This BBC tribute to Sergio Leone aired shortly after his death in 1989. Apart from some mouth watering clips from his widescreen epics, it also offers a comprehensive overview of Leone's career. Viva Leone! includes a revealing 1977 inter­view with a contemplative Clint Eastwood in which he reveals that he was none too keen on embarking upon the first of the Dollars trilogy.

Leone's biographer, Christopher Frayling, provides a running commentary and wittily remarks that the Morricone scores, when first heard, sounded like, "A mixture of Puccini and Duane Eddy recorded in a bathroom."

Alex Cox, director of Repo Man, Sid And Nancy and his own attempt at a retro-Spaghetti West­ern, Straight To Hell (1987), speaks with enthusi­asm and awe of his mentor.