by Damien Gerard
Now the western genre is an old one. Most of the epic westerns are products of the 50s and 60s, with only a handful of films past then making the grade.
There are many excellent examples; Rio Bravo, Shane, the Man Who Shot Liberty Valance and The Wild Bunch, many of which starred John Wayne, the grandfather of the western. However, it is to another film and leading man that I will turn my attention.
Yes, that man is Clint Eastwood and the film is ‘Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo’, better known as The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. With the sublime soundtrack so expertly put together by Ennio Morricone, this western stars Eastwood with Eli Wallach and Lee Van Cleef also well-known stalwarts of the genre. As the third part of ‘The Dollars Trilogy’ directed by Sergio Leone, which encompassed For A Fistful Of Dollars and For A Few Dollars More, this film revolves around three gunfighters all looking for a large haul of buried confederate gold against a backdrop of the American Civil War and the lawless frontier towns.
With filming undertaken in Italy and Almeria, Spain, it is unknown which film exactly gave rise to the term ‘Spaghetti Western’ but it is widely accepted that Sergio Leone championed this for The Dollars Trilogy in 1964, two years before TGTBaTU was filmed. Whilst the two other films are definitely iconic, the cast and crew really came into their own in TGTBaTU. The climactic ‘Mexican stand-off’ scene at the end of the film, accompanied by the musical pocket watch, is still cited as one of the most memorable scenes in film history. The close cuts to the eyes of the three gunslingers; the concentration, fear and anticipation palpable in their faces, their shifty, sideways glances and their twitchy fingers poised over their revolvers, ready for the music to finish, the smoke to clear and only one to be left standing, is still copied today in many films from many different genres.
The cast were allowed to perform in their native languages, which is why in the English version, Eastwood, Van Cleef and Wallach speak English and the supporting actors are very noticeably dubbed from Spanish and Italian.
Stephen King noted that he borrowed from the film and the Dollar Trilogy for his Dark Tower series of books and in Breaking Bad, Walter White’s brother has a TGTBaTU poster on his wall and one of the series protagonists is called Tuco, the same name as Eli Wallach’s character in the film.
The sublime soundtrack, composed by the incredibly talented Ennio Morricone is still very recognised today, over four decades later. One of my favourite bands, Ministry, sampled Tuco from the end of the film for their song “You Know What You Are” and Metallica use the closing credits “Ecstasy of God” track as their opening tune as they come on stage and have done so since the 1980’s (well they have in all the gigs I’ve been to anyway).
The Man With No Name, his poncho, cheroot, hat and half shut eyes have made their way into history.
“There are two kinds of people in this world: those with loaded guns…and those who dig. You dig.”
Damien Gerard is an actor, director, writer and producer from Brighton, Sussex. Check out his website and follow him on twitter
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