The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966)

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (Il buono,il brutto, il cattivo)
Directed by Sergio Leone
Written by Agenore Incrocci, Furio Scarpelli, Luciano Vincenzone and Sergio Leone
1966/Italy/Spain/West Germany
Produzione Europee Associate/Arturo Gonzalez Produciones Cinematograficas/Constantin Films
Repeat viewing/Netflix rental
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

[box] Tuco: When you have to shoot, shoot. Don’t talk.[/box]

This may not be the “greatest” film of 1966 but it is certainly my favorite!

“The Good” is Blondie (Clint Eastwood) – good in the sense that he’s the least bad of these greedy treasure hunters.  “The Ugly” is crazy Tuco (Eli Wallach).  He and Blondie run a scam in which Blondie “captures” the wanted Tuco, claims the reward, and then shoots down his “friend” just before the hangman drags the floor out from under him.  Blondie and Tuco also like to play dirty, sadistic tricks on each other.  “The Bad” is “Angel Eyes” (Lee Van Cleef) whom you really don’t want to run into.  He racks up most of the body count early in the film.

Tuco and Blondie run across a dying Confederate soldier who tells Tuco the name of the cemetery a large sum of gold is buried in and Blondie the name on the grave.  After many adventures, the three wind up at the same place for one of the greatest showdowns in movie history.

I love this movie just as much after my tenth viewing as after the first.  The humor relieves the violence and the actors are all more than perfect for their roles.  Reportedly Eastwood was miffed that Eli Wallach was given the best part.  He was absolutely right.  Also love, love, love the operatic staging.  I watched the three-hour director’s cut.  I thought the version I saw in the theater was perfect.  This didn’t need to be stretched out.