3 Short Paragraphs (Or Not): The Good, the Bad & the Ugly

1966, Sergio Leone (Once Upon a Time in America) -- Amazon

That's it, I'm done with the iconic trilogy. I knew I had seen this movie before, probably back in high school on VHS but I don't recall an iota of it.  

You know, I am not all that impressed by the trilogy as I thought I would be, but at the same time, I can see the immense amount of progress made between each? And if I am going to use the age-old excuse, the film making was probably incredible for its time. There are elements that impress me, but as a whole, I am hesitant in my respect. I am not going to claim admiration just because the rest of film critique feels so.

Or I am just not in the mood for it; my moods (which now come in years long swathes) do change how I feel about things I may have once adored, or at least respected more.

Anywayz.

If the first movie was about a small plot, setting two families against each other, with The Man with No Name (who always has a name) playing the focus, and the second movie having The Man with No Name (again, this time named Manco) pitted against a nemesis come ally, then the third movie expands to three main characters, the titular Good, Bad and Ugly. But, they are all Bad. 

You know, the whole Man with No Name was just a marketing scheme put on the trilogy by the distributors? Frickin' Purple Suits, man...

This movie is set during the Civil War. The Ugly is petty criminal Tuco (Eli Wallach, The Holiday), always on the run. The Bad is classic Black Hat gunfighter "Angel Eyes" (Lee Van Cleef, The Octagon) who starts as a bounty hunter but becomes more interested in chasing down some stolen Confederate gold. And the Good (debatable) is a con-artist, bounty hunter (Clint Eastwood, Magnum Force) who is running a bounty con with Tuco, wherein he captures Tuco, turns him, claims the money, but then frees Tuco just as he is about to hang. That is, until he betrays Tuco as well. Yeah, not so Good.

This is a big story, a sprawling story, with lots of extras and covering lots of geography. The opening acts are establishing the characters, the setting and the personalities involved but then kicks into full gear once Tuco and "Blondie" find out about the stolen gold. Tuco knows the graveyard in which it is hidden, Blondie knows in which grave. On their way there Tuco makes a strategic blunder and they are captured as Confederates by dusty Union soldiers.

In the prison is where Angel Eyes makes the connection and formulates a plan with Blondie's help. Tuco is dispensable but he is also a cockroach and follows the pair, as well as Angel Eyes new gang. In an abandoned town, being shelled by one side or the other, a scene more reminiscent of a WWII movie than a western, Angel Eyes and his gang have a traditional western confrontation with Tuco and Blondie, i.e. the pair walks up the middle of the road while the Bad Guys patiently wait to get shot. No matter, Angel Eyes has betrayed his own gang and escaped on his own after the gold.

Best buds again, Tuco and Blondie are once again interrupted on the route to the gold by the war, this time coming across a river crossing contested by both sides. This act is a massive set piece, trenches and cannons, and designated times of the day for both sides to rush each other on the bridge, slaughtering many, accomplishing little. The pair pretends they want to sign up and are taken before a drunken disillusioned captain who blurts out he really really wants someone to just blow the bridge up so this senseless death can end. The pair complies.

On the other side, after a wee bit more betrayal, we get the final confrontation. The graveyard is massive, and Tuco drives himself half made running from grave to grave trying to find the right one. Tuco thinks he is brilliant having conned the location out of Blondie but not quite. Angel Eyes appears, we get a proper Mexican Standoff (in Texas), and they put him in a grave. And they actually find the gold, with one last betrayal, where Tuco is forced to stand on a grave marker, his neck in a noose, while Blondie rides away with his share... just his own share. Tuco should have expected a reversal, and Blondie is The Good, and from a distance, he shoots the rope.

Ennio Morricone signing off.

Yah, not sure why it didn't grab me. I guess I just prefer my westerns stripped down. Admittedly another draw to westerns for me has always been the grandeur of the American Old West, when shot in actual America. Italy looks dusty enough and they did a good jobs building those fake old towns, but it was lacking a certain something for me. For me, that is, for I am well aware that the Spaghetti Western became such a staple that westerns following them, including video game depictions, movies and TV shows all ended up being more Italy dusty than border of Mexico dusty.

So much for my exploration of the Spaghetti Western, it might not be my thing.

An amusing side note, as I mentioned above, The Man with No Name is a marketing ploy. I guess it was popular enough that they even invented reasons to dress Eastwood in clothing familiar to the audiences, including a serape and his wool fringed vest.