The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

Five of the best directors in Hollywood would put their careers on hold to help the United States with the war effort during World War II, some even getting right in the action. They were Frank Capra (MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON), John Ford (THE GRAPES OF WRATH), John Huston (THE MALTESE FALCON), George Stevens (GUNGA DIN), and William Wyler (WUTHERING HEIGHTS). Their story is detailed in the engrossing non-fiction book Five Came Back: A Story of Hollywood and the Second World War by Mark Harris. The five directors would all be profoundly affected by what they saw during the conflict and shape their careers forever when they returned to moviemaking after the war ended.

John Ford filmed the actual Battle of Midway between U.S. and Japanese forces, almost getting killed in the process. John Huston was embedded with the U.S. army in Italy (although he staged some supposed battle scenes to make his documentary SAN PIETRO more authentic). George Stevens was with the first U.S. troops to witness the horrible atrocities in the Nazi concentration camps. And William Wyler focused on the crew of a B-17 bomber nicknamed The Memphis Belle  that flew an astonishing 25 bombing missions without losing any crew members. When the war ended in 1945, all these directors returned to Hollywood to resume their careers. Capra's first film after WWII ended was IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946) with James Stewart who had also just returned from the war as a pilot. Huston made THE TREASURE OF SIERRA MADRE (1948) with Humphrey Bogart. Ford made THEY WERE EXPENDABLE (1945) about the Philippines conflict with John Wayne and Robert Montgomery. William Wyler tackled a subject not often shown in films, the return of the soldier to every day life and their struggle integrating back into society and family in THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES (1946).

 
Today, this topic explored in THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES would be a no-brainer for a modern film to tackle. In the mid-1940s, right after World War II, it was a subject matter that was taboo especially to the military who did not acknowledge that their soldiers might have trouble readjusting to civilian life after such an intense military campaign. John Huston made a documentary right after WWII called LET THERE BE LIGHT (1946) that candidly interviewed soldiers with PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) and other neurological disorders from the war who were getting treatment at a U.S. Army psychiatric hospital.  The U.S. government would suppress the documentary for more than 30 years.

With a screenplay by Robert E. Sherwood, based on the novel Glory for Me by MacKinlay Kantor and directed by William Wyler (BEN HUR), THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES opens with three servicemen returning home to Boone City (a fictional stand in for Cincinnati, Ohio) after the conclusion of World War II in 1945. The men are blue collar Fred Derry (Dana Andrews) from the Air Force; middle class Al Stephenson (Fredric March) with Infantry; and hometown sports hero Homer Parrish (Harold Russell) from the Navy. The three veterans first catch an ATC (Air Transport Command) B-17 flight together then share a taxi ride to their respective homes. Of the three, Homer is the only one physically handicapped from the war with hooks for hands, the result of losing his hands in a fire during the war. The three men are a bit apprehensive about going home as they take in the sights of their hometown. Homer is dropped off first. His parents (Minna Gombell, Walter Baldwin) are excited to hug their son. Homer's self-conscious about his hooks when his girlfriend next door Wilma Cameron (Cathy O'Donnell) arrives to greet him. Al surprises his wife Milly (Myrna Loy), daughter Peggy (Teresa Wright), and son Rob (Michael Hall) with his return. Fred's dropped off at his parents (Gladys George, Roman Bohnen) home near the train tracks where he learns his new wife Marie (Virginia Mayo) has moved out while he was overseas and into her own apartment. 

The three men begin to assimilate back into civilian life and their families with some unease. Ironically, on their first night back, the three men all end up at a bar called Butch's owned by Homer's piano playing Uncle Butch Engle (Hoagy Carmichael). Al, who's with Milly and Peggy, begins to exhibit a penchant for heavy drinking after a night of bar hopping. Peggy's introduced to Fred who still hasn't connected with his wife Marie who works at a nightclub. Peggy takes a liking to Fred. Butch gives Homer a ride home before he becomes too drunk. The Stephenson's try to drop Fred off at his wife's apartment but she's still not home. Fred sleeps at the Stephenson's where he has a nightmare, waking Peggy who calms Fred down. Fred and Peggy chat the next morning. Fred's not sure what work he wants to do. He doesn't want to return to his old job as a soda jerk. Al wakes up hungover and struggles to be intimate with his wife Milly. Peggy drops Fred off at Marie's apartment before going to work as a nurse. It's a happy reunion for Fred and Marie.

