Talk:Man with No Name

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[edit] "Similar Characters?"

Nearly everything in the "Similar Characters" section seems to be completely irrelevant to this article. This article begins with the stipulation that, "This article is about the film character played by Clint Eastwood" -- but most of the cited examples have absolutely nothing in common with Eastwood's character, aside from having no specified name. (In particular, comparing Eastwood's character to the protagonist from the "Kill Bill" movies, the Prince from the "Prince of Persia" game, or Boba Fett are all just utterly ridiculous.)

I strongly suggest removing the entire "Similar Characters" section; or at the very least, limiting the entries within it to characters that are directly and unquestionably inspired by Eastwood's "Man With No Name." Merely being nameless does NOT make a character "similar" in anything but the most superficial sense. FireHorse 12:37, 15 September 2007 (UTC)

I do agree with FireHorse. This section is original research which is against WP guidelines. I must admit in trying to trawl through this section I did not get past Bronson as "Harmonica"... and Harmonica is in my opinion not a similar character at all; he is secretly on a quest for revenge (that is absolutely the key aspect of the character) and Eastwood's character was not. Format 20:21, 15 September 2007 (UTC)
It's been quite a while since I left the comments above. If no one has any objections, I'm going to remove everything from the "Similar Characters" section except items that are clearly based on or inspired by Eastwood's "Man With No Name." Objections...? FireHorse (talk) 20:19, 15 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Merge?

I would like to merge this article with the very similar article, "The Man with No Name." Any objections? --Draugen 06:34, 19 Jul 2004 (UTC)

[edit] misprint

I replace "Monco" by "Manco", the right spanish word for one-handed

"Manco" may indeed be the Spanish word for "one-handed" but the film's dialog (and subtitles provided on the US and UK DVDs) indicate "Monco" is the correct nickname for the Eastwood character. The credits provided in Christopher Frayling's 'Something To Do With Death' Leone biography list "Monco" as the character's name. Robert C. Cumbow's 'Once Upon A Time: The Films of Sergio Leone' also references the character's name as "Monco". The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) has the character listed as "Monco." In fact all reliable sources say "Monco", not "Manco". If all these sources are incorrect, which I suppose is possible, then actual sources of information (such as interviews with screenwriters or cast members) should be provided if anyone insists upon changing the name to "Manco".
I found a 1998 interview with screenwriter Luciano Vincenzoni (http://www.fistful-of-leone.com/classic/articles/vince.html), in which he was asked (by interviewer Cenk Kiral) what the correct name for the Eastwood character was. He replied that the name was "Monco," and added "in Italian it means a man with only one hand." So, its definitely "Monco", not "Manco". As suspected by viewers more astute than myself, the filmmakers apparently DID intend the nickname as a subtle "fitting joke" regarding The Man With No Name's occasional favoring of his shooting arm in the film.Hal Raglan 13:41, 22 December 2005 (UTC)
It is fairly good that Sergio Leone himself says that his nickname is "Monco". But, what has to do an italian word in a western movie, located in a spanish language place? The man who speaks of him clearly says "Manco". So, I think there's a little mistake in the film itself, if they "officialy" gave the character the name of Monco. What I'm saying is that the "official" nickname Monco is probably a goof of the italian producers. Nazroon 06:44, 8 October 2006 (UTC)
The law offical near the beginning of 'A Few Dollars More' clearly states that Clint Eastwood's character is named "Manco". In Italian, "Monco" would still be pronounced as it is written and "Manco" would sound as is is written. There is no pronounciation difference between English and Italian for the two words. Since "Manco" is clearly pronounced, one would have to assume that this would be the preferred pronounciation and spelling. I would agree with the user (Nazroon) that it was probably a mistake on the original audio dub or a mistake by the producers. It is the only time that any character states officially what the Clint Eastwood character's name is, and it clearly says "Manco". If it was supposed to be "Monco", then someone made a mistake at somepoint because that name did not make it to the final film. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mayhemproducer (talk • contribs) 16:44, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Picture

Surely the picture accompanying this article ('The Man With No Name from the Dollars Trilogy, played by Clint Eastwood') is not in fact taken from any of the Dollars Trilogy movies? I'm not sure which Eastwood movie it's actually from (possibly "Hang 'Em High"?) but the overall appearence doesn't resemble any of the costumes Eastwood wore in his 'spagetti westerns'. Is it possible to source a more relevant photo? Demos99 09:03, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

-Exactly. That is NOT Eastwood in any Leone picture - he looks about 10 years older.

The Man With No Name as stated in the intro, does not onlyrefer to the Man With No Name of Leone's movies, and as such the picture stands as an example of the Man With No Name outside of that which fits the definition. --142.162.166.97 02:49, 27 May 2006 (UTC)

Fair enough - if the picture was from one of the MWNN movies. I still think it looks like it could be from 'Hang 'Em High' in which Eastwood's character *does* have a name: Marshal Jed Cooper. (See http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061747 .) Apart from the Dollars Trilogy, the only other MWNN movies Eastwood's made have been 'High Plains Drifter' (which could be a 'possible' source for the still (although I'm not convinced)) where he's 'The Stranger' and 'Pale Rider', where he's 'Preacher'. In any case, I feel it's fair to say that the MWNN persona is more closely associated in most people's minds with the Dollars Trilogy and just feel that a more 'indisputable' picture should be used. Demos99 00:29, 6 June 2006 (UTC)
In addition, the 'place text' for the disputed picture is "The Man With No Name from the Dollars Trilogy, played by Clint Eastwood", which is clearly inaccurate, since I think we both agree it's *not* from the Dollars Trilogy. Demos99 00:33, 6 June 2006 (UTC)

This has now been fixed with a pic from For a Few Dollars More.

