Once disparaged as "spaghetti Westerns," Leone's films helped revive the genre, and ushered in a unique visual style. In 2005, cultural historian Christopher Frayling reflected on Leone's influence.

Clint Eastwood and Sergio Leone's Dollars Trilogy is a cornerstone of the Western genre, but one actor stole the show completely in 2 of the movies.

Clint Eastwood's legendary Western movie Pale Rider was the highest-grossing Western of the 1980s, and coincidentally, Eastwood's only '80s Western.

This is FRESH AIR. I'm David Bianculli, professor of television studies at Rowan University. Let's continue with our series about classic films and movie icons featuring interviews from our archives.