Al visits his old bank and meets with his boss Mr. Milton (Ray Collins) who offers Al a vice president position. Fred checks out his old soda shop and discovers it has been transformed into a drug store. Marie quits her nightclub job. Fred struggles to find any kind of meaningful work. He tells Marie they're broke having spent all his military pay. Fred takes a job behind a perfume counter at the drug store to make ends meet. Marie's not happy with their situation. She wants to go out every night. Homer struggles to connect with Wilma. Homer's bothered by the neighborhood kids staring at his hooks for hands. Al helps Mr. Novak (Dean White), a fellow G.I. with a loan. Al doesn't ask for collateral which angers his boss Mr. Milton. Peggy runs into Fred at the perfume counter. They have lunch together. Walking back to their cars, Fred impulsively kisses Peggy. Peggy begins to develop feelings for Fred. Peggy tells her parents her feelings for Fred. Al confronts Fred at Butch's and asks him to stop seeing Peggy. Fred agrees and calls up Peggy from the phone booth, breaking up with her.

Fred returns to his old soda jerk job. Homer stops by the soda shop where he gets into a disagreement with a customer (Ray Teal) about the war. Fred comes to Homer's defense and punches the customer. Fred quits his job before he's fired. He tells Homer to marry Wilma.  He'd be crazy to lose her. That night, Wilma pays a visit to Homer. Homer shows Wilma what she would have to deal with, removing his hooks at night, helping him get dressed and into bed. Wilma tells Homer she loves him, for better or worse. Tired of staying at home, Marie asks Fred for a divorce which he agrees to.  Fred packs up and moves back with his parents. Fred plans to leave town. As Fred waits at the airport, he wanders around a nearby military plane graveyard and climbs into one of the planes he flew bombing missions in - a B-17. Fred peers down through the bombing chute, reliving his nightmares. A junkman yells at Fred to get out of the plane. The junkman, also a returned veteran, is making pre-fabricated houses out of the metal from the planes. Fred asks for a job and the junkman hires him. THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES ends with Homer and Wilma getting married at Homer's parents home. Fred's the best man and Al, Milly, and Peggy arrive as guests. Al is on the wagon, drinking fruit punch instead of vodka. Homer and Wilma exchange vows and kiss. Fred approaches Peggy and they kiss. It's a new beginning for these three unsung heroes of WWII. 

THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES shines a spotlight on three returning veterans, focusing on a different issue that each one grapples with as they adjust back to civilian life. Director Wyler never makes their struggles maudlin or cliche. The film honestly portrays real life issues that veterans faced as they integrated from wartime to regular life. For Al Stephenson (Fredric March), who made life and death decisions as he led men into combat in the Pacific, he now has to get permission from his bank superiors to approve loans for G.I.s trying to start fresh. Al turns to drinking to make him happy, much to the chagrin of his wife Milly (Myrna Loy). Fred (Dana Andrews), who had the enormous responsibility of dropping bombs on the Germans while avoiding flak from the enemy, can't find a meaningful, good paying job after his sacrifice for his country. He's haunted by nightmares of crewmen who died around him. Fred's money problems will filter into his marriage failing with his younger, gold-digger wife Marie (Virginia Mayo). Homer (Harold Russell), even with his handicap, is the most grounded of the three men. But it's how he thinks he's perceived by his family, the neighborhood kids, and his girlfriend that affects him. Homer, who was a star athlete in high school, feels everyone thinks he's a freak with hooks for hands. He assumes Wilma won't want to marry him due to his disability. All three men will face trials and tribulations as they readjust from the war to begin to live a normal life again.

