Man with No Name explained

Man with No Name
Series:	Dollars Trilogy
First:	A Fistful of Dollars (1964)
Last:	The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
Creator:	Sergio Leone
Portrayer:	Clint Eastwood
Occupation:	Bounty hunter
Nationality:	American

The Man with No Name (Italian: Uomo senza nome) is the antihero character portrayed by Clint Eastwood in Sergio Leone's "Dollars Trilogy" of Italian Spaghetti Western films: A Fistful of Dollars (1964), For a Few Dollars More (1965), and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966). He is recognizable by his poncho, brown hat, tan cowboy boots, fondness for cigarillos, and the fact that he rarely speaks.^[1]

The "Man with No Name" concept was invented by the American distributor United Artists. Eastwood's character does have a name, or nickname, which is different in each film: "Joe", "Manco" and "Blondie", respectively.^{[2] [3]}

When Clint Eastwood was honored with the American Film Institute's Lifetime Achievement Award in 1996, Jim Carrey gave the introductory speech and said: The Man with No Name' had no name, so we could fill in our own."^[4] In 2008, Empire chose the Man with No Name as the 33rd greatest movie character of all time.^[5]

Appearances

• A Fistful of Dollars (1964)
• For a Few Dollars More (1965)
• The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)

Concept and creation

A Fistful of Dollars was directly adapted from Akira Kurosawa's Yojimbo (1961). It was the subject of a lawsuit by Yojimbos producers.^[6] Yojimbos protagonist, an unconventional rōnin (a samurai with no master) played by Toshiro Mifune, bears a striking resemblance to Eastwood's character: both are quiet, gruff, eccentric strangers with a strong but unorthodox sense of justice and extraordinary proficiency with a particular weapon (in Mifune's case, a katana; in Eastwood's, a revolver).^[7]

Like Eastwood's western setting character, Mifune plays a rōnin with no name. When pressed, he gives the pseudonym Sanjuro Kuwabatake (meaning "30-year-old mulberry field"), a reference to his age and something he sees through a window. The convention of hiding the character's arms from view is shared as well, with Mifune's character typically wearing his arms inside his kimono, leaving the sleeves empty.^[8] Prior to signing on to Fistful, Eastwood had seen Kurosawa's film and was impressed by the character.^[9] During filming, he did not emulate Mifune's performance beyond what was already in the script. He also insisted on removing some of the dialogue in the original script, making the character more silent and thus adding to his mystery.^[2] As the trilogy progressed, the character became even more silent and stoic.

The "Man with No Name" sobriquet was actually applied after the films were made, and was a marketing device used by distributor United Artists to promote the three films together in the United States film market.^{[2] [10]} The prints of the film were physically trimmed to remove all mention of his names.^[2]

Actual names or monikers

In A Fistful of Dollars (1964), he is called "Joe" by the undertaker, Piripero, and Eastwood's role is credited as "Joe".^[11]

In For a Few Dollars More (1965), he is called "Manco" (Spanish for "one-armed"; in fact, in the original Italian-language version he is called "il Monco", a dialectal expression meaning "the One-armed one"), because he does everything left-handed, except for shooting.^[12]

In The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966), Tuco calls him "Blondie" ("il Biondo", meaning "the Blond one", in Italian) for his light hair. He is also "the Good" ("il Buono"), from which the film receives its name.^[13]

In the Dollars book series, he is also known as "The Hunter", "The Bounty Killer", "Mister Sudden Death", "Nameless", "No Name", and "Señor Ninguno" or its literal translation "Mr. None".

Literature

The popularity of the characters brought about a series of spin-off books, dubbed the "Dollars" series due to the common theme in their titles:

• A Fistful of Dollars, film novelization by Frank Chandler
• For a Few Dollars More, film novelization by Joe Millard
• The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, film novelization by Joe Millard
• A Coffin Full of Dollars by Joe Millard
• A Dollar to Die For by Brian Fox (a pseudonym for Todhunter Ballard^[14])
• The Devil's Dollar Sign by Joe Millard
• The Million-Dollar Bloodhunt by Joe Millard
• Blood For a Dirty Dollar by Joe Millard

A Coffin Full of Dollars provides some background history; 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 July 2007, American comic book company Dynamite Entertainment announced that they were going to begin publishing a comic book featuring the character, titled The Man With No Name. Set after the events of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, the comic is written by Christos Gage. Dynamite refers to him as "Blondie", the nickname Tuco uses for him in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.^[15] The first issue was released in March 2008, entitled, The Man with No Name: The Good, The Bad, and The Uglier.^[16] Luke Lieberman and Matt Wolpert took over the writing for issues #7–11.^{[17] [18]} Initially, Chuck Dixon was scheduled to take over the writing chores with issue #12, but Dynamite ended the series and opted to use Dixon's storyline for a new series titled The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.^[19] The new series is not an adaptation of the movie, despite its title. After releasing eight issues, Dynamite abandoned the series.

