The most memorable thing about The Good The Bad and The Ugly, is it’s theme. It was written by Ennio Morricone. He composed the soundtracks for Sergio Leone’s previous westerns, A Fistful of Dollars (1964) and For a Few Dollars More (1965). Morricone was friends with Leone and composed the western soundtracks for him.
It would be nice if the excellent score accompanied an excellent movie. It doesn’t. The chief problem is that the movie runs at nearly three and a half hours. The setup and resolution, could have been done in under two hours. Its main highlight is the acing of Eli Wallach. He steals the movie from Clint Eastwood, as the ugly bandit, Tuco. Wallach was good in the films The Magnificent Seven (1960) and The Misfits (1961). This is his best role in a western in the 60’s. His character, is a thieving murderer. He would probably sell out his family, for a price. He does have some charm. He even has a good line, after he kills a boastful bounty hunter. He says “shoot, don’t talk.” He has a love hate relationship with Blondie, The Good, (Clint Eastwood). The two actors play off each other, with Eastwood playing a similar character, in the two previous Leone films.
The film’s story, set during The Civil War, is about greed and a con game. Blondie brings in Tuco, twice for the bounty. Blondie, before Tuco is to be hanged, shoots the rope, freeing him. The two catch up to each other, and split the bounty money. They go back and forth in their acrimonious business relationship. They come together, when they find out about treasure buried in a cemetery. They end up, being thrown in a Union prison for Confederate soldiers. It is run by Sentenza-Angel Eyes, The Bad, (Lee Van Cleef). He was, before impersonating a sergeant, a killer. Earlier he killed a man for money. His victim offered him money, to spare him. Sentenza killed him, and took the money. Angel Eyes knows that Tuco knows the location of the money. He has him brutally beaten, but Tuco doesn’t say anything. Sentenza later questions Blondie, coming to a compromise. They agree to be partners, splitting the treasure.
Blondie and Sentenza, and several of his henchmen, go to the cemetery. They are later joined by Tuco; who escaped a prisoner transport train. He did this by killing his captor; bashing his head with a rock. He gets free of his chains, by letting a train, run over them. Blondie, realizing he will be killed, when the treasure is found, dispatches Sentenza’s men. Sentenza escapes and follows Blondie and Tuco. There is a face off. Sergio Leone shows the character’s eyes, before the fateful gunfight. It is original and effective. The treasure is found, but not without pain and suffering.
The Good the Bad and the Ugly, isn’t the best of the Clint Eastwood/Sergio Leone spaghetti western trilogy. It is typical of westerns at the time. It was saturated with violence. This is particularly true of the beating of Tuco. It also has Tuco torturing Blondie by dragging him across the desert, and denying him water. The editors of this movie should have made it look a little neater. It could have been a gritty, more realistic western-think The Wild Bunch, if there was more cohesion. It is good to see an actor like Lee Van Cleef. His acting abilities aren’t shown here. They were on full display in For a Few Dollars More. This was a better film. The best thing about The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, is that Clint Eastwood never had to do tv work again. After this film, he achieved a status, many actors can only dream about. He became an acting icon, who is still active, and a two time academy award winning director. He also kept westerns going in the seventies, and later, revived them. This alone was extremely difficult. Clint Eastwood became the Hollywood personality, much like his screen ones. He always was up to challenges, and was better for it.