Clint Eastwood Kills Lee Van Cleef In Shootout.
The Good The Bad And The Ugly.
I grew up in the sixties, The TV at that time was dominated by western series full of killings and scalping such as Bonanza, The High Chaparral, Paladin, Gun Smoke etc. The 60′s era also brought to the big screen some memorable westerns and my favourite of them all is, The Good The Bad And The Ugly. A story set in the American west during the civil war, starring Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef and Eli Wallach. Three characters so different yet so alike, Clint Eastwood plays ‘Blondy’ the good, a cool cold blooded gunslinger, Lee Van Cleef plays ‘Angel Eyes’ the bad, a contract killer and opportunist, but for me Eli Wallach’s character ‘Tuco’ the ugly, also a heartless killer, is the man of the movie. I love his expressions, when he is in tight situations or when he gets the upper hand, his eyes say it all.
Clint Eastwood.
Blondy, a cold hearted realist, he’s the one who thinks ahead and implements his cool deeds, the one that every male in the 70′s and 80′s going to a fancy dress party became, a picture of masculinity in his western hat and poncho, the cold blooded gunslinger who never missed. He uses his skill as a marksman to sever the rope just before Tuco is hanged. They then share the reward money but their partnership turns sour as Tuco begins to want more, to him he is taking all the risks. Blondy puts him right by telling him that his aim may not be so good if he has to part with more of their ill gotten gains.
Lee Van Cleef.
Angel Eyes, a man you could never trust and I mean never! A cold blooded contract killer who demonstrates just how cold blooded he is in the opening sequences of the movie when he kills a man who tries to buy him off by doubling his fee. He then returns to the man who hired him and kills him stating that when he’s paid he ‘always delivers’. Before he kills his employer he learns of a chest of gold that’s gone missing and one man ‘Bill Carson’ knows where. This fuels his gold lust and he sets off in his quest to find the gold.
Eli Wallach.
Tuco, a sharp shooting loser who shoots first and asks questions later, “If yer gonna shoot, shoot! don’t talk” is one of his memorable lines as he kills yet another of his unfortunate enemies. He and Blondy come across a runaway horse drawn army wagon in the desert which Tuco stops, the wagon carrying dead and half dead confederate soldiers has a dying occupant ‘Bill Carson’ and here’s where the plot thickens as Carson tells of the buried gold, Tuco learns the place, a cemetery, but when he goes for water for the dying man Blondy hears the name of the grave where the gold is buried. This secret ensures that Tuco will keep him alive in the hope of learning the name on the grave where the fortune in gold is buried.
The movie runs on where, dressed as confederate soldiers they are taken prisoner by union soldiers. They find themselves in a POW camp where Angel Eyes is a sergeant and second in command, he learns that his new prisoners met with Carson and know where the gold is hidden. He manages to get the info out of Tuco by beating him up but realises he will have to teem up with blondy to get the gold. They set off and meanwhile Tuco who is being transported by train to another camp manages to escape by killing his guard.
They Decide To Blow The Bridge.
Tuco then sets off in search of the cemetery and finds himself in a town where Angel Eyes and Blondy are. Blondy hears gunshots and knows it’s Tuco killing another of his adversaries. He goes to meet with Tuco realising he will need his help to kill the men who are with Angel Eyes. This they manage to achieve but Angel eye’s pre-empts them and takes off. Tuco And Blondy partners again, set off to find the cemetery. On the way they find they have to cross a bridge which is being fought over by the waring factions, both sides wanting it intact. They listen to the story of the bridge from the drunken commander and decide to blow it up, thus ending the fighting so they can resume their search for the cemetery and the gold.
The Panic Stricken Search For Arch Stanton’s Grave.
This Achieved they cross the river and find the cemetery, Tuco filled with gold lust and greed runs around the cemetery looking for the grave marker ‘Arch Stanton’ which was revealed by Blondy earlier, he runs round and around, to the movies main theme music when he suddenly finds it. Told to dig by Blondy he frantically digs and while doing so, Angel Eyes appears behind them, holds them at gunpoint and orders Blondy to help in the dig. Blondy replies with, ”If you kill me you will never find the gold” and tells Tuco to open the casket he has revealed in his frantic digging, it contains a skeleton and no gold.
The Final Shootout Decides Who Will Win The Gold.
The climax of the movie is a suspenseful shootout between the three in the centre of the cemetery, where Blondy has written the name of the grave on a stone and placed it on the ground between them. They all back away from the stone and no-one knows who is going to kill who. There is a play on the eyes and guns of the three men during the suspense, suddenly they shoot. For those of you who haven’t seen this fantastic movie I will not say who wins, just that this end scene I could watch again and again.
Suspense As The Movie Plays On Guns And Eyes.
Considering this movie was made in 1966 it has to rank up there at the top of the list with the other all time greats. The casting is excellent and considering there are so many killings the only time you see blood is on the floor after Tuco is beaten by Angel Eyes. The dialog is good and the scenes stay on topic with no time wasting romantic stuff, just good old gun-slinging all the way through.
In my travels I have found myself buying this DVD at least three times to replace copies lost or loaned to others and not returned.
Sidewallfusion signing off until next time.