References and homages in other works

• Jotaro Kujo, protagonist of Part three of the manga series JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, "Stardust Crusaders", was inspired by The Man with No Name. Author Hirohiko Araki met Eastwood in 2012 as part of the series' 25th anniversary celebration and presented him with an original framed Jotaro Kujo illustration; in return, Eastwood recreated one of the character's signature poses.^[20]
• Boba Fett, an antagonist from George Lucas' Star Wars film series, was based on the Man with No Name, according to Jeremy Bulloch, the actor who portrayed him, from his mannerisms to his green-on-white armor that has the same colour scheme as the Man's poncho.^[21]
• Solid Snake, protagonist from Hideo Kojima's video game Metal Gear Solid, was visually based on the Man with No Name.^[22]
• Vincent Canby described Fred Williamson's character in the blaxploitation film Boss Nigger as "an immensely self-assured parody" of the Man with No Name character.^[23]
• Roland Deschain, the primary protagonist of Stephen King's The Dark Tower book series, is heavily inspired by The Man with No Name. In , King, who appears as a character in the book, makes the comparison when he calls Roland a "fantasy version of Clint Eastwood."^[24]
• An Audio-Animatronic version of the character appeared in The Great Movie Ride at Disney's Hollywood Studios from 1989 to 2017.^[25]
• In the 1992 video game The Town with No Name, the player character is referred to as "the Man with No Name". However, his appearance and personality are different from those of the film character, with his voice resembling that of John Wayne. An unnamed man with a cigarette who resembles the original Man with No Name appears as a separate character.
• The 2011 animated Western film Rango mentions multiple times a character named "the Spirit of the West", a mythical figure among the inhabitants of the town of Dirt, who conducts an "alabaster carriage", protected by "golden guardians". Near the end of the film, the titular character meets the Spirit (voiced by Timothy Olyphant) who appears to him as what is implied to be an elderly version of either Eastwood or the Man with No Name (although that is not explicitly stated, except for Rango mentioning that was once the Spirit's appearance's moniker), with the carriage being a golf cart and the guardians being Academy Awards-like statuettes.^[26]
• Flint Shrubwood, the bounty hunter hired by Duke Igthorn in an episode of Adventures of the Gummi Bears, called "For a Few Sovereigns More", is a parody of both The Man with No Name and Clint Eastwood.^{[27] [28]}
• An episode of Time Squad called "Billy The Baby" features The Man with No Name as a ruthless sheriff chasing the Time Squad, who is teaching Billy the Kid to be a proper bandit.^[29]
• The movie Willy's Wonderland features The Man with No Name as a drifter, played by Nicolas Cage, who is coerced into a dangerous situation requiring heroic and violent action.
• In the television series Fallout, the character known as "The Ghoul" is a gunslinger wandering a post-apocalyptic Los Angeles and is partially inspired by The Man with No Name. In preparation for the role, actor Walton Goggins watched Eastwood's Dollars Trilogy.^[30]
• A cosmetic item by the name Hat With No Name is available for the Soldier, Demoman, Engineer, and Sniper in Team Fortress 2.^[31]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Christos Gage on The Man With No Name. 8 September 2023 .
2. Farino . Ernest . August 2020 . A Fistful of Pasta: The Italian Westerns of Sergio Leone . RetroFan . . United States. 10 . 61–67.
3. Book: Curti . Roberto . Tonino Valerii: The Films . 2 August 2016 . McFarland . 9781476626185 . 208 . 27 June 2020.
4. Web site: Elaine . Ditka . In the Line of Clint's Praises at AFI Salute . Los Angeles Times . 2 March 1996 . 8 March 2017.
