Also known as Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo, this “spaghetti western” is famous for its close-ups of stares. It takes three hours for the audience to find out which of three men will end up with a buried treasure. Famous music, whistling, and odd vocals serenade the long search.
Clint Eastwood plays Blondie who pairs up with Tuco, played by Eli Wallach. The duo go from town to town in a bounty hunting con until they find themselves racing for a certain treasure box. Lee Van Cleef is particularly ominous, combining evil actions with the nickname Angel Eyes.
This film is actually Clint Eastwood’s third Sergio Leone directed film. His first, from 1964, A Fistful of Dollars, ran only 99 minutes.
Original Music in this film was composed by Ennio Morricone. He also wrote the music for many other Sergio Leone films. The score was an extremely important part of this movie, especially in the beginning where the first ten minutes were without dialog.
I enjoyed this movie years ago, and again recently – with my son popping in and out of the room. If you haven’t seen this one before, get plenty of popcorn and make yourself comfortable. You’re going to be there a while.
