Buono, il brutto, il cattivo., Il (1966)

Director:

Sergio Leone

Writers:

Luciano Vincenzoni (story) &
Sergio Leone (story) ...

Release Date:

29 December 1967 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Western

Tagline:

They formed an alliance of hate to steal a fortune in dead man's gold

Plot:

A bounty hunting scam joins two men in an uneasy alliance against a third in a race to find a fortune in gold buried in a remote cemetery.

Plot Keywords:

Very Little Dialogue | Exploding Bridge | Interrupted Hanging | Deep Focus | Good Versus Evil

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Eli Wallach	...	Tuco
Clint Eastwood	...	Blondie
Lee Van Cleef	...	Sentenza / Angel Eyes
Aldo Giuffrè	...	Alcoholic Union Captain
Luigi Pistilli	...	Father Pablo Ramirez
Rada Rassimov	...	Maria
Enzo Petito	...	Storekeeper
Claudio Scarchilli	...	Bounty Hunter in Ghost Town
John Bartha	...	Sheriff (as John Bartho)
Livio Lorenzon	...	Baker
Antonio Casale	...	Jackson / Bill Carson
Sandro Scarchilli	...	Deputy
Benito Stefanelli	...	Member of Angel Eyes' Gang
Angelo Novi	...	Monk
Antonio Casas	...	Stevens

Also Known As:

Bo, el lleig i el dolent, El (Spain: Catalan title)
Bueno, el feo y el malo, El (Spain)
Due magnifici straccioni, I (Italy) (working title)
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (USA)
The Good, the Ugly, the Bad (USA) (literal English title)
The Magnificent Rogues (UK)

Runtime:

161 min | 179 min (2005 DVD Special Edition) | Finland:142 min (1984) (cut version) | France:186 min (dubbed version) | Spain:182 min | UK:180 min (re-release)

Country:

Italy | Spain

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital (DVD Release) | Mono

Certification:

Germany:16 (DVD release) | Italy:VM14 | Finland:K-16 (cut) (1968) | UK:15 (2008) | Canada:A (Nova Scotia) (original rating) | Spain:13 | West Germany:18 (nf) (original rating) | Australia:MA (re-rating) (2003) | Portugal:M/12 (DVD rating) | West Germany:16 (nf) (re-rating) | Brazil:14 | South Korea:12 | Norway:16 (1982) | USA:TV-14 (cable rating) | USA:Approved (PCA #21520) | Brazil:Livre (original DVD rating) | Canada:18 (Nova Scotia) (extended version) (2003) | Argentina:16 | Australia:R (original rating) | Canada:13+ (Quebec) (original rating) | Canada:G (Quebec) (re-rating) (2003) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | Chile:18 | France:-16 (original rating) | France:U (re-rating) | Iceland:16 | Ireland:15 (re-rating) | Ireland:18 (original rating) | New Zealand:M (video rating) | New Zealand:R13 (Special Edition DVD) | Norway:15 | Singapore:PG | Sweden:15 | UK:18 (video rating) (1986) | UK:X (original rating) (cut) | USA:M (re-rating) (1969) | USA:R (re-rating) (1989) | Netherlands:12 (DVD rating)

Filming Locations:

Almería, Andalucía, Spain

Company:

Arturo González Producciones Cinematográficas, S.A

Trivia:

During the scene right before the final duel where Tuco (Eli Wallach) is running frantically through the cemetery, a dog can be seen running on-screen at the beginning of the scene. In reality, that was improvised on the spot. Sergio Leone, who was afraid that the scene was going to slip into melodrama, released the dog without informing Eli Wallach first - thus, his look of surprise is quite genuine.

Goofs:

Incorrectly regarded as goofs: During the Union attack on the bridge, there are some soldiers visible with gray uniforms which may look like Confederate ones. But it was very common for Union soldiers to be wearing the Confederate grays, because the Union army couldn't supply them their blue uniforms. This caused several friendly casualties during the Civil War.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Stevens: You're... from Baker... Tell Baker that I told him all that I know already. Tell him I want to live in peace, understand? That it's no use to go on tormenting me! I know nothing at all about that case of coins. Now that gold has disappeared, but if he'd listened, we could have avoided this altogether. I went to the Army court; there were no witnesses. They couldn't uncover any more. I can't tell Baker what happened to the money; go back and tell him that!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Duke Nukem: Time to Kill (1998) (VG)

Soundtrack:

The Good, The Bad And The Ugly

The King of Cool

On a partial first viewing, I didn't like "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly." I thought it was a slow, tedious story about a bunch of unpleasant jerk characters involved in a bog-standard conflict over money. It all seemed very macho and self-consciously cool, and it had obviously inspired all the overrated macho directors I don't like in my own generation - Tarantino, for example, and Robert Rodriguez. In short, I was unimpressed.

Years later, I gave the film a second shot, watching it all the way through this time. I loved it. What had changed?

For one thing, I took more notice of the technical side of the film. I paid attention to Leone's famous use of close-ups, his selection of memorable character actors, and his wonderful scene-setting. I admired the detailed sets and the sweeping landscapes, the props and the costumes and all those weird, wonderful faces that Leone clearly loved to photograph.

I also got hooked by some of the quieter moments that I had skipped over in my first viewing. One of the most effective scenes involves Eli Wallach's character, Tuco, quarreling with his brother when they meet after they've been apart for years. Their argument is great, emotionally charged stuff, made all the more effective by the suggestion that they really do love and care about each other. It's the kind of sensitive, human scene you never get to see in a Tarantino or Rodriguez movie.

Before I get too fuzzy-wuzzy, I should also like to point out that, on my second viewing, I LOVED all the action, too. Every gunfight is great, in its own way, and they're all a bit different. The greatest of them all is, of course, the final confrontation between the trio, which is accompanied by some of the most rousing music I've ever heard in a film. And hey, there's even a huge Civil War battle to provide a change of pace from all the small-scale action.

Ultimately, "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" is probably just a potboiler of a film, without too much to say about, for example, the human condition. But what a potboiler! It doesn't have to try to be cool - it simply IS cool. In fact, it probably defined heroic coolness for an entire generation. Eli Wallach's performance, Leone's direction and Morricone's music alone are enough to elevate it to classic status - and the fact that everything else in the movie is great, too, helps elevate it to the level of perhaps the greatest action film ever made.

And to think, I missed all that the first time through...