Cast: Clint Eastwood (Blondie), Eli Wallach (Tuco), Lee Van Cleef (Angel Eyes- Sentenza)Director: Sergio Leone
Genre: Western
This is another of my favorite Clint Eastwood flicks. A well-made and classic spaghetti western! It is the third of the series known as “The man with no name series” which includes A Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More. This film fits into the large vault of classic Hollywood. Like its two preceding movies, the film surrounds the same characters during the Civil war. Blondie (Eastwood) is a bounty hunter who looks out for himself. He’s the character whose persona alone convinces the audience he is not to be messed with. In the TGtB&Tu, Eastwood is partnered with Tuco (Eli Wallach). Tuco is a bandito who only cares for one important person in his life- himself. Tuco, wanted by the law, collects the bounty on himself by having Blondie turn him in to the law only to help him escape. Blondie finally has enough of Tuco and decides to ditch his loud mouth partner. Tuco swears to himself he will get his revenge on Blondie; he does. Tuco forces Blondie through a hot desert without food, water, or shelter. As they venture forth, they come across a runaway wagon full of dead Confederate troops. Tuco thinking all the soldiers are dead, pockets through their belongings and finds one soldier, Bill Carson, still alive. Carson reveals the whereabouts of some hidden treasure buried in a cemetery. As Tuco rushes to fetch him some water, Blondie makes his way to the wagon. By the time Tuco returns, Carson is dead and Blondie was the last to speak to him. Tuco knows the name of the cemetery while Blondie knows the name on the tombstone. Neither man trusts the other. Little do they know that a third person, Angel Eyes has been searching for Bill Carson as well. He knows there is treasure to be discovered, but that’s all he knows. Angel Eyes finds out that both men know this valuable information and sets out to hunt them down. With each man knowing only an important detail regarding the treasure, it’s up to the sharpest and quickest bandito to get to it first. The only problem is each man needs another to find it. It is a very creative plot indeed and is well played out. Normally, I find most westerns to be stale, repetitive, and downright lame. This is anything but all that. It makes a good weekend movie to watch for pure adventure. Clint Eastwood is the awesome, real “tough guy.” He doesn’t need to blab on and on like John Wayne to convince audiences how bad he is. He just needs a camera on him and nothing more. Eli Wallach plays the part perfectly. The two make the perfect duo as they’re so opposite from each other. I haven’t grown bored with it yet. Its famous soundtrack is a serious bonus. The music adds to the nostalgia. This third one doesn’t seem to need the first two for it to make sense and be enjoyable.
No comments:
Post a Comment