A Fistful of Dollars (1964)

Leone's debut launched not only the Dollars Trilogy but the entire spaghetti western genre, introducing Clint Eastwood's Man with No Name as the archetypal squinting antihero. Adapted from Kurosawa's Yojimbo, it cost a mere $200,000 and grossed $14.5 million worldwide—a 72.5× return on investment, outperforming #4 For a Few Dollars More's 25× return. Shot in Spain's Almeria desert for $200,000, it established extreme close-ups and desolate landscapes as genre trademarks, and its budget was 60% smaller than the average spaghetti western production. This lean, efficient film proved that a low-budget western could achieve massive cultural impact.