The Good, The Bad and The Ugly is a 1966 Sergio Leone Western. The movie’s themes, style and cinematography are major influences on most of Tarantino’s works.
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly tells the story of three drifters who are seeking a bounty of buried money. The three men form ephemeral alliances with each other during their pursuit, constantly scheming to secure the riches for themselves.
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly is a unique entry for this project. The movie is continually cited as one of the greatest Westerns ever made, along with being a huge influence on Tarantino’s works – particularly during the second half of the director’s career. Although it’s possible that Tarantino references The Good, The Bad and The Ugly in all of his movies. Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction and Jackie Brown all borrow from the movie’s classic ending – a standoff in a Civil War cemetery. The atmosphere of Kill Bill, Volume 2 – particularly during the scenes with Budd and later Bill – are lifted entirely from The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.
The spacious scenery of the desert, which highlights Leone’s movie, is littered throughout Tarantino’s second half volume of movies. The opening scene of Inglorious Basterds borrows heavily from Leone’s introduction of Angel Eyes, while Django Unchained and Hateful Eight mimic the characters’ motivation and study ideas of trust.
On its surface, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly is a simple movie. The characters are all motivated by the same thing – yet take different routes to achieve their goals. They are simply characterized – Blondie is the good guy, Angel Eyes is bad and Tuco is ugly. Yet all three characters are con men and tricksters – each both adapting to and taking advantage of their landscape, which is being devastated by war.
As the movie progresses, this background grows more weighty. Blondie and Tuco wait behind soldiers advancing to their certain deaths before activating stolen explosives – all in the name of eventually securing a buried fortune. Angel Eyes drifts in and out of military rank, using his position to gain him access to the same gold.
There is an enormous commentary made on the futility of war – if the sacrifice of war is not being lampooned, it’s at least heavily criticized. The con men see the war as a ridiculous farce of destruction – albeit one that they can directly profit from. Each of the three men are guilty of this – including the hero of the story – the “good” Blondie.
The only thing that separates Blondie from Angel Eyes and Tuco are subtle touches – he gives a dying soldier one last cigar puff and covers him with his jacket. Then he’s off to secure his gold surrounded by thousands of Civil War dead. Angel Eyes is strictly defined by his “bad” description – and literally remains so for most of the movie. However, there’s a twinge of empathy when he pays an amputee veteran for information and leaves a bottle of whiskey for another soldier.
Similarly, Tuco is defined by his “ugly” characterization, but is easily the movie’s most intriguing character. He is without question the most conniving of the three – yet the ambiguity found with Blondie and Angel Eyes is lost on Tuco. He is the representation of “ugly” – he is singularly obsessed with finding gold and will do anything to achieve these means, including turning on Blondie and his unfortunate “brothers.” His scheming is so compulsive and short-sighted, it becomes comical.
The simple brilliance of the characters is seen by the way they try on different roles throughout the movie. As the movie opens, Blondie and Tuco are involved in a series of bounty hunting scams. Blondie keeps “capturing” Tuco for reward money. Then, Tuco is saved from a hanging by a sharp-shooting Blondie. They ride to the next town to repeat the trick. Blondie is clearly the dominant partner, as the noose is always wrapped around Tuco’s neck. It’s Blondie’s call to end the relationship as he abandons Tuco in the desert.
Tuco becomes a wayward drifter before rallying to track down Blondie. He captures his former partner and in a flipping of roles, Tuco now forces Blondie on a death march through the desert. After learning of the buried gold, Tuco now pretends to care for a healing Blondie. Their underhanded partnership resumes with each man holding part of the buried gold secret – they are equals.
Angel Eyes seems to exist in a parallel universe. His legend is clearly known – he’s a coldly efficient assassin who can find anyone. We first see Angel Eyes peering into a victim’s kitchen. He deliberately enters the man’s house, eats his wife’s cooking, then shoots the victim and his son. Angel Eyes drifts in and out of the movie, turning up playing the role of detective. He’s piecing together clues regarding Bill Carson and the buried gold – which leads him to the military, where he’s a ranking officer in Carson’s unit. Once we learn the secret of Bill Carson, Angel Eyes sheds his uniform and mounts a posse – pulling in Blondie as a partner.
Clint Eastwood’s Blondie and Lee Van Cleef’s Angel Eyes represent more archetypal roles. Clint Eastwood is playing a role he would largely repeat for a sizable portion of his career, while Van Cleef is terrific as the menacing, hawkish Angel Eyes. Eastwood is the evolved John Wayne – his confident stride paces the movie, he tosses wry jabs at Tuco and stares down Angel Eyes – even while dying in the desert, you get the sense Eastwood’s Blondie is still the unquestioned leader. Van Cleef’s sinister grin is calculated; he’s playing a patient game throughout the story – he’s cold and vicious, yet is an oddly appealing bad guy.
Eli Wallach’s Tuco is the star of the movie. While Eastwood is the traditional hero, Wallach gives The Good , The Bad and The Ugly its heart – or at least its pulse. Wallach’s Tuco is a scene stealer, providing a near perfect, verbose counterweight to Eastwood’s stoic Blondie. Wallach essentially never stops talking throughout the movie – his scheming Tuco is a gross, drunk, oafish con man – yet he is perhaps the movie’s most self-aware character. Tuco knows he’s a robber.