Two powerful scenes towards the end of THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES solidify this film as a classic. The first is when Homer and Wilma finally have a heart to heart talk at night in Homer's bedroom. Homer shows Wilma what she would have to deal with day after day, night after night with a disabled veteran.  Dressing and undressing him.  Taking off and putting on his mechanical hooks. Wilma is undaunted by Homer's physical limitations. Wilma tells him plainly and simply she loves him, has always loved him, always will love him. It's a simple, poignant scene that provides an emotional release for Homer. The film ends with Homer and Wilma getting married in front of family and friends.

The second scene is Fred passing time at the airport before heading east. Having quit his soda jerk job, his marriage to Marie in shambles, and his promise to Al to not pursue Peggy, Fred has nothing to keep him in Boone City. Director Wyler has a quick insert of Fred's Dad finding Fred's Citation for Bravery, awarded for completing his mission while injured. Fred wanders into an airplane graveyard beside the airport, climbing into a decommissioned B-17 like the ones he flew bombing missions in. Fred sits in the nose compartment where the bombardiers sat, reliving his nightmares (expertly shot by famed cinematographer Gregg Toland), a cathartic moment where he purges himself of his demons. He's snapped back to reality by a junkman who tells Fred to get out of the plane. That junkman will end up hiring Fred to help him build pre-fabricated houses from metal taken from those planes, keeping Fred in Boone City. Fred rediscovers his purpose, regains his confidence. He's Homer's best man at the wedding and he approaches Peggy for a second chance at a relationship which she gladly accepts.

Because Homer and Fred's stories are more dramatic, Al Stephenson's storyline has a humorous edge even with the fact he's drinking too much. The music soundtrack is light and bouncy as Al hits the town his first night back with his wife and daughter.  Al's not a violent drunk or even an obnoxious drunk.  He's a fun one. When Al wakes up hungover the next morning, he takes a shower (still in his pajamas).  Milly laughs and rolls her eyes. She's trying not to be too judgmental too soon.  We see the effect it's having on Milly when she and Al go to the Union Club with Mr. Milton. Milly marks the number of drinks Al has with her fork on a napkin. She's afraid Al will embarrass himself during a speech. Al manages to slyly make a dig at his bosses without getting fired. There's no big dramatic scene where Milly confronts Al about his drinking. At Homer's wedding, Al casually mentions that Milly has convinced him to stop drinking as he pours himself a cup of fruit punch. The three men all laugh.  Al's drinking problem seems to be resolved.

Although Fredric March won an Academy Award for Best Actor for THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES, my favorite performance in the film is Dana Andrews as pilot Fred Derry. March was an accomplished actor, one of the best during the Golden Age of Cinema, playing challenging, dramatic, flawed characters better than anyone else in films like Rouben Mamoulian's DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE (1931), Richard Boleslawski's LES MISERABLES (1935), and William Wellman's A STAR IS BORN (1937) where March played alcoholic actor Norman Maine. March's Al Stephenson in THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES is becoming an alcoholic albeit a humorous one. Al's not a violent drunk or a sloppy one. He turns to alcohol to cope with returning to normal life after the war, to forget the horrors he witnessed in the Pacific, and to numb his anger at his bank superiors who seem ignorant to the dangers the returning servicemen endured during the war that are now jumping through hoops for basic loans. March probably won his Best Actor Oscar for his sarcastic, funny speech he gives in front of his wife Milly and banking peers including his boss Mr. Milton where Al equates a veteran putting up collateral to the bank for a loan to risking their lives to take a hill during a battle.

