Was The Good, The Bad... a prequel?

[Brendan]

Im sure this discussion came up on the old board, but I was just reading over on the IMDB that The Good, The Bad and The Ugly was a prequel to AFOD and FAFDM.

Is this true? Or is there still debate about this one going on?

[KC]

Nightwing, that is one of the most ardently debated topics in Eastwood-Leone circles, along with the question of whether the three "Dollars" films actually constitute a trilogy, or are just three films tied together by the figure of a mysterious stranger with preternatural shooting skills, embodied by Clint Eastwood ... who may or may not represent the same character in all three films.

The three films certainly were not planned as a cycle or trilogy from the beginning; but since A Fistful of Dollars was so wildly successful, it demanded first one and then a second sequel, or perhaps I should say ... successor. Since The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is set during the Civil War, if it is connected to the other two at all, it would have to be considered a "prequel," rather than a sequel, because the others both were set a decade or more after the war's close (evidenced by the weaponry in use and by the dates on the tombs in A Fistful of Dollars, among other things).  

However, about the only concrete evidence other than Eastwood's person that GBU has some connection with the other two is Eastwood's acquisition of his costume as we recall it from the first two films ... He picks it up piecemeal during the course of the film, getting much of it from Angel Eyes when he's released from the prison camp, and finally completing his "look" when he takes the poncho in the scene with the dying soldier near the end. Also, though his gun is a period-correct Navy model Colt (anachronistically modified to fire metal cartridges), it already has the silver rattlesnake ornaments on the grips that we recall from the "Peacemaker" he carries in the first two films.

KC

[Brendan]

My opinion would be that The Good, the bad and The Ugly does take place before the others.  ;)Obviously you, KC, provided some evidence towards that with the guns they used, the tombstones and the fact he was wearing the poncho, in A Fistful of Dollars.

Maybe Leone decided to make the third one a prequel.

That would explain why Tuco is never seen again. Maybe he couldnt get down and hung himself.  

Also, it seemed to me that the Man with No Name and Colonel Mortimer knew each other in For a Few Dollars More, although I could be wrong.  

But then again, didnt Blondie kill Mortimer in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly? Which then technically it wouldnt be a prequel now would it? Becuase Mortimer would be dead and he wouldnt have been in For A Few Dollars More, but if he was, then that means he somehow went back in time and prevented his death, but wouldnt Blondie have remembered seeing two Mortimers? But then if there were two Mortimers occupying the same space at once, the space time continuum would collapse in on itself destroying the universe and never making A Fistful of Dollars or For A few Dollars More possible.

[Daisy Abigael]

Wo! Wo! Wo! Night!  Steady there...

TMWNN may or may not be the same character in the three films, but Angel Eyes and Col. Mortimer are definitely different characters!  Clint does not kill mortimer in GBU and he has to go to the Prophet to find out who he is in FAFDM, remember?  He might have heard of him by reputation...

Also as KC points out, there is no debate about the fact that GBU historically predates the others.  FF and FAFDM are definitely post Civil War by a long shot.

But GBU can only be a prequel if Blondie and Manco are actually the same bloke.

[Christopher]

If you see supporting players in more than one of those movies, you can bet they're not playing the same character. Whether GBU is a prequel or not, it does seem obvious (now) that it does take place before the two previous ones. I was never for sure about FFD but I knew GBU took place before FFDM.
The DVD boxed set is called "The Man With No Name Trilogy." I don't believe they are a true trilogy.

Nightwing, it seems like your getting ready for those Back to the Future movies to be released on DVD.

[Matt]

I just brought over a thread from the old board that discussed this topic in detail: Joe, Manco and Blondy.  

Enjoy!

[ajay]

kc  i was watching good bad ugly yesterday, not that i was watching for the first time,but i observed that in the end at the semetary when three of them are about to draw and the camera is being focused at there gunbelts, lee van cleef has a missing middle finger nail, as if there has been an accident. my question is whether  he really had a missing finger tip or was it made to look like the same for the character.

[KC]

No, Ajay, Van Cleef actually was missing a fingertip.   According to trivia on the IMDb, he ...

Lost tip of one finger while building his daughter a playhouse. Many rumors suggested that he lost it in a road accident or bar fight.

[Daisy Abigael]

You mean they didn't cut it off especially for the film?!

I thought maybe to put him into a mean disposition like Clint and his cheroots...

[Kiwi Cowboy]

yes it is