[edit] Recent editing

A lot of recent anonymous edits have bungled the text...I'm not sure how to fix it since I don't really know the subject matter, but it's somewhat unreadable at the moment. Adam Bishop 23:59, 9 July 2006 (UTC)

I have tried to adress this by adding some captions.

[edit] Red Harvest

Its somewhat contested and unconfirmed that Yojimbo is based on Red Harvest, so am removing "Although ultimately based on Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammett". Highlandlord 16:47, 4 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Duplicated Text

I just deleted a section of text that was repeated verbatim in the 'filmography' section from the 'Similar Characters' section, and it was reverted. Why? Jonabbey 04:30, 12 August 2006 (UTC)

Ah, I see, it was robotic. Never mind. Jonabbey 04:36, 12 August 2006 (UTC)


[edit] Original research

What is this rant about Josey Wales under "Fan Theory"? A prime example of OR if you ask me.

[edit] Plagiarism and Lawsuit?

This article makes the claim that both the film A Fistful of Dollars as well as the "man with no name" character were both directly plagiarized from the film Yojimbo and that the makers of the film actually sued over it. Until this can backed up with some actual citations I think the "unreferenced" tag should remain on this article. -- Grandpafootsoldier 07:54, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

While we're at it, I'm scrapping the uncited (and almost certainly incorrect) picture caption assertion that GBU was "illegally" copied from Yojimbo. Vonspringer 03:14, 24 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] original research: supernatural interpretation

The following smacks of original research. I don't think it belongs in the article, but I've moved it here in the hopes that it can be properly sourced and put back into the main article. --142.103.211.144 21:23, 11 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Supernatural Interpretation of the Man With No Name

Some instances, at least, of the Man With No Name may not be, or be intended as, human in the normal sense of the word. There is a wealth of supernatural symbolism around the general stock character:

  • "Pale Rider" is an ancient epithet for, or emblem of, Death personified.
  • Similarly, a pale or white horse (the Man's usual mount) is traditionally portrayed as Death's steed (as in Revelation).
  • Folklore of many cultures attaches mystical, occult, and/or demonic significance to a wanderer with no name or identity.
  • The Man With No Name is frequently credited with weapons skill, perceptions, charisma, foresight, stamina, keeness of mental perception, and/or detachment well beyond ordinary human capacity and into the realm of the supernatural.
  • His separation from and contempt for human society, while not psychopathic (it is evident that he acts from some sort of moral code, though its nature is unclear and alien to the society around him), suggests a mode of existence far removed from that of others.

In High Plains Drifter, the Man's identification as an avenging spirit comes as close to explicit as possible without being directly stated: at the end of the film, a townsman carving a grave marker asks him his name, and he answers, "You know my name," and the camera pans to the name on the grave marker (that of a sheriff murdered by the very outlaws who had just been massacred).

In Pale Rider, the Stranger is shown with the scars of flatly unsurvivable bullet wounds in his back, and rides into town on a pale horse just as a young woman is reading the requisite verse of Revelation: "death on a pale horse..." Another character recognises his description but states that the man matching it is dead. Eastwood has identified the character as a ghost in an interview available at http://www.clinteastwood.net/welcome.html.

Supporting evidence for a supernatural view of The Man With No Name is thinner for the "The Dollars Trilogy", but the process by which the Man acquires his signature clothing (from a character named Angel-eyes, and a dying man) in GBU is suggestive of a shamanic rebirth or initiation, or an occult bargain. This slight suggestion of the supernatural in the last film of the trilogy may have been a presage of the more explicit supernaturalism of High Plains Drifter and Pale Rider.

  • There is 'Taboo Deformation'[1] where the name of a feared entity is changed. This occurs with wolves, bears, etc. Also, there is where the revered, the 'sacred god', has a name that cannot be mentioned- is ineffable[2]- and is altered out of respect, as in the Jewish use of 'G_d'[3].

[edit] Fair use rationale for Image:Yojimbo.jpg

Image:Yojimbo.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Wikipedia:Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

If there is other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images lacking such an explanation can be deleted one week after being tagged, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.

BetacommandBot (talk) 03:27, 12 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Occasional Nicknames

"Occasional Nicknames" states the following: "The credits for A Fistful of Dollars list Eastwood's character as "Joe" and though the undertaker in the movie calls him by that name, he is the only character to do so (and it is further worth noting that "Joe" is often used as a generic nickname). Thus, during the entire incident in the beginning of the movie, he uses only his left hand when lighting his cigar, dealing the cards and striking the man he is hunting (keeping the right hand on his gun the whole time)." I'm assuming there's supposed to be something in there about "Monco," correct? intooblv (talk) 03:39, 10 June 2008 (UTC)