Dana Andrews' Fred Derry is the most complicated of the three servicemen. He's dealing with three issues that real veterans faced when returning home. Fred has nightmares (or PTSD) when he sleeps from the war. He's struggling financially, unable to find a good paying job after his service to his country. And his marriage is crumbling. When Fred married Marie (Virginia Mayo) before the war, they were newlyweds and carefree. Marie's a bit younger than Fred. The war will change Fred. His values change. He's more pragmatic, serious. Marie's living in the past. She wants to stay out all night and party. Fred begins to yearn for the more mature Peggy Stephenson (Teresa Wright) who he meets his first night back. Andrews handles all these different emotions adroitly. I first came upon Andrews as the cop who falls in love with the painting of murdered Gene Tierney in Otto Preminger's LAURA (1944). Andrews was already on his way to becoming a major star when THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES was released with solid credits prior including William Wellman's THE OX-BOW INCIDENT (1943) co-starring Henry Fonda; Walter Lang's musical STATE FAIR (1945), and an actual war movie set in Italy A WALK IN THE SUN (1945) directed by Lewis Milestone. 

Harold Russell who plays disabled Navy veteran Homer Parrish in THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES was the neophyte of the group, having never acted before which director Wyler liked. Russell was training paratroopers at an Army camp in North Carolina in 1944 when some explosives he was handling detonated, causing Russell to lose both hands. Russell's Homer is the All-American boy. A star athlete in high school (we see the pictures in his room) and in love with the literal girl next door Wilma (Cathy O'Donnell). Homer's come to accept his disability. Even with hooks, he's adept at lighting cigarettes, holding a glass of beer, or playing the piano. It's his perception of how others see him that plays tricks in his head. He doesn't believe Wilma will want to marry him now that he's disabled. Russell would win two Oscars for his performance in THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES. He unexpectedly won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor and a special Oscar that the Academy created for him as an inspiration to returning veterans (he wasn't expected to win the Best Supporting Actor award). Russell would not make another film until Richard Donner's INSIDE MOVES (1980) with John Savage as a young man who becomes handicapped after a failed suicide attempt.

Not to be outdone by the male star power in March and Andrews, the three main actresses in THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES were equally strong from established leading lady Myrna Loy to rising stars Teresa Wright and Virginia Mayo. In fact, Loy has top billing even though her screen time is limited. Loy and Wright (and O'Donnell) are calming influences to the returning men. Loy's Milly Stephenson doesn't overreact as she observes her husband Al acclimate back into the family and his banking job with some hiccups along the way. She's a domestic general for their family. Besides managing Al's increasing drinking, Milly navigates her daughter Peggy's emotions with a burgeoning relationship with the married airman Fred Derry. After Fred's wife Marie puts down Fred to Peggy on a double date, Peggy vows to become a home wrecker and save Fred. It's Milly (and Al) who calm her down, admitting their marriage has had its ups and downs. Loy played sexier, wilder roles early in her career in films such as  THE THIN MAN (1934) and its sequels opposite William Powell and Jack Conway's TOO HOT TO HANDLE (1938) with Clark Gable. THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES was the beginning of Loy playing more matriarch type roles in films like Lewis Milestone's THE RED PONY (1949) based a series of short stories by John Steinbeck.

For Teresa Wright, her Peggy Stephenson in THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES was a step up to play a more complicated, mature young adult than her ingenue roles she had  played like in Alfred Hitchcock's SHADOW OF A DOUBT (1942) which she's very good in. Peggy begins to have feelings for the married Fred Derry just back from the war. Even after they share a secret kiss after a lunch date, Peggy's uneasy about the relationship until she meets Fred's wife Marie on a double date she engineers. Hoping to like Marie and end her foolish thoughts, she ends up wishing to be a home wrecker to the Derry's marriage after Marie badmouths Fred to Peggy in the powder room. A nurse by trade, Peggy nurses Fred psychologically back to civilian life whereas Marie lets him down. Wright was a favorite of director Wyler, also appearing in Wyler's THE LITTLE FOXES (1941) with Bette Davis and MRS. MINIVER (1942) with Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon. 

