The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo) is a 1966 "spaghetti western" film directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood (Blondie, the Man with No Name or The Good ), Lee Van Cleef ("Angel Eyes" Sentenza or the Bad), and Eli Wallach (Tuco Benedito Pacifico Juan Maria Ramirez or The Ugly). The film is set in 1862 New Mexico (USA) during the New Mexico campaign of General Henry Hopkins Sibley, an officer of the army of the Confederate States of America (CSA), in the American Civil War. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly tells of three men seeking a fortune in buried gold. It is particularly known for its sparse but haunting soundtrack, created by Ennio Morricone, and for the climactic showdown in a graveyard between the three principal characters. Many people claim the film to be allegorical in nature, with the three characters representing Christ, Satan, and Humanity, though Leone never indicated that his film was to be taken in anything but the literal sense. The film was shot in Techniscope by the award-winning cinematographer Tonino Delli Colli. The film is frequently in the Top 10 of the IMDB Top 250 List of movies, which is based on user ratings.

The film contains many of Leone trademarks, such as the sparse dialogue, long scenes that slowly build to a climax (for this film, in the form of a Mexican standoff) and contrasts between sweeping long camera shots and extremely tight closeups on eyes and fingers. The first ten minutes of the film have no dialogue.

The film is part of a loose trilogy with Leone's earlier films A Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More. Eastwood stars in all three, with the same clothing and mannerisms, so the role is popularly dubbed "The Man With No Name." In lieu of a "name," the character is addressed by three different monikers: "Joe," by one character in the first movie; "Manco," only once in the second movie; and "Blondie," regularly in the third. These monikers have led some people to state that the "Man With No Name" was in fact named, but all three of these names served merely as placeholders and nicknames. "Joe" is used in a similar fashion to "Mack," as a way to address a stranger; "Manco" in Spanish is a term used to refer to a man with an amputated arm, and Eastwood's character constantly hides his right hand beneath his serape; "Blondie" is not only Tuco Ramirez's nickname for his light-haired partner, but is also a Mexican slur for Americans.

Many see The Good, the Bad and the Ugly as a prequel to the earlier two movies—as Eastwood's character acquires his trademark poncho toward the end of the movie. However, there is no solid continuity between the movies to deduce an absolute link or order.

The film was mostly filmed in Spain using 1,500 local militia members as extras for a cost of $1,600,000. It was released on December 23, 1966 in Italy and in the USA on December 29, 1967.

Since the film's release, "the good, the bad, and the ugly" has become a common phrase (helped in part by Robert F. Kennedy's use of the phrase in campaign speeches). The Italian title translates as "The Good, the Ugly, the Bad."

Plot
The story traces how three men gain, often at the expense of others, information about the location of a buried treasure of gold, and then uncover that treasure. The first character introduced in the movie is Angel Eyes (Lee Van Cleef). We find him actively obtaining information about the gold from a man, whom he immediately kills. Next, we are introduced to the duo, Tuco (Eli Wallach) and "Blondie" (Clint Eastwood), defrauding the local authorities by turning in Tuco for the reward money, and then, during his hanging, shooting the rope from Tuco's neck.

"Blondie" grows tired of his relationship with Tuco, and leaves Tuco in the desert. When Tuco returns from the desert, he finds and catches up with "Blondie," and takes "Blondie" to the desert for equal punishment. However, before Tuco could complete his punishment, a runaway stagecoach full of dead and dying Confederate soldiers happens through the desert. Bill Carson, the man with knowledge of the whereabouts of the gold, dying from thirst, persuades Tuco to get him a drink by disclosing the name of the graveyard where the gold is located. As Tuco goes for the water, Carson dies, but not before spilling the grave's name to "Blondie."

Now, Tuco and "Blondie" need each other, since each has a different piece of the gold's location. Tuco takes "Blondie," near death, to his brother, a priest, where "Blondie" recovers. When they leave the priest's mission, they dress in the clothing of the dead soldiers, trying to fool Confederate soldiers. However, the plan backfires and they are captured by Union soldiers, who take them to a Union prison camp. Angel Eyes happens to be running the Union prison camp. Angel Eyes tortures Tuco for the information about the gold's location, but takes "Blondie" to find the gold. Tuco escapes from the camp and the three eventually meet in the graveyard for the legendary three-way showdown. Having previously unloaded Tuco's pistol (unbeknown to Tuco, of course), "Blondie" wins the showdown by killing Angel Eyes. "Blondie" splits the money with Tuco, leaving Tuco tied in a noose while he rides away. In a dramatic end to the movie, "Blondie" turns around to shoot the rope above Tuco's head before riding off.

Trivia

 * In Italian, Eastwood's character is sometimes called "Biondo senza nome", which simply means, "The Blonde Man with No Name". Angel Eyes in the original Italian is "Sentenza" ("Verdict").


 * Because the Italian title translates literally as The Good, the Ugly, the Bad, reversing the last two terms, ads for the original Italian release show Tuco before Angel Eyes, and when they were translated into English Angel Eyes was erroneously labelled "The Ugly" and Tuco "The Bad".