The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is a 1966 Italian epic Spaghetti western film directed by Sergio Leone, starring Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, and Eli Wallach in the title roles respectively. The screenplay was written by Age & Scarpelli, Luciano Vincenzoni and Leone, based on a story by Vincenzoni and Leone. Director of photography Tonino Delli Colli was responsible for the film's sweeping widescreen cinematography and Ennio Morricone composed the famous film score, including its main theme. It is the third film in the Dollars Trilogy following A Fistful of Dollars (1964) and For a Few Dollars More (1965). The plot revolves around three gunslingers competing to find a fortune in buried Confederate gold amid the violent chaos of gunfights, hangings, American Civil War battles and prison camps. The film was a co-production between companies in Italy, Spain and West Germany.

Plot

In a desolate ghost town during the American Civil War, bandit Tuco Ramirez ("The Ugly") narrowly escapes three bounty hunters, killing two and wounding a third. Miles away, Angel Eyes ("The Bad") interrogates former Confederate soldier Stevens about "Bill Carson", a man with information about a cache of Confederate gold. The interrogation concludes with Angel Eyes killing Stevens.

A group of bounty hunters ambush Tuco for the reward on his head. They are all surprised by Blondie ("The Good"), a mysterious gunman who challenges the group to a draw, which he wins with lightning speed. Initially elated, Tuco is enraged when Blondie delivers him for the $2,000 reward. As Tuco is about to be hanged, Blondie surprises the authorities and frees Tuco at gunpoint. The two escape and split the reward money, beginning a partnership and lucrative money-making scheme. Eventually Blondie, weary of Tuco's complaints about profit share, abandons him penniless in the desert. Tuco survives and, with three bandits, tracks Blondie to a hotel. In the ensuing firefight, Blondie kills the three bandits, and Tuco escapes in the chaos of an artillery bombardment.

After a relentless search, Tuco captures Blondie and marches him across the harsh desert. As Blondie collapses from dehydration, Tuco notices a runaway carriage on the horizon. Tuco halts the carriage and finds Bill Carson, close to death, babbling about $200,000 of stolen Confederate gold buried in a grave in Sad Hill Cemetery. When Carson passes out, Tuco returns with water, only to find Carson dead and Blondie slumped next to him. Before passing out, Blondie says he knows the name on the grave where the gold is buried.

Tuco, realizing he needs Blondie to find the gold, disguises both of them as Confederate soldiers and travels to a Catholic mission to recover. After Blondie recovers, the two leave in their Confederate uniforms but are captured by a force of Union soldiers and remanded to a Union prison camp. At the camp roll call, Tuco answers for Bill Carson, catching the attention of Angel Eyes, a Union sergeant at the camp. Angel Eyes tortures Tuco until he reveals the name of the cemetery. Suspecting that Blondie will not yield as easily, Angel Eyes offers him an equal share of the gold in exchange for his information. Blondie agrees and rides out with Angel Eyes and his gang while Tuco, now a prisoner aboard a Union train, escapes custody.

Blondie, Angel Eyes, and his men arrive in an evacuated town. Tuco, coincidentally in the same town, wanders the abandoned buildings, unaware of a bounty hunter stalking him. While taking a bath, the bounty hunter surprises Tuco, who shoots and kills him. When Blondie investigates the gunshot, he finds Tuco. After informing him of Angel Eyes's involvement, Blondie resumes the old partnership with Tuco. The two skulk through the wrecked town and kill Angel Eyes's henchmen before they discover that Angel Eyes has escaped.

Tuco and Blondie travel to Sad Hill Cemetery, where Union and Confederate forces mass on opposite sides of a large, strategically-vital bridge. Blondie suggests destroying the bridge to disperse the two armies. As he and Tuco wire the bridge with dynamite, Tuco reveals the name of the cemetery, while Blondie says the name on the grave is Arch Stanton. The bridge explodes, throwing the opposing armies into an fierce artillery battle. The next morning, the armies are gone. Tuco steals a horse and rides ahead to claim the gold for himself, where he locates Arch Stanton's grave and begins digging. Blondie soon arrives and encourages Tuco to dig at gunpoint. A moment later, Angel Eyes surprises them both at gunpoint. However, Blondie kicks open Stanton's grave, revealing just a skeleton. Declaring that only he knows the real name of the grave, Blondie pretends to scribble it on a rock in the middle of the graveyard and challenges Tuco and Angel Eyes to a three-way duel.

The three stare each other down in the circular center of the cemetery, before suddenly drawing. Blondie shoots and kills Angel Eyes, while Tuco discovers that his own gun was unloaded by Blondie the night before. Blondie then directs Tuco to the grave marked "Unknown" and tells him to dig. Tuco finds bags of gold inside and is at first overjoyed but then looks up to find a noose waiting for him. Blondie forces Tuco atop an unsteady grave marker and tightens the noose around his neck, before taking half of the gold and riding away. As Tuco screams his name in fury, Blondie's silhouette returns on the horizon, aiming a rifle. With a single gunshot, Blondie severs the rope, dropping Tuco face-first onto his share of the gold. Blondie smiles and rides off as Tuco curses him in rage, shouting, "Hey Blonde! You know what you are? Just a dirty son of a bitch!"

Cast

Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, Eli Wallach