Some might look at Virginia Mayo as Fred's wife Marie as the villain of THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES. That label would be inaccurate. Marie represents one of the realities servicemen faced upon returning home. A marriage that has changed due to the war and time and one's priorities. Fred and Marie got married before the war, perhaps too soon. Marie's younger than Fred.  She's all about going out and having a good time.  Fred liked to have fun early in their marriage.  When Fred returns from the war, he's changed forever by his war experiences.  Marie hasn't changed. She works at a nightclub to get by, up all night, sleeping most of the day. Fred's slow return to normal life and a finding a decent job will clash with Marie's need to maintain her nocturnal social life. When Fred comes home to find Marie about to go out with a handsome friend of hers (Steve Cochran), the writing is on the wall for Fred and Marie's marriage. Mayo was not director Wyler's first choice as Marie. Studio head Samuel Goldwyn pushed for Mayo and got his way.  THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES was a breakout role for Mayo who quickly transitioned to leading lady in various films from the comedy THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY (1947) with Danny Kaye to James Cagney's unscrupulous girlfriend in Raoul Walsh's WHITE HEAT (1949) to damsel in distress in Jacques Tourneur's THE FLAME AND THE ARROW (1950). 

Some final THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES trivia tidbits. The title is never mentioned in the film although Virgina Mayo's Marie comes closest during an argument with Fred when she says, "I've given you every chance to make something of yourself. I gave up my job. I gave up the best years of my life!" Besides March and Russell winning Academy Awards for THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES, the film won 7 other Oscars including Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay for Robert E. Sherwood, and Best Director for William Wyler. In the film, Russell's Homer needs help taking off his artificial hands. In real life, Russell was capable of taking off and putting on his hooks with no assistance. Lastly, actress Cathy O'Donnell who plays Homer's girlfriend Wilma received her first film credit for THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES.  She was primed to have a successful career until she married William Wyler's brother Robert Wyler, a producer. Studio head Samuel Goldwyn who had groomed O'Donnell had an acrimonious split with director William Wyler after THE BEST YEAR OF OUR LIVES. Goldwyn would cancel O'Donnell's studio contract. She worked rarely after 1948 and her last well know role would by in William Wyler's biblical epic BEN HUR (1959) starring Charlton Heston.

THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES shined a light on the plight of hundreds of thousands of returning veterans from World War II trying to readjust to their regular lives after the horrors of fighting a global war. For most of THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES, we observe our three returning servicemen toiling to integrate back into their personal and work lives.  Civilian life almost seems hopeless for Al, Fred, and Homer and we feel helpless for these men. Director Wyler skillfully resolves their stories from despair to hope in the final third of the film, making us feel the three men will overcome their fears and doubts and succeed in their everyday lives, in no small part due to the love and support of three amazing women who stand by these soldiers. For Al, Fred, and Homer, the best years of their lives are ahead of them. 

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966)

A good theme song will worm its way into your brain and never leave which is a credit to the composer. Think John Williams and the bass strings for Steven Spielberg's JAWS (1975). Or Vangelis's synthesizer score for the Olympic runners in Hugh Hudson's CHARIOTS OF FIRE (1981). When I was a kid, the moment I heard composer Ennio Morricone's avant garde theme for Sergio Leone's THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY (1966), I became obsessed with its unique motif forever. I would hum it out loud walking to school or in the privacy of my bedroom. The combination of a man yodeling and howling like a coyote is perhaps the most recognizable movie theme in cinema history. 

Although none of the films are connected except for the fact that Clint Eastwood stars in all three of them, THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY was the culmination of Italian director Sergio Leone's Spaghetti western trilogy affectionally known as "The Man With No Name" series (even though Eastwood's characters had a name in each film) that began with A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS (1964) followed by FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE (1965). THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY is the biggest and baddest of the three films, the most epic, and the most intricately plotted including a massive Civil War battle set piece inspired by the Battle of Glorieta Pass during the New Mexican campaign between North and South in 1862. 

