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====Spaghetti Western (1960s–1970s)====
{{Main|Spaghetti Western}}
[[File:SERGIO LEONE.jpg|thumb|[[Sergio Leone]], widely regarded as one of the most influential directors in the history of cinema.<ref name="ew.com">{{cite magazine|url=http://ew.com/article/1996/04/19/50-greatest-directors-and-their-100-best-movies/|title=The 50 Greatest Directors and Their 100 Best Movies|magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]]|date=19 April 1996|access-date=7 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190607165813/https://ew.com/article/1996/04/19/50-greatest-directors-and-their-100-best-movies/|archive-date=7 June 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Greatest Film Directors">{{cite web|url=https://www.filmsite.org/directors.html|title=Greatest Film Directors|website=[[Filmsite.org]]|access-date=7 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190905115334/https://www.filmsite.org/directors.html|archive-date=5 September 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>]]

On the heels of the [[sword-and-sandal]] craze, a related genre, the [[Spaghetti Western]] arose and was popular both in Italy and elsewhere. These films differed from traditional [[Western (genre)|western]]s by being filmed in Europe on limited budgets, but featured vivid cinematography. The term was used by foreign critics because most of these westerns were produced and directed by Italians.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.spaghetti-western.net/index.php/Introduction | first1 = Simon | last1 = Gelten | last2 = Lindberg | date = 10 November 2015| title = Introduction | website = Spaghetti Western Database | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170630005758/https://www.spaghetti-western.net/index.php/Introduction | archive-date = 30 June 2017 | url-status = live | access-date = 2 May 2021}}</ref>

The most popular Spaghetti Westerns were those of [[Sergio Leone]], credited as the inventor of the genre,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.raistoria.rai.it/articoli/sergio-leone-creatore-degli-spaghetti-western/12891/default.aspx|title=Sergio Leone creatore degli 'spaghetti-western'|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303225945/http://www.raistoria.rai.it/articoli/sergio-leone-creatore-degli-spaghetti-western/12891/default.aspx |url-status=dead|archive-date=3 March 2016|language=it|access-date=29 November 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.linkiesta.it/2013/04/i-film-di-sergio-leone-re-dello-spaghetti-western/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303102829/http://www.linkiesta.it/it/article/2013/04/30/i-film-di-sergio-leone-re-dello-spaghetti-western/13350/|url-status=dead|title=I film di Sergio Leone, re dello spaghetti western|date=30 April 2013|archive-date=3 March 2016|language=it|access-date=29 November 2022}}</ref> whose [[Dollars Trilogy]] (1964's ''[[A Fistful of Dollars]]'', an unauthorized remake of the Japanese film ''[[Yojimbo]]'' by [[Akira Kurosawa]]; 1965's ''[[For a Few Dollars More]]'', an original sequel; and 1966's  ''[[The Good, the Bad and the Ugly]]'', a World-famous prequel), featuring [[Clint Eastwood]] as a character marketed as "the [[Man with No Name]]" and notorious scores by [[Ennio Morricone]], came to define the genre along with ''[[Once Upon a Time in the West]]'' (1968).

Another popular Spaghetti Western film is [[Sergio Corbucci]] ''[[Django (1966 film)|Django]]'' (1966), starring [[Franco Nero]] as [[Django (character)|the titular character]], another ''Yojimbo'' plagiarism, produced to capitalize on the success of ''A Fistful of Dollars''. The original ''Django'' was followed by both an authorized sequel (1987's ''[[Django Strikes Again]]'') and an overwhelming number of unauthorized uses of the same character in other films.
<gallery widths="200px" heights="165px">
File:Franco Nero (Django).jpg|[[Franco Nero]] as [[Django (character)|Django]] in the [[Django (1966 film)|film of the same name]] by [[Sergio Corbucci]] (1966).
File:Il pistolero dell Ave Maria - 1969 Mann.png|''[[The Forgotten Pistolero]]'' by [[Ferdinando Baldi]] (1969)
</gallery>