Wallach plays Tuco with a touching degree of humanity. Perhaps the movie’s most intriguing scene finds Tuco reuniting with his priest brother. Tuco lashes out at his brother’s false modesty, claiming that he had to become a bandit in order to feed his family. He’s visibly shaken by the encounter but has to downplay its significance in front of Blondie.
But the beauty of Wallach’s acting is found moments before Tuco confronts his brother. Tuco basically leaves Blondie to die in the desert – a sadistic and brutal act of revenge. He is saved only by the emergence of a runaway wagon of dying Civil War soldiers. Here, Tuco and Blondie each hear half of the secret of the buried gold. Suddenly, Tuco needs Blondie and becomes his caretaker. “Don’t die Blondie – I’m your friend!” becomes Tuco’s new rallying cry. The funniest moment in the movie occurs as Tuco is dressed in a dead solider’s uniform, sporting an eyepatch – praying outside of Blondie’s hospital room. A Jesus crucifix hangs in the background as Tuco implores his savior to spare Blondie’s life so he can lead him to the buried treasure.
There’s probably dozens of direct references found in Tarantino’s movies that are borrowed from The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. There’s a case to be made that Jules Winfield is loosely based on Angel Eyes and virtually two-thirds of Kill Bill: Volume 2 is a genre-swapping remake of this movie. However, the most constant influence is Leone’s deliberate pacing and the focus on characters’ eyes. These close up shots both propel and intensify the narrative. The movie opens with three unnamed robbers advancing on their targets – their eyes convey the confusion, anxiety and dread of what’s about to occur. We jump to the impending terror in the eyes of Angel Eye’s victim. Later, Tuco has a rope around his neck – his eyes display a cavalier, yet anxious dread – he’s not sure if the piercing, steely-eyed Blondie will again save him.
The most brilliant display of these devices is found in the movie’s final showdown. The fruits of Blondie, Tuco and Angel Eyes’ scheming lands them in a Civil War cemetery/bull ring – they are positioned in a standoff with the ghosts of dead soldiers as a backdrop. The scene is reminiscent of a gladiator battle fought among the rubble of Ancient Rome. The circular setting is again repeated in Kill Bill: Volume 2, when The Bride finally encounters Bill. Here, Leone freezes time to focus on the combatants’ eyes. Angel Eyes is determined but we see hints of doubt. Tuco’s eyes lunge from each man – his expression is frenzied and unsure. We cycle through each character as Blondie emerges self-assured and ultimately victorious.
The BEST – “There are Two Kinds of People in This World….”
Throughout the movie, Blondie and Tuco pepper each other with declarative measures of their relationship. Some of the best include “there are two kinds of people in the world, my friend: those with a rope around their neck, and the people who do the cutting.” Blondie emerges victorious during the standoff after revealing he has emptied Tuco’s gun: “there are two types of people in this world: those with a loaded gun and those that dig.”
The BEST Part 2 – “The Alcoholic Union Captain”
I had to Google this character’s name only to find this description. Aldo Giuffre plays a drunken Captain who takes Tuco and Blondie into his unit. Giuffre is a scene-chewer – no small feat playing against Wallach – whose drunken bluster and inherent sadness are fascinating to watch. There’s a Madsen-esque quality to his bravado, including his touching death scene.
The BEST Part 3 – Tuco’s Bath
This short scene encapsulated all of what made Wallach’s performance so incredible. Tuco makes himself a bubble bath – it’s a literal and figurative cleansing of the “ugly.” He has yet again emerged from a temporary obstacle to resume his pursuit of the gold. He is victorious one moment and aloof the next, before reminding us that he is still a vicious bandit. Here, Wallach delivers the line of the movie – “when you have to shoot, shoot. Don’t talk.”
The BEST Part 4 – “How’s your Digestion Now?
Possibly because Angel Eyes drifts in and out of the movie, it’s easy to forget Van Cleef’s impact as a wonderful villain. He is savage in treating Tuco to dinner before his subordinate beats him to a pulp. All the while, a prison band plays in the background.
The WORST – Men’s Only Club
Outside of Angel Eyes’ opening scene and a few scattered townsfolk who gather for a hanging, there isn’t much use for female characters in the movie. On the one hand, at least they aren’t exploited as the helpless victims or prostitutes with a conflicted past. On the other, they are mostly absent from the story.
The WORST Part 2 – Tuco’s “Brothers”
Tuco gives a endearing speech about loneliness – and suddenly his “brothers” emerge. Tuco quickly dispatches them on a mission to kill Blondie. When the plan fails and the brothers are shot, Tuco crosses himself and mouths a prayer – before quickly moving on to other business.
FOX FORCE FIVE RATING – 4.5/5
This is simply an outstanding movie. On its surface, the style and cinematography are off the charts. The acting is terrific – particularly Eli Wallach. On a deeper level, this movie represents the birth of an iconic Clint Eastwood, but also portrays the death of the traditional Western that dominated the 1950’s. Eastwood’s Blondie covering the dying solider with his jacket, only to emerge in a poncho was a harbinger of the movement to come.