But it's not just Morricone's iconic theme song that sets THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY apart from the usual western, it's Sergio Leone's reinvention of the western genre, relocating the American West to the desert-like, arid, scrubby badlands of Almeria, Spain. It's changing the John Wayne heroic character into a laconic anti-hero with young American television star Clint Eastwood (RAWHIDE). Leone took the classic western archetypes audiences were familiar with and twisted them with extreme close ups, three way Mexican standoffs, and supporting actors who were Italian and Spanish (dubbed in English) and not the familiar Ward Bond and Walter Brennan types American audiences were accustomed to.

With a screenplay by Agenore Incrocci, Furio Scarpelli, Luciano Vincenzoni, and Sergio Leone (special kudos to Mickey Knox for the English translation) based on a story by Luciano Vincenzoni and Sergio Leone and directed by Italian director Sergio Leone, THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY is a sprawling saga with double and triple crosses and shifting alliances set during America's Civil War in the Southwest around 1862 that begins with two bandits Blondie (Clint Eastwood) and Tuco Ramirez (Eli Wallach) running a bounty hunter scam in various dusty western towns and Angel Eyes aka Sentenza (Lee Van Cleef), a mercenary on the trail of a missing Confederate cash box with $200,000 in gold coins. After rescuing Tuco from bounty hunters, Blondie hauls Tuco into town to collect the $200 reward for Tuco's capture. As Tuco's about to be hung by the local sheriff and townspeople, Blondie shoots a bullet through the hangman's rope, providing cover fire as he and Tuco flee with the reward money. Angel Eyes tracks down the name of the alias that Jackson, one of the Confederate soldiers involved with the stolen cash box, is using from another conspirator Stevens (Antonio Casas) before killing Stevens and his oldest son. Jackson is using the alias Bill Carson. Angel Eyes returns to tell Baker (Livio Lorenzon), the third conspirator who hired him, Carson's name before killing Baker as well. Blondie and Tuco run their scam in a new town only Blondie misses cutting Tuco's rope the first time before hitting it on the second shot. Tuco's upset about Blondie's marksmanship and Tuco having to risk his neck every time.  Blondie decides to cut ties with Tuco, riding off and leaving Tuco without a gun or horse in the middle of  nowhere.

Angel Eyes learns from a double amputee informant he calls Half Soldier (Alfonso Veady) that Baker, Stevens, and Jackson/Carson were all part of a Confederate regiment escorting the $200,000 in gold. The regiment was supposedly ambushed by the Union. Only those three men survived. Two are now dead at the hands of Angel Eyes. Angel Eyes pays a visit to Jackson/Carson's new whore Maria (Rada Rassimov) who tells him Jackson/Carson rejoined the 3rd Calvary headed for Santa Fe. Tuco wanders out of the desert into a new town, takes some guns from a meek storekeeper (Enzo Petito), and recruits three pistoleros from his old gang hiding out in a cave to help him kill Blondie. Tuco tracks Blondie to a hotel in Santa Fe where the Confederates are fleeing the town as cannon fire echoes in the distance. Blondie kills the pistoleros outside his room. Tuco crashes through the window, gun drawn on Blondie. Tuco repays Blondie the favor, putting a noose around his neck, about to shoot the legs off the stool Blondie stands on when an artillery shell hits the room. The floor collapses. The dust settles and Tuco looks up at an empty noose. Blondie has escaped.

