The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo) is a 1966 "Spaghetti Western" film directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood (the Good), Lee van Cleef (the Bad), and Eli Wallach (the Ugly). The film is set in 1862 during CSA General Henry Hopkins Sibley's New Mexico campaign in the American Civil War and tells of three men seeking a fortune in buried gold. It is particularly known for its sparse but haunting soundtrack, created by Ennio Morricone, and for the climactic showdown in a graveyard between the three principal characters. The film was shot in Techniscope by the award-winning cinematographer Tonino Deli Colli .
The film contains many of Leone trademarks, such as the sparse dialogue, long scenes that slowly build to a climax (for this film, in the form of a Mexican standoff) and contrasts between sweeping long camera shots and extremely tight closeups on eyes and fingers. The first ten minutes of the film have no dialogue.
The film is part of a loose trilogy with Leone's earlier films A Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More. Eastwood stars in all three, with the same clothing and mannerisms, so the role is popularly dubbed "The Man with No Name." (In fact, the character is addressed three times as "Joe" in the first, is called "Manco" or "Monco" once in the second, and is addressed regularly as "Blondie" in the third. Perhaps his name is Joe Manco.) The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly plays as a prequel to the earlier two - Eastwood's character gradually acquires the clothing that he wore throughout the others - though it is far more epic in scope.
The film was mostly filmed in Spain using 1,500 local militia members as extras for a cost of $1,600,000. It was released on December 23, 1966 in Italy and in the USA on December 29, 1967.
Since the film's release, "the good, the bad, and the ugly" has become a common phrase (helped in part by Robert F. Kennedy's use of the phrase in campaign speeches). The Italian title translates as "The Good, the Ugly, the Bad."
Trivia
- In Italian, Eastwood's character is sometimes called "Biondi Sensanombre", which simply means, The Blonde Man with No Name. Angel Eyes in the original Italian is Occhidiangela.
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