The Man with No Name (Clint Eastwood) returned in 1966 in director Sergio Leone's movie classic, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Eli Wallach and Lee Van Cleef co-star.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly completed Sergio Leone's third installment in his Western Dollars trilogy. Returning once again was Clint Eastwood as Leone's mysterious, pancho-clad gunslinger, with Eli Wallach and Lee Van Cleef costarring in one of the decade's most violent Westerns. Hey, Blondie!

Screenplay, Director, Music

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly -- Il Buono, Il Brutto, Il Cattivo in its original Italian title -- was written for the screen by Sergio Leone, Luciano Vincenzoni, Agenore Incrocci and Furio Scarpelli. Directing was Sergio Leone (1929-1989). with Ennio Morricone providing the film's famous music score.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly was the final film in Leone's Italian Western trilogy, preceded by A Fistful of Dollars (1964) and For a Few Dollars More (1965).

The Cast

Clint Eastwood starred as the nomadic The Man with No Name -- or Blondie, as he is called by Eli Wallach (Tuco). Veteran Western film heavy Lee Van Cleef played Senteza/Angel Eyes, with Aldo Giuffre (Union Captain), Luigi Pastilli (Father Pablo Ramirez), Rada Rassimov (Maria), Enzo Petito (Storekeeper), John Bartha (Sheriff) and Antonio Casale (Jackson/Bill Carson) in principal support.

From the movie's title, Eastwood was the Good, Van Cleef the Bad and Wallach the Ugly -- as fine a troika of menacing actors ever assembled for a Western film.

Filmed in Spain

Budgeted at a healthy $1.2 million, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly was filmed primarily in the deserts of Spain from April to July, 1966. Used as extras in the movie were 1,500 Spanish Militiamen, who doubled as both Union and Confederate troops.

One of the film's biggest sets was Sad Hill Cemetery located at Carazo, which had been expertly constructed by the special effects crew.

Bridge Is Blown Prematurely

Not all filming went according to plan. When it came time to blow the bridge during the Civil War scene, Clint Eastwood informed Sergio Leone that neither he or Eli Wallach would be anywhere near the demolition. Eastwood then walked up a hill with his golf club, hoping to get in a few practice swings, confiding to Wallach that they would probably dynamite the bridge prematurely.

Sure enough, due to a miscommunication, the bridge was blown with no cameras rolling. The Spanish Army then had to rebuild the bridge for a second demolition, which fortunately was caught on film this time.

Search for $200,000 in Gold

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly opens in violent form, with Tuco crashing through a window clutching a partially-eaten chicken leg. That is followed by Angel Eyes and his murderous rampage inside a Mexican home.

Fortune hunters Angel Eyes, Tuco and Blondie all become enmeshed in a search for $200,000 in gold coins. The men eventually make their way to Sad Hill Cemetery and the grave of Bill Carson -- the alleged site of the buried gold -- but not before experiencing a series of violent adventures along the way.

There's Blondie's tortuous trek through the desert, a bloody Civil War battle waged for control of a meaningless bridge and several flashy gunfights, all of which lead to the climactic encounter at Sad Hill Cemetery pitting the Good, the Bad and the Ugly in a classic Old West showdown.

Release, Reviews, Box Office, DVD

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly was first released in Italy on December 23, 1966. The movie was released in the United States on December 29, 1967.

Renata Adler of The New York Times (1/25/68), who dubbed The Good, etc. The Burn, The Gouge and The Mangle, called the picture "the most expensive, pious and repellent movie in the history of its peculiar genre."

Andrew Sarris of The Village Voice (9/26/68) had kinder words, writing that "Leone, far from being glossy, seems to revel in the texture of Death Valley dustiness."

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly grossed $6.112 million at the box office, earning the #20 slot on the list of the top moneymaking films of 1967.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly -- original title The Good, Ugly and Evil -- was first released on DVD in 1998.

"It's not a joke, it's a rope, Tuco. Now I want you to get up there and put your head in that noose," Eastwood tells Eli Wallach at Sad Hill Cemetery.

Easy, Clint, what goes around comes around, with Eastwood's Hang 'Em High (1968) ominously lurking two years down the dusty trail.

Additional Sources/Reviews

America (2/3/68), The New Yorker (3/2/68), Variety (12/27/67).