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Actors: Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, Eli Wallach
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| Review Summary and Plot Commentary about The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly |
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Eli Wallach is Clint's sidekick and they are looking for stashed gold. But so is Lee Van Cleef, a true villain who kills everyone with whom he comes in contact. This story takes place during the Civil War. But the long running goal of all three men is the gold that is buried in a cemetery "out in the West." Eli Wallach's character is a slippery character who has hidden the gold and is trying to find it without sharing it with his partner, Eastwood, before Van Cleef does.
This is a very long movie. The movie takes you from the Southwestern Desert of the United States to the South for the Civil War battle scenes and to a Civil War prison run by the Confederates. Back they go to the desert where Wallach finally digs up the gold from a grave.
--kerry bulls, Resident Scholar
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In the American Southwest, temporary partners "Blondie" (Eastwood, playing the tall thin Man With No Name, aka "The Good") and Tuco (Wallach, a cowardly, greedy wanted man aka "The Ugly") have a great con going: Blondie repeatedly hauls Tuco in to the law, collects the reward money, then helps the outlaw escape just as he's about to be hung and splits the money with him. One day Blondie tires of the con and abandons Tuco in the desert, and an enraged Tuco vows revenge. The two of them inevitably cross trails again but while Tuco is punishing his old friend, they learn of a treasure in gold coins hidden by the dying man who tells them about it. Each has half of the key -- Tuco knows the location of the cemetery, Blondie the name on the grave where the gold is buried -- so they're tied together again. Briefly taken for Confederate soldiers and jailed in a Union Army prison camp, they run across another familiar face, the contract killer Angel Eyes (Van Cleef, "The Bad"), who is temporarily moonlighting as a Union Army officer and prison official and also wants to track down the treasure with his gang. The stage is set for a terrific showdown. Not even the Civil War as carried on in distant Texas makes more than a brief interruption in their greedy quest. This 1966 film, the final in a trilogy by writer-director Sergio Leone, actually precedes the other two ("A Fistful of Dollars" and "For a Few Dollars More") in time sequence. The trio made a superstar of Eastwood, though Wallach and Van Cleef are equally powerful presences in this oddly paced, eccentric, and by turns extremely violent and funny movie.
--David Loftus, Resident Scholar
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During the Closing Months of the Civil War, Blondie (Clint Eastwood)and Tuco (Eli Wallach) are partners in a risky money making scheme. Blondie turns Tuco in for the bounty which is currently out on his head, and then shoots the rope, just before he is hung, and they make off with the money. Eventually, Blondie grows tired, and doubts the future of this business, so he abandons Tuco in the middle of the desert, and finds another partner. However, Tuco survives, and finds Blondie. Tuco eventually wins, and forces Blondie to walk the desert, just as he did. However, they come across a dying soldier, who confides in hem a secret. He had come across a large sum of money, and it was buried in a graveyard. He tells each man half of the location, one the cemetary, the other the grave. This sets them on a cooperative journey, but also pits them against Angel Eyes, a high ranking Civil War Soldier. The three eventually meet in the graveyard, and the oft-parodied showdown ensues.
--Tom Stern, Resident Scholar
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| Analysis of The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly |
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Composition of Movie
Actual chase scenes or violence - 40%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 20%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 40%
Time/Era of Movie:
- 19th century
War Thriller
Yes
Armed Forces:
- Mercenaries
Specific to
- US Civil War
Technology/treasure/info search
Yes
involving:
- money/gems/treasure
Western
Yes
Kind of western:
- prospecting/locating gold
- searching for stashed treasure
- traveling across the west
Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Age:
- 20's-30's
Hair color?
- blonde
Hair style
- short/standard straight (man)
Body type
- average (man)
Events of movie makes character more...
- aggressive
- tougher
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- average physique
Secondary Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Hair color
- white/grey
Hair style
- (man) short/standard straight
Body type
- average build (man)
How much in movie?
- 90%-100%
Ethnicity/Nationality
- Hispanic/Latinic
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Male
Age:
- 20's-30's
Profession/status:
- killer
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- 60%
Hair color
- brunette (Black)
Hair type
- (man) short/standard straight
Body type
- average (man)
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- average physique
Sense of humor
- Cynical sense of humor
How sensitive is this character?
- mean, arrogant
Setting
United States
Yes
The US:
- Texas
- West
Desert?
Yes
Desert:
- dying of thirst, sunburn
Prairie?
Yes
Farm/Ranch:
- ranch
Misc setting
- prison
- fort/military installation
Style
Accounts of torture and death?
- very gory visuals of deaths and torture
Movie makes you feel...
- excited
How many deaths in film?
- dozens
How much use of techno gadgets?
- 1 (None)
Kind of violence:
- mental battles
- guns
Unusual forms of death
- hanging
- run over
- perforation--bullets
Non-American film?
Yes
If Soundtrack VERY NOTICEABLE...
- Orchestra/classical
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Resident Scholar Profiles
TOP SCHOLAR:
 kerry bulls
SCHOLARS:
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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