5. Web site: The 100 Greatest Movie Characters. 5 December 2006. Empire. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20150630105200/http://www.empireonline.com/100-greatest-movie-characters/default.asp?c=43. 30 June 2015.
6. Web site: A Fistful of Dollars and Yojimbo . . 14 April 2011 . Side B Magazine . 2 February 2014 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140107122137/http://sidebmagazine.com/2011/04/14/1535/ . 7 January 2014.
7. Book: Cumbow, Robert C. . The Films of Sergio Leone . 2008 . Rowman & Littlefield . 978-0-8108-6041-4 . 12–19 . en.
8. Web site: Yojimbo . Ebert . Roger . Roger Ebert . 10 April 2005 . RogerEbert.com.
9. From an interview conducted for a DVD documentary on Kurosawa
10. Book: Prickette . James . Actors of the Spaghetti Westerns . 2012 . 9781469144290 . 287 . Xlibris Corporation .
11. Book: McGilligan, Patrick . Clint: The Life and Legend . 2002-08-19 . Macmillan . 978-0-312-29032-0 . 131 . en.
12. Book: Hughes, Howard . Once Upon A Time in the Italian West: The Filmgoers' Guide to Spaghetti Westerns . 2006-03-31 . Bloomsbury Publishing . 978-0-85773-045-9 . en.
13. Book: Wong, Aliza S. . Spaghetti Westerns: A Viewer's Guide . 2018-12-15 . Rowman & Littlefield . 978-1-4422-6904-0 . 64 . en.
14. Book: Carty, T. J. . A Dictionary of Literary Pseudonyms in the English Language . . 2000 . 1579582095 . 2nd . Chicago, Ill., USA . 272.
15. Web site: Christos Gage on The Man With No Name . Brady . Matt . 15 August 2008 . . 2 February 2014.
16. Web site: First Look: Dynamite's The Good, the Bad and the Ugly #1 . Brady . Matt . 28 April 2009 . . 2 February 2014.
17. Web site: The Man With No Name's New Team: Lieberman & Wolpert . Brady . Matt . 19 August 2008 . . 2 February 2014.
18. Web site: New Writers on The Man With No Name . Phegley . Kiel . 23 October 2008 . . 2 February 2014.
19. Web site: Chuck Dixon to Write The Man With No Name . Brady . Matt . 20 August 2008 . . 2 February 2014.
20. Web site: Jojo's Bizarre Adventure Creator Meets Clint Eastwood . Sherman . Jennifer . 14 October 2012 . . 23 April 2015.
21. Web site: Young. Bryan. THE CINEMA BEHIND STAR WARS: THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY. StarWars.com. 18 December 2012. 18 May 2016.
22. Web site: Yoji Shinkawa Interview: Segment 4. 2 March 2012. Konami.
23. News: 'Boss Nigger,' Black Western, Proves a Surprise . Canby . Vincent . 27 February 1975 . The New York Times . 26 January 2018 . 10 February 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180210073757/http://movies2.nytimes.com/mem/movies/review.html?res=9C05E7DA143CE034BC4F51DFB466838E669EDE . dead .
24. Book: King, Stephen. Song of Susannah. 2004. Donald M. Grant, Publisher. Anderson, Darrel.. 9781416521495. 1st trade . Hampton Falls, N.H.. 55492007.
25. Web site: Hill . Jim . 8 February 2020 . Why Clint Eastwood was a last minute addition to Disney-MGM's "Great Movie Ride" . 31 July 2020 . jimhillmedia.com.
26. Johnny Depp's 'Rango': Its top six riffs on classic movies . Breznican . Anthony . 6 March 2011 . Entertainment Weekly . 6 November 2018.
27. Web site: Disney's Adventures of The Gummi Bears: Volume 1 DVD Review. DVDizzy.com. 3 March 2020.
28. Web site: A Retrospective on Disney's Gummi Bears . Michal . 14 August 2017 . The Fandomentals . 18 October 2022.
29. Web site: Time Squad Talkback: "Billy The Baby/Father Figure of Our Country" (Spoilers Here!). Anime Superhero. 28 March 2003 . 3 March 2020.
30. Web site: 'Fallout's Walton Goggins Reveals Which Classic Westerns Inspired The Ghoul . 2023-12-02 . . O'Rourke . Ryan . https://web.archive.org/web/20231205030428/https://collider.com/fallout-walton-goggins-the-ghoul-inspiration/ . 2023-12-05 . live.
31. Web site: Hat With No Name - Team Fortress 2 Wiki. Valve. August 16, 2024.