considered to be a prequel to the earlier Dollars films is because it shows how the Man gradually acquires this outfit that he wears throughout the first two films; he is given the majority of the clothing (as well as the revolver, gunbelt and holster) by Angel Eyes before they leave the Union prison camp, and he later finds the green poncho lying next to the dead Confederate soldier he had wrapped up in his coat. In the first and second movie, he carried a Colt Single Action Movie, while during the prequel he sported a cartridge converted Colt 1851 Navy. By the release of the comic book sequel, the Man now carried two revolvers instead of one. Other weapons he carried are lever action rifles, a sharps rifle, a machete, and a dynamite. In contrast with other Western heroes of the early- to mid-1960s, the Man is unshaven, almost to the point of sporting a full beard. He habitually smokes a cigarillo while working.

Due to budget considerations, Eastwood made the initial investment for his character's appearance and demeanour. Most of the clothing was purchased second-hand in California (with the exception of the sarape or poncho, which was provided by Leone); the gunbelt and holster were from Eastwood's previous TV series Rawhide. The Man's trademark cigars were also from California; their harshness put Eastwood in what he called a "scratchy mood", which aided in his characterization. The trademark squint was partly due to these cigarros, as well as due to both the intense sunlight on set and Eastwood's allergy to horses.

Director Leone has admitted that the iconic green poncho, so indelible to the character now, was less a style decision than an attempt on his part to make the conventionally built Eastwood look more like the actor he originally had in mind: American muscleman Steve Reeves, fresh from his years starring in Italian Hercules movies. He found it in Spain where the shooting took place.

Origins

The "Dollars" novels provides some background history of the character:

  • In A Coffin Full of Dollars, it is revealed that when he was young, The Man with No Name was a ranch hand who was continually persecuted by an older hand named Carvell. The trouble eventually led to a shootout between the two with Carvell being outdrawn and killed; however, an examination of Carvell's body revealed a scar which identified him as Monk Carver, a wanted man with a $1,000 bounty. After comparing the received bounty with his $10-a-month ranch pay, the young cowhand chose to change his life and become a bounty hunter.
  • In The Devil's Dollar Sign, the reason that The Man with No Name is a "lone wolf" is revealed to be an unfortunate incident in his early career as a bounty hunter: he had partnered with a man known as "Foot Sick" Feebly who turned out to have a serious ladies' shoe fetish, and The Man with No Name one evening happened upon him indulging in that fetish. After that, The Man with No Name had decided never to have a partner again.

Nicknames

In each film he was included in, The Man with No Name was nicknamed by other characters, even if only briefly, to help in identifying him; seeing as he has no name.

  • In A Fistful of Dollars - Joe (Potentially his real name, however only the undertaker Piripero refers to him as this; Clint Eastwood is also credited as "Joe" in the film's end credits)
  • In For a Few Dollars More - Manco (Spanish for "one-armed"; he is called this because he supposedly does everything left-handed in the film, except for shooting)
  • In The Good, the Bad and the Ugly - Blondie (only Tuco refers to him as this, most likely due to his relatively fair complexion)

Trivia

  • When he "enlists" for the Union at the Battle of Glorieta Pass, the Captain asks for his name. He doesn't respond with a name and instead just says, "uh..." (just as Tuco does when he is asked for his name). Even though he revealed in this scene that he was from Illinois, he still has no answer for his name; thus keeping to the motif of "The Man with No Name."
  • The Man with No Name is known for being a heavy smoker. Unfortunately, this habit allowed Tuco to track him down by the smoked cigars he would leave at his old campfires. But on set Clint preferred to just have an unlit cigar in his mouth, unless he had to be seen definitively smoking the cigar.
  • In commentaries for the Dollars Trilogy, it is usually joked that Clint would keep his wardrobe with him, including his hat and famous poncho, instead of letting the crew keep it. That is because if he were to lose any article of his character's clothing everyone would have to hastily find the lost item or find a replacement off-set or else filming of the movie would come to a halt. The Wardrobe Department for each film had no replacements whatsoever for Blondie's attire.
  • "Blondie" is the most popular of nicknames for The Man with No Name, mainly because Tuco calls him Blondie more frequently than any other given nickname (even though he is truly not blond but does have lighter hair color than most of the other actors in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly).

References