the good, the bad, and the ugly (1966)

AKA Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo. The Magnificent Rogues.
"Two hundred thousand dollars is a lot of money. We're gonna have to earn it."
Blondie (Clint Eastwood), is a bountyhunter. Angel Eyes (Lee Van Cleef), is a hit man, and Tuco (Eli Wallach), an outlaw on the run. Tuco and Blondie have an uneasy partnership, scamming towns out of the bounty for Tuco, then making off with the money. But when Blondie disolves the partnership, leaving Tuco for dead, Tuco vows to hunt Blondie down. Having caught up with Blondie the pair stumble upon the only survivor of a robbery and learn from the dying man that he buried a stash of gold in a cemetery. Each has one piece of the puzzle and so come to an uneasy truce in their hunt to uncover the cash. Unfortunately for the pair Angel Eyes is also on the hunt for the loot and discovers that they know where it is. Who is going to get there first and who will walk away with the money?
Leone revisits the western genre and again he ups the anti. Now with some real money he comes up with a longer, deeper (almost philosophical) and more spectacular film. This contains everything, action, comedy, and even pathos, as the three make their way across civil war torn North America in search of the treasure. A masterpiece in any genre.

for a few dollars more (1965)

AKA Per Qualche Dollari In Piu. For Some Dollars More.
"When two hunters go after the same prey, they usually end up shooting each other in the back. And we don't want to shoot each other in the back."
Monco (Clint Eastwood) and Colonel Mortimer (Lee Van Cleef) are bounty hunters both persuing the same quary, a manic killer Indio (Gian Maria Volonte). They come together initially to track him down, but when Indio robs a bank, Monco in the gang by this time tries to slip the Colonel, but the Colonel is one step ahead of the situation.
Leone adds some new elements to the genre and with an obvious confidence produces an even better film than A Fistful of Dollars.

django the bastard (1969)

AKA Django the Avenger. The Stranger's Gundown.
"The Devil...from hell. You're lucky you won't see me again."
Django (Anthony Steffen) is a former confederate soldier who returns from the dead to take revenge on three officers who betrayed his unit in battle.
This is the film that everyone says inspired Clint Eastwoods "High Plains Drifter", and it does indeed follow a similar plot structure, but with the added crazyness that only the Italians can bring to the western. There is the usual gun fights and black humour, but Steffen cannot hold a candle to Eastwood, giving new meaning to the word wooden, and with a complete lack of suspense, the script is much the same.

the deadly game (1955)

AKA Third Party Risk. The Big Deadly Game.
"...I'm in a tight spot now. I think the police suspect that I killed Tony Roscoe."
Philip Graham (Lloyd Bridges) is a song writer on holiday in Spain when he bumps into into an old RAF comrade Tony Roscoe (Peter Dyneley). When Tony is suddenly called back to Britain in an emergency, Philip offers to drive his car back for him, as well as a valuable envelope. Trouble starts immediately when he is attacked and the police reveal that Tony is involved with some very shady characters. Then when back in London he finds Tony dead and a number of people all keen to get their hands on the envelope he holds.
Bridges stumbles through a run of the mill noir, that never really gets out of first gear. One for the completists as they say.