The Good

Tuco tracks his ex-partner across the countryside and finds Blondie running the same bounty scheme with a new partner Shorty (Jose Terron). Tuco prevents Blondie from shooting Shorty's noose (so long Shorty). Tuco forces Blondie to march 70 miles through the desert (revenge for what Blondie did to Tuco) without water or shade. Tuco prepares to shoot the thirsty and dehydrated Blondie when a runaway horse drawn ambulance materializes out of the sand dunes carrying three dead Confederate soldiers and one barely alive soldier with an eye patch named Bill Carson aka Jackson (Antonio Casale). Carson begs for water. He tells Tuco about $200,000 gold stashed in Sad Hill Cemetery. Tuco needs the name of the grave. He races to fetch Carson water. When Tuco returns with his canteen, Carson lies dead beside Blondie. But Carson told Blondie the name of the grave where the gold is hidden before he died. Now, Tuco must keep Blondie alive. Each knows a key part to the location of the gold. They're partners again. Tuco takes Blondie to the Mission San Antonio under the guise of Confederate soldiers so Blondie can recuperate under the care of Tuco's estranged brother, Father Pablo Ramirez (Luigi Pistilli). Blondie recovers and they depart the mission (Tuco assuming Carson's identity with the eye patch) to find the stolen gold.

Blondie and Tuco come across an army troop riding toward them. The troop look like the Confederate army until they get closer. An officer brushes off the gray dust revealing a blue coat underneath. They're Union soldiers. Blondie and Tuco are brought to a Confederate Prison Camp where Angel Eyes happens to be serving as a sergeant. When Angel Eyes hears the name Bill Carson during prisoner roll call and Tuco responds, he has Tuco brought to his quarters. Angel Eyes has the sadistic Corporal Wallace (Mario Brega) torture the name of the graveyard out of Tuco. Angel Eyes knows Blondie won't give up the name of the tombstone under duress and proposes they team up. Wallace handcuffs himself to Tuco and they board a train so Wallace can collect a $300 bounty on Tuco. Tuco leaps off the train chained to Wallace, kills Wallace, and frees himself from his shackles. Angel Eyes brings five of his gang to keep an eye on Blondie. In a bombed-out town, Blondie and Tuco reunite and dispatch of Angel Eyes' henchmen. Angel Eyes gets away. Blondie and Tuco stumble into a massive battle between Union and Confederate forces fighting for a bridge. An alcoholic Union Captain (Aldo Giuffre) shows Blondie and Tuco around, lamenting the needless carnage and death on both sides. During a break in the fighting, Blondie and Tuco rig the bridge with dynamite and blow it up. They awake in a bunker the next morning to find the armies have left. Tuco tells Blondie the name of the cemetery. Blondie tells Tuco the name on the graves marker is Arch Stanton. They reach the cemetery only to find Angel Eyes waiting for them. It's a three way Mexican standoff for the cache of gold.  Who will come out the winner?

The Bad

There is so much to discuss about THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY but let's continue with composer Ennio Morricone's amazing score. Morricone's music was diverse, using fender guitars and trumpets as well as real sounds including whistles, whips, spurs, and gunfire. For THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY, Morricone gives each main character a distinctive theme, using the main motif but with a different sound for each character. Blondie is represented by a flute; Angel Eyes an ocarina or potato flute; and Tuco by human voices. Morricone repeated this in ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST (1968) giving Henry Fonda, Claudia Cardinale, Charles Bronson, and Jason Robards their own leitmotif. Besides the main theme, three other outstanding tracks in THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY include "The Ecstasy of Gold" with vocals by soprano Edda Dell'Orso as Tuco races around the cemetery searching for Arch Stanton's grave and "The Story of a Soldier" played by a group Confederate prisoners of war outside a building where Tuco is nearly beaten to death for the name of the graveyard hiding the gold. Morricone ends the film with "The Trio" as Blondie, Angel Eyes, and Tuco form a triangle before dueling it out for the payoff. 

For all its gunfights and battle scenes, THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY is an anti-war film. No where is this more evident than in the big Civil War battle scene toward the climax of the film. Both the Union and the Confederates take turns each day storming a bridge over a river, inflicting carnage and death on each other with neither side ever gaining control of the bridge. Not the most sympathetic soul, even Blondie sees the futility of this war. "I've never seen so many men wasted so badly." Blondie even comforts a dying soldier, providing the soldier with one of his cigars and a coat to stay warm before he dies. Besides needing to get beyond the fighting soldiers to locate the stolen gold, Blondie and Tuco blow up the bridge to stop the fighting and prevent men from both sides from dying. They save lives by destroying it, providing some "good news" to the mortally wounded Union captain driven to drink from leading his men to slaughter each day.  Leone shows the dehumanization of soldiers in hospitals and prison camps and the toll of war on every day citizens, their towns blown up and deserted. Whether Leone was making an early statement about the recent Vietnam War in 1966 or looking back ruefully at how the Civil War forced American to fight and kill American, THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY for all its brutal, sometimes sadistic violence is not a proponent for war. 

The Ugly

By the time of release of THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY, Clint Eastwood had become an international movie star, thanks to his performances in Sergio Leone's previous two Spaghetti westerns A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS and FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE. Yet, the real star of THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY is Eli Wallach's Tuco (the Ugly) who director Sergio Leone seems to have fallen in love with in this story. Tuco has more screen time and dialogue than either Blondie or Angel Eyes. We learn more about Tuco's back story than either Blondie or Angel Eyes. At first, Tuco justifies the description read by an Officer of the Law before one of his hangings. "...perjury, bigamy, deserting his wife and children, inciting prostitution, kidnapping, extortion..."  Several scenes cut from the original release but reinserted for DVD and theatrical rereleases provide Tuco with more depth. He reunites with his old gang to help find and kill Blondie (which doesn't go well for the old gang). It reveals that Tuco's not a loner and an outcast. He had fellow bandits who were like brothers to him. Speaking of brother, Tuco will bring Blondie to his estranged brother Father Ramirez, a man of a the cloth, to heal Blondie. We learn from Tuco's brother that their mother and father have died, never reconciling with Tuco, the black sheep of the family. These added scenes give more nuance to Tuco and make him more likable and sympathetic. 

By his third film, director Leone was fully confident in his storytelling and visual style he had developed in his first two films and it shows in THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY. With the help of his Director of Photography Tonino Delli Colli, shots jump from extreme wide shots to extreme close ups with the next cut. A pair of eyes or a weathered, sweaty face often fills the whole screen. The final Mexican standoff between the three gold seekers is a ballet of composition and movement. THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY is an odyssey, rife with obstacles. Setting out for Sad Hill Cemetery, Blondie and Tuco get caught by the Union (dressed as Confederates) and thrown into an Andersonville like Confederate prison camp.  They manage to get out only to run into a major battle between the North and South blocking their journey.  A dying man whispers the name of the cemetery where the stolen gold lies to Tuco but the name of the grave to Blondie. And the grave's name has a twist. No one ever has complete control over the situation which keeps everyone guessing until the end.

Clint Eastwood was 35 years old when THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY was released, a late bloomer like Harrison Ford (STAR WARS) when it came to becoming a major movie star. This would be Eastwood's third and last film with Leone in "the Man With No Name" trilogy (Eastwood did have a name in each film actually). Blondie is probably the best role of the three films. Although Eastwood's Blondie has the title "Good" of the three main characters, he's still an anti-hero. He's pretty brutal to his partner Tuco, leaving him high and dry in the desert after tiring of Tuco's complaints about the bounty reward scam they're running. Blondie kills plenty of bounty hunters, bandits and desperados (who deserve what they get). Yet, there is an angel-like quality to Blondie. He rescues Tuco from some nefarious bounty hunters. When Angel Eyes spots Blondie perched in a barn as Tuco's about to be hanged, he comments, "Even a filthy beggar like that has got a protecting angel. A golden haired angel watches over him." Blondie's the most sympathetic to the senseless slaughter he witnesses between the two armies fighting over a bridge. He even comforts a wounded soldier with his coat and a puff on his cigar before the soldier dies. Leone's influence on Eastwood as a director would carry over with some of Eastwood's westerns most notably HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER (1973), PALE RIDER (1985), and UNFORGIVEN (1992). 