Film opening analysis - A Fistful of Dollars

Basic Info:

A Fistful of Dollars (Sergio Leone, 1964)
Estimated $200,000 budget
It took $11,000,000 at the US box office
Length of opening sequence: 2:20
Idents: MGM 'Lion'

 

The famous MGM 'Lion' Logo

The gunfighter, riding into town...

MGM is one of the oldest American studios, and would've been responsible for distribution and marketing of the finished film, but not shooting as that was done by independent European filmmakers.


The name of the films star comes first...



... before the title of the film itself



The main co-star



The secondary actors



And the rest of the cast



Key production team members



More crew, and the copyright



In the corner, the films certificate



Production managers...



... and the producers themselves



Don't see this anymore...



Another theme, the shoot-out

The name of the film's main star, Clint Eastwood is in capital letters and very easy to read against the black background; so actually completely different from all the other titles in the opening sequence, which either use white or black on red. The filmmakers were banking on Eastwood's name, as he would've been the only really recognisable actor in the whole film.


Last of all comes the directors credit



The horseman

 In this opening sequence, many of the title changes are accompanied by gunshots, richocet's and similar sounds, thereby establishing in the audience's mind exactly what kind of film they are about to see, if they didn't know already!


The heat of the sun expands...



... and with a fade to white, the film begins

The title changes are also accompanied by various strobe effects, almost like the flashing of the muzzle of a gun.









The cast names are never the same in each shot, sometimes at the top of the screen, sometimes at the bottom or the side. The names here are all in lowercase font as opposed to the capitals of the leads.




















Inbetween the titles showing the names of the crew there are short animated sequences of typical western themes, cowboys, gunslingers and shoot-outs.




















The music in this opening title sequence plays a large part in setting up the film; Ennio Morricone's iconic score is full of Mexican guitars and brass instruments and has helped define western film scores.

































Technicolor and Techniscope (in the American spelling) were used to demonstrate that the film had been shot in colour and using wide-angle lenses. This film came out at a time when most TV shows were still in black-and-white, and even the cinema hadn't fully converted.



















It's interesting that the directors credit comes last, even after you might've thought the list of names had finished. But perhaps it's a canny choice on the part of the director, whose name would've been the last people would've seen before the film began proper.



















The hazy light here is a good stand in for the heat of the sun, famous in westerns. The expansion of the sun results in the screen becoming completely white, which then fades away to allow the film to begin.