The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, released in 1966 and directed by Sergio Leone, starred Clint Eastwood as the Man with No Name. Its score by Ennio Morricone made whistling a signature sound of the spaghetti western, turning a simple human whistle into shorthand for danger, distance and a coming gunfight. Short excerpts later circulated as soundboard clips and meme audio, where editors reused them far beyond westerns. The sound endures because it needs no words to set a scene, signal a challenger or make a pause feel threatening.