10 Epic Moments In Sergio Leone Films
7. The Pocket Watch Duel - For A Few Dollars More
The climax of For a Few Dollars More features one of the most epic duels in film history.
Often overshadowed by another Leone duel that will feature later on this list, the culmination of the second instalment in the Dollars Trilogy is an epic conclusion to a bounty hunter story that is more elaborate than it initially appears to be.
Integral to the film's plot is a musical pocket watch, that for unknown reasons haunts the film's villain, El Indio. All is revealed in the final duel, with bounty hunters Lee Van Cleef (as the enigmatic Colonel Mortimer), and the returning Man with No Name closing in on El Indio.
As the musical chimes of the pocket watch ring out, both Mortimer and El Indio are surprised when the same chimes are heard nearby. Mortimer's obsession with the bounty was never about the money, with it revealed that El Indio had actually killed his sister, an act that had filled him with guilt for many years. The music then intensifies into a more conventional duel instrumental, and Mortimer finally gets redemption for his fallen sibling.
The pocket watch duel marked the first time that one of Morricone's scores would be central to a Sergio Leone sequence, and it would not be the last...