Sergio Leone had an unmatched eye for distinct facial structures and physical gravity. In 1965, when casting For a Few Dollars More, Leone hired Krupp to play Mary Cavanagh, the wife of an easily panicked hotelkeeper. Krupp stood head-to-head with Clint Eastwood’s taciturn bounty hunter. She didn't play the part as a frightened frontier victim. Instead, she brought wry amusement, unapologetic sensuality, and an imposing physical stature that made the comedic, mildly flirtatious domestic exchange one of the film's most memorable non-violent sequences.
Leone valued that distinct screen energy enough to bring her back for 1966's The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Her appearance as a battered hotelkeeper's wife cornered by Eli Wallach's erratic Tuco is briefer and far harsher. In just a few frames, Krupp conveys raw panic and exhausted resignation under Tuco's manic physical bullying. Leone gave female characters very little room in his dust-choked masculine epics, yet Krupp carved out an indelible impression in both productions. Those short scenes cemented her legacy among Spaghetti Western purists for over half a century.
