"Monco" is NOT the same character as "Joe" in A Fistful of Dollars. This was the finding of an Italian court that adjudicated the lawsuit brought by Jolly Films, producer of "A Fistful of Dollars". After the release of the first film, director Sergio Leone had a falling out with the producers and made this sequel with a different producer, 'Alberto Grimaldi'. Jolly Films sued, claiming ownership of the "Joe" character, but lost when the court decided that the western gunfighter's persona, characterized by the costume and mannerisms, belonged to the public domain's folklore.
Clint Eastwood's character calls Lee Van Cleef's character "old man", while Van Cleef's character calls Eastwood "boy". In reality Clint was already 35 and Lee only 40 when this film was made.
Aldo Sambrell's character name "Cochelio" is the English spelling of the Spanish word "cuchillo", which means knife.
Lee Van Cleef claimed to be faster on the draw than Clint Eastwood. He took three frames of film (one eighth of a second) to draw, cock and fire.
Sergio Leone also considered Robert Ryan for the role of Col. Mortimer, being a fan of his performance in The Naked Spur.
Sergio Leone broke many 1960s Hollywood rules with this film, although he did not know any of them at the time. Among them: showing the shooter and the victim in the same shot, a horse being gunned down, marijuana use, and a rape scene.
Sergio Leone originally wanted Lee Marvin for the role of Douglas Mortimer, but when the actor asked for more money, Leone replaced him with Lee Van Cleef.
Sergio Leone wanted Henry Fonda for the role of Col. Mortimer, but Fonda turned it down. Leone next approached Charles Bronson, who wasn't interested, and Lee Marvin, who refused it because he had just signed to make Cat Ballou. It was then that Leone offered the role to Lee Van Cleef, who hadn't worked in films since How the West Was Won, although he had worked fairly steadily in television. Van Cleef thought that Leone only wanted him for a few scenes, and was astounded when he discovered that he was actually to be the co-star.
Mario Brega appears in all 3 of the Dollars Trilogy movies, and in all 3 movies, his character meets an unfortunate demise. In this movie, his character of Nino is stabbed in the back by a fellow member of Indio's gang.
Carlo Simi, the set and costume designer, has the role of the El Paso bank manager. It was his only appearance in a feature film, and was a favor by Sergio Leone in return for his expertise on the sets in the film, mainly El Paso.
Gian Maria Volonté played two different roles in this movie and its sequel A Fistful of Dollars (A Fistful of Dollars). In the original, he played Ramon Rojo and in this movie he played El Indio.
Although Clint Eastwood's poncho was never washed during the production of the "Dollar" trilogy, it was mended. In the final scene of A Fistful of Dollars, the poncho is pierced by seven bullets from Ramon's Winchester. In the sequel, Eastwood wears the same poncho back-to-front and the mending of the bullet holes is clearly visible in several scenes. The mended area, originally on the left breast, is now worn over the right shoulder blade.
Although he did not know any English, Gian Maria Volonté did perform his own voice for the English language version. However, he did need a translator to tell him everything word-for-word.
Before the opening credits, the whistling heard in the background is actually director 'Sergio Leone'.
Besides Clint Eastwood of course, actors Mario Brega, Benito Stefanelli, Aldo Sambrell, and Antonio Molino Rojo are the only actors to appear in all 3 of the "Dollars Trilogy" movies.
Director Sergio Leone did not want to make a sequel to A Fistful of Dollars, but it was such a huge hit that Jolly Film--the production company--refused to pay Leone what it owed him from that film unless he made a sequel to it.
Filmed in 1965, but not released in the U.S. until 1967.
Final film of Joseph Egger.
On its 1969 re-release it was double-billed with A Fistful of Dollars (A Fistful of Dollars).
Some of the outside shots of the steps in the prison at the beginning of the film were shot at a bull ring in Madrid.