Eastwood Movie Challenge Week Two: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Hang 'em High

[KC]

This will be the thread for members taking part in the Eastwood Movie Challenge to discuss the Week Two films, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and Hang 'em High. Post any thoughts you have on watching or re-watching these movies here. Week Two runs from February 1 through February 7.

For the rest of the schedule, please see this post: Eastwood Movie Challenge schedule.

I'm starting the thread a couple of days early, so people will have time to find, borrow or buy the movies. If you've actually started watching early, feel free to post your comments while the memory is fresh.

 

[Matt]

And if you haven't already, make a post in our Eastwood Movie Challenge Journal and add the movies and dates you watch them, and keep updating it as we go through the Challenge so we can all keep track of where everyone stands.

[Charlie]

Watched Hang em' High this morning.  Picked up on some small things.  Made me wonder what real marshals looked like. I doubt they wore their badge out in the open like Clint.  Probably not too smart to wear black on a three day journey through the desert.  Why were the gates on the prison wagon busted/pried open? I thought the guy losing his shoes after hanging was a nice touch... 

[Charlie]

Not looking forward to GBU... I watched it in November and it seems to get painfully longer every time I watch it, which has to be in the teens now.  Can I just listen to the sound track instead?

[Matt]

You can! But your Challenge will be incomplete. 

[Matt]

I watched The Good, The Bad and The Ugly tonight. I was really looking forward to watching it again, since my last viewing was close to 10 years ago. And I loved it as much as I remembered.

Comparing the humor in the three Man With No Name films... the first has very little humor (probably the funniest moment is the look on Joe's face when he accidentally punches Marisol); the second has some over-the-top humor, like the Prophet and the Hotel Manager's Wife's scenes; but the humor in The Good, The Bad and The Ugly is JUST RIGHT. Okay, that whole sentence really sounded like Goldilocks & the Three Bears, but we are talking about Blondie, but I digress.  It's laugh-out-loud funny, but in a sarcastic, understated way. The 'Idiots. It's for you" line is my favorite line in the movie. There's so many funny moments. I also mentioned in another thread recently that one of my favorite moments in the film is the second hanging of Tuco and while his hanging offenses are being read off, Tuco just looks around, bored and rolling his eyes. Or the moment when Blondie and Tuco find themselves sitting right in front of a box of explosives, and Blondie carefully backs his cigar away from the box -- and then when they're running across the battlefield with the stretcher with a box that's clearly marked "EXPLOSIVES" is more of that humor that's just perfect and make this totally bad-ass almost three-hour movie fly right by.

A few words about the extended version with the additional scenes... although I like the "Six, a perfect number" line, the voices, especially Clint's, sound wrong. It never flows or feels right. And that chicken scene deserved to be on the cutting room floor. GBU was the perfect movie in its original edit, and it's been tainted with these additional scenes. I'll go back to watching my old DVD next time I plan to watch it.

In one of the oldest threads of this board, GBU fan Steve wrote that Blondie is the same character as Manco, and that the theme song in GBU even has the chant "Go, go, go Manco!"  And damn if that's not what I hear now every time I watch this movie. Whether or not that's what's being said, I honestly don't know. But I will always hear that line, and wonder if that's what it is.

Other random thoughts... I feel sorry for the mule in the beginning who has to walk in circles all day at the well. He must be dizzy.

Angel Eyes never once glanced down at that stew. Not once. What an incredible intro to his character. And he really punched the hell out of Bill Carson's woman. 

The scene of Tuco with his brother was a nice touch, and then Tuco bragging about how much his brother loved him while Blondie just offers him a cigar is another perfectly understated moment.

GBU is a bold movie, but it's never too much. It's perfectly balanced and it's probably the movie I'd pick as the most fun to watch over and over again.

As of now, it's still my favorite Eastwood movie. 

[Doug]

A few words about the extended version with the additional scenes... although I like the "Six, a perfect number" line, the voices, especially Clint's, sound wrong. It never flows or feels right. And that chicken scene deserved to be on the cutting room floor. GBU was the perfect movie in its original edit, and it's been tainted with these additional scenes. I'll go back to watching my old DVD next time I plan to watch it.

I was wondering myself which one to watch. The last couple times I watched the extended version, and those added scenes, with the sudden strange dubbing, are really jarring. My inclination is to watch the older DVD, but then the picture quality isn't as good.

[Matt]

There needs to be two versions released on BluRay, the original, and the extended. Or, offer both in a box set. They shouldn't have replaced the original version with the new one. 

[Hemlock]

^ agreed

I unfortunatelly made a mistake and gave my older,original version of GBU to a friend when I bought this new extended version.This extended version is not better eventhough couple of added scenes helps a viewer to understand how Angeleyes suddenly is a sergeant in North`s POW-camp and who are those three guys with Tuco when they trying to kill Blondie at the hotel.

Anyways even with original actors involved the dubbed voice are pretty bad as they do not sound similar enough with their younger voices.Especially Eastwood`s voice has changed a lot.Van Cleef`s voiceover by different guy is okay-ish but still not great.

The film itself is obviously awesome.The scenery/cinematography is just about in every scene so beautiful and perfect.And also Ennio Morricone`s music is out of this world.I always got goose bumps during the scene where Tuco runs throught the cemetary and also during the final duel (is it duel with three guys?).

Eastwood knew his part by now so he is cool as before but nothing really new in his charqacter after the first two Leone-Eastwood-films.Van Cleef makes great villain but is only a shadow when compared to Gian Maria Volonte`s El Indio in FOFDM.Also Van Cleef`s character in earlier film got more depth than what he has in GBU.
Eli Wallach steals pretty much all the scenes he is in if not the whole film.He was great pretty much in every film that I saw from him but for me this is his best role ever.

There must be a few goofs in the film but the only one that"annoyed"me this time was the scene where Tuco and Blondie detonate the bridge.You can see that they are almost on the otherside of the river/bridge when Blondie lits the fuse which is not that long and somehow they managed to get safe to other side before the bridge blows up  Still again not a major spoiler.

With all the perfectness of this film I still slightly prefer For A Few Dollars More as it has slightly better story and definitely a better villain.

[B.C.]

The Good, The Bad And The Ugly has always been a favorite.  Not only is it my favorite western, but my favorite Eastwood movie overall.  The introduction to each character is perfect, eventually tying them together to the incredible, tension filled climax.  It truly is a brilliant film and what I consider to be Sergio Leone’s best.   

As fate would have it, a cancelled date is what brought me to appreciate Hang ‘Em High.  Prior to that, I didn’t care for it much at all.  I thought it was too long, tedious, boring and dull.  When I had the opportunity to watch with an opened mind, I came away enjoying it very much and it, too, is now a favorite. 

[Christopher]

Eli Wallach steals pretty much all the scenes he is in if not the whole film.He was great pretty much in every film that I saw from him but for me this is his best role ever.

I haven't watched The Good, the Bad and the Ugly yet for this week, but was thinking of doing that today, but did want to go ahead and comment that I think Wallach's performance is probably the best in any spaghetti western.

[KC]

I always got goose bumps during the scene where Tuco runs through the cemetary and also during the final duel (is it duel with three guys?).

Triello.

[Charlie]

I hate how Eli Wallach over played the struggling scene in the cabin at the civil wat camp.  The sound editing is terrible too.  The more I watch this film the more flaws I find with it...  Like his silver tooth is missing and then it reappears...

[Charlie]

Awwwwww $#!t the rolling piano has started and I am getting pumped!

[Charlie]

Anybody else ever wonder why rain etc. hasn't knocked down the dirt at the grave site?  They don't seem fresh... 

[Matt]

I hate how Eli Wallach over played the struggling scene in the cabin at the civil wat camp.  The sound editing is terrible too.  The more I watch this film the more flaws I find with it...  Like his silver tooth is missing and then it reappears...

I never thought he did. Do you mean with his eagerness to eat? I figured it had been a long time since he'd had something decent to eat. But, explain what you saw that seemed overplayed.

[Matt]

Awwwwww $#!t the rolling piano has started and I am getting pumped!

And that trumpet!

[Matt]

Tonight I watched Hang 'em High.

I realize I repeat myself a lot on this board in different threads over the years, but not everyone will ever find my post about this in the Tag game when Richard asked me how and when I became an Eastwood fan, or in my post about my overall feeling of Hang 'em High from the Film Discussion we did on it over 10 years ago. So, I apologize in advance to anyone who has read those posts and doesn't want to hear this again. In fact, you can just stop reading now.

I clearly remember seeing this movie when I was a teen. It was my first Clint Eastwood film, and the first Western I'd ever seen. At that time, I never had an interest in Westerns. I remember Gunsmoke having been on TV when I was a kid, and I never enjoyed that show. I didn't know about Rawhide... that was before my time, I guess.

But, I was flipping channels, and the very beginning of Hang 'em High was on network TV. It was a pretty scene with the calf stuck in the stream. I held on the channel for a bit to see if it was worth watching, and then the horses came riding up from the distance, and the music swelled that hinted some type of action was about to happen, so I stayed with it a little longer. When they said "Hang him!" and they strung him up, I was actually really surprised. My virgin eyes had never seen anything so violent or exciting. Then the big red titles "HANG 'EM HIGH!" and he was hanging there, and I didn't know if he was this "Clint Eastwood" whose name was on the screen, but if he was, how was he going to get out of this predicament? So, I literally backed away from the TV (no remote controls back then) and decided to stick with the movie.

I loved it... every minute of it. And when it was over, I wanted more, and I was lucky... it was a double feature. High Plains Drifter followed, and it was 10x better. A life-long Eastwood fan was born.

You know what they say about your first time? You'll never forget it? It will always be dear in your heart? That's how it was for me with Hang 'em High. I know it's a "lesser" Clint movie, and I can nitpick it and find flaws with it. But, I'll never forget the excitement of watching this for the first time. And I am going to guess that a lot of Eastwood fans who saw this in the theater would also tell you that they loved it.

I've only seen a handful of episodes of Rawhide, and I really don't care if I ever watch an episode again. But, I saw enough to get an idea of what type of character Rowdy Yates was, and the 180 degree turn he did as The Man With No Name. Jed Cooper seems to be a perfect combination of the two. And in fact, he starts Hang 'em High very much like Rowdy Yates, driving the cattle, being kind and dear to the calf. And then after he's lynched, he's darker, and angry, and vengeful... not that I see those particular qualities in MWNN, but that hardness and coldness is there at the surface.

And I can't help but even see a young Dirty Harry with that badge walking down the street of the town, looking for his man. I didn't see Harry Callahan when I watched the Leone films. He was creating his future with this movie. And not just with his acting -- he started Malpaso so he could co-produce and work along with Ted Post on the scripting and have creative input into the movie.

Flaws, yeah I can find them. And maybe I'll jump in later and agree with some posts where things are pointed out that are less than spectacular. But tonight, I just enjoyed watching this great, first American Western ... Clint's first, and my first. And it was great.

[Matt]

Anybody else ever wonder why rain etc. hasn't knocked down the dirt at the grave site?  They don't seem fresh...

I think they are pretty fresh. Arch Stanton died on this very day, 154 years ago.  February 3, 1862.



One of our members Cigar Joe created a GBU Timeline that shows

2nd week in July 1862

B&T [Blondie and Tuco] blunder upon a battle for Langston or Langstone bridge over the Arkansas River. The small cemetery nearby at Sad Hill has swollen with the dead from the various skirmishes & battles in the border area of Northwest Arkansas ( Pea Ridge (Elkhorn Tavern) was on March 6-8th  1862, US Casualties 1,349, CS Casualties 4,600).

B&T&AE [Blondie, Tuco & Angel Eyes] shoot out at Sad Hill.

So, the grave is approx 5 months old.  We don't know how tall the dirt mound was when it was originally filled, so maybe some of it was blown away by wind, and what we see is what has remained.

[Doug]

I watched The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Tuesday night. For me this is just miles above the first two. Not a dull moment and no silly villains. It's more brutal, more humorous, more moving, and more stylish in every way. But that's just me. I know Leone tried going to further extremes with Once Upon a Time in the West, going for an even more epic feel, while also humanizing the characters more, and while it's a great movie in its own right, I think GBU is the ultimate Spaghetti western, because it's just so damn fun. And the depth is there, it just gets overlooked by too many. (Which always surprises me, to be honest.)

One of my favorite moments in the film is when Tuco fights with his brother and then goes out to the wagon, and Blondie having spied on the fight, doesn't call out Tuco but instead offers him a cigar. Offering someone a cigar is about as far as Blondie is capable of going in showing compassion.  Okay, he does offer alcohol to the Captain.

So does anyone wonder if Tuco will try to track down Blondie or will he be content just being a rich man? (And will he do anything to help out his brother, or will he maybe try to show off his wealth to him?)