It seems we didn’t already have a thread specifically about this fella, only some other aspects of him, that he is called Monco in FAFDM, et cetera.
Clint was the perfect choice to play him, I think we can agree on this. Leone originally wanted Henry Fonda, he would have been an older character. Richard Harrison was also considered, he was about the same age as Clint, but he didn’t have the same charisma and gravitas.
(Harrison nevertheless had a long career in the italian film industry in various genres in the 60s and 70s, peplum, eurospy, spaghetti westerns. Later on he did movies in Hong Kong).
Anyway, I think probably Joe in Fistful is the most sincere portrayal of “No Name”. In the follow-ups the character became slightly more a caricature. Clint’s laconic mannerisms became a little exaggerated.
“No Name” is not exactly the same person in all 3 films either, which is a bit curious maybe. So it is the same fella, but still not quite the same.
Monco means maimed in Italian. Clint isn’t really maimed in the movie, but he does everything with one (I think the left) hand, which is a nice, intruiging detail: why is that? What happened to him in Fistfull? did one of the bullets fired by Ramon hit his arm after all and was he paralyzed?
In the first movie he is a drifter, a man with no specific aim in his life, like the character he was based upon, Yojimbo from Kurosawa’s movie. That character was a samurai after the fall of the shogunat, which means he was out of work, so to speak. In other words: a man with no specific aim in his life. In the third movie, Clint is again such a character, a drifter, a fortune seeker with no specific aim. And that’s how I always have seen this character. Monco is different, he’s a bounty hunter. He’s still some kind of drifter, some kind of fortune seeker, but bounty hunting is a profession. For that reason I have always considered Monco to be the odd man (with no name) out. He could be Joe from the first movie who had turned to bounty hunting, but it’s not very likely.
Is there an origin for when the series was unofficially called ‘The man with no name trilogy’? Always thought it was a weird name considering he has names in 2 of them
I’ll have to check that; if he shoot with his right hand and does everything with the left, things get even more complicated. Why is he called monco then?
Maybe he is a bit like me: I’m a natural right-hander, but I had an accident once and couldn’t use my right hand (well: arm) for several months. I learned to do as much as possible with my left hand and because my left hand/arm is still better than the right, I kept doing this. But I still write with my right hand and if I were to shoot, I’d probably use my right hand as well.
In the introduction episode for Monco in FAFDM (all 3 main characters have an introduction, just like in GBU) there is the fight in the saloon, and like you say he uses only one hand/arm.
But in the rest of the film I haven’t thought about this, I think he uses both his hands. And he shoots with his right, like in the other 2 films.
He uses one Hand for smoking a cigarillo or eating or etc., the other ( the right one , if remember correctly )is only for shooting in FAFDM. It is not the same character like in FFOD. In the first Dollar Movie , Eastwood is more like a Ronin or a fallen Samurai. He gaves his money to the poor peones in one scene. In FAFDM he is a little bit more like a cynical bounty hunter. There is nothing left of the samurai from the first flick. The right-arm-thing is only there, to show that he is always ready to fire his gun. In fact he uses both Hands but one Hand is always near his colt and the other one is for all other activities.
