In the last and the best installment of his
so-called Dollars trilogy of Sergio Leone-directed spaghetti
westerns, Clint Eastwood reprised the role of a taciturn,
enigmatic loner.
Here he searches for a cache of stolen gold against rivals
the Bad (Lee Van Cleef), a ruthless bounty hunter, and the
Ugly (Eli Wallach), a Mexican bandit.
Though dubbed the Good, Eastwood's character is not much better
than his opponents, he is just smarter and shoots faster.
The film's title reveals its ironic attitude toward the canonized
heroes of the classical western.
The real West was the world of violence, fear, and brutal
instincts, claimed Leone.
In pursuit of profit there is no such thing as good and evil,
generosity or deviousness; everything depends on chance, and
not the best wins but the luckiest.
Immensely entertaining and beautifully shot in Techniscope
by Tonino Delli Colli, the movie is a virtually definitive
spaghetti western, rivaled only by Leone's own Once Upon a
Time in the West (1968).
The main musical theme by Ennio Morricone hit # 1 on the British
pop charts. Originally released in Italy at 177 minutes, the
movie was later cut for its international release.
Cast:
Clint Eastwood as Blondie:
The Good, a subdued, cocksure bounty hunter who competes with
Tuco and Angel Eyes to find the buried gold in the middle
of the two warring factions of the American Civil War.
Blondie and Tuco have an ambivalent partnership.
Tuco knows the name of the cemetery where the gold is hidden,
but Blondie knows the name of the grave where it's buried,
forcing them to work together to find the treasure.
In spite of this greedy quest, Blondie's pity for the dying
soldiers in the chaotic carnage of the War is evident.
I've never seen so many men wasted so badly, he laments.
Rawhide had ended its run in 1965 and at that point none of
Clint Eastwood's Italian films had been released in the United
States.
When Leone offered him a role in his next movie it was the
only big film offer he had but the actor still needed to be
convinced to do it.
Leone and his wife traveled to California to persuade Eastwood.
Two days later, he agreed to make the movie and would be paid
$250,000 plus 10% of the profits from the North American markets,
a deal that Leone was not happy with.
Lee Van Cleef as Angel Eyes:
The Bad, a ruthless, unfeeling and sociopathic mercenary named
Angel Eyes Sentenza who kills anyone in his path.
When Blondie and Tuco are captured while posing as Confederate
soldiers, Angel Eyes is the Union sergeant who interrogates
them and tortures Tuco, eventually learning the name of the
cemetery where the gold is buried, but not the tombstone.
Angel Eyes forms a fleeting partnership with Blondie, but
Tuco and Blondie turn on Angel Eyes when they get their chance.
Originally, Leone wanted Charles Bronson to play Angel Eyes
but he had already committed to The Dirty Dozen (1967).
Leone thought about working with Lee Van Cleef again: I said
to myself that Van Cleef had first played a romantic character
in For a Few Dollars More.
The idea of getting him to play a character who was the opposite
of that began to appeal to me.
Eli Wallach as Tuco:
The Ugly, Tuco Benedito Pacifico Juan Maria Ramirez, a comical,
oafish, fast talking bandit who is wanted by the authorities.
Tuco manages to discover the name of the cemetery where the
gold is buried, but he doesn't know the name of the grave,
only Blondie does.
This state of affairs forces Tuco to become reluctant partners
with Blondie. The director originally considered Gian Maria
Volonte' for the role of Tuco, but felt that the role required
someone with natural comic talent.
In the end, Leone chose actor Eli Wallach based on his role
in How the West Was Won (1962), in particular, his performance
in The Railroads scene.
Leone met with Wallach in L.A. who was skeptical about playing
this type of character again, but after Leone screened the
opening credit sequence from For a Few Dollars More, Wallach
said: When do you want me?
The two men got along famously, sharing the same bizarre sense
of humor. Leone allowed Wallach to make changes to his character
in terms of his outfit and recurring gestures.
Both Eastwood and Van Cleef realized that the character of
Tuco was close to Leone's heart, and director and Wallach
became good friends. Van Cleef observed, Tuco is the only
one of the trio the audience gets to know all about.
We meet his brother and find out where he came from and why
he became a bandit. But Clint's character and mine remain
mysteries.
Director:
Sergio Leone |
