April 8 - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Today’s movie is a western with a scene that happens on April 8. I hope you will enjoy this film and watch it tonight.

THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY           

The notorious gunslinger known as ‘Angel Eyes’ interrogates Stevens about the location of Bill Carson, who knows the location of a cache of stolen Confederate gold. Angel Eyes kills Stevens and the man who hired him to find Stevens. The mysterious, lightning fast gunslinger called ‘Blondie’ teams up with Tuco, a wanted man to make money. Blondie turns Tuco over for the reward then frees him at the last second before Tuco is to be hung. Eventually Blondie tires of Tuco’s complaints about how they divide the money and abandons him in the desert. However, Tuco survives and tracks Blondie to Albuquerque, New Mexico as the Confederate army retreats through the town after its defeat at the Battle of Glorietta Canyon. On April 8, 1862 [41:31 to 49:35] the vengeful Tuco is about to hang Blondie, but a well-timed cannon ball saves him. Tuco finally does capture Blondie and force-marches him through the desert. Just as Tuco is about to kill him, he spots a runaway carriage. In the carriage Tuco finds a dying Bill Carson who mumbles about stolen gold, worth $200,000.00{about $4.78 million dollars in 2013} buried in a cemetery. Tuco gets water to revive Carson, but when he returns, finds Carson dead with Blondie beside him, saying he knows the name on the grave where the gold is buried.  After Blondie recovers, the pair disguise themselves as Confederate solders, but are captured by Union forces. When Tuco gives his name as ‘Bill Carson’, Angel Eyes, now a guard in the camp tortures Tuco for the name of the cemetery, but offers Blondie an equal share in return for the name on the grave. They ride off but after Tuco escapes, Blondie reforms his alliance with Tuco. They head for the cemetery and provoke a battle between Union and Confederate forces blocking their path. Tuco names the cemetery and Blondie names the grave, “Arch Stanton”. Tuco digs up this grave, but there are just bones. Angel Eyes arrives. Blondie writes the real name on a rock and sets it down, while the three men warily eye each other. Angel Eyes draws, but is killed by Blondie while Tuco learns Blondie has removed his bullets earlier. Blondie forces Tuco to dig up the grave marked ‘Unknown” beside Arch Stanton, which does have the gold. Blondie puts a noose around Tuco’s neck, ties his hands behind his back  and rides off, but turns and in a fantastic long shot breaks the rope, dropping Tuco onto his share of the loot as he curses Blondie.

One of the outstanding ‘spaghetti westerns” of the 1960’s. A cinematic classic of plot, cinematography and score. A must see film.

The Civil War in the American West by Alvin M. Josephy, Jr. (Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1991) at page 86 gives the date when the Yankees shelled Albuquerque.

Producer - Alberto Grimaldi

Director - Sergio Leone

Screenplay - Age & Scarpelli, Sergio Leone, Luciano Vincenzoni

Runtime – 2 hours 57 minutes

Released – December 15, 1966

Staring -

Clint Eastwood as Blondie “The Good”

Lee Van Cleef as Angel Eyes “The Bad”

Eli Wallach as Tuco “The Ugly”

Aldo Giuffrè as the Captain

Mario Brega as Corporal Wallace

Luigi Pistilli as Father Pablo Ramirez

Al Mulock as One-armed Bounty Hunter

Antonio Casas as Stevens

Antonio Casale as Bill Carson/Jackson.

Sergio Mendizábal as blond bounty hunter

John Bartha as Sheriff

Claudio Scarchilli as Pedro

Sandro Scarchilli as Chico

Antonio Molino Rojo as Captain Harper

Benito Stefanelli as Angel Eyes Gang Member

Aldo Sambrell as Angel Eyes Gang Member

Lorenzo Robledo as Clem

Enzo Petito as the store keeper

Livio Lorenzon as Baker

Rada Rassimov as Maria

Chelo Alonso as Stevens' Wife

Copyright by Ivan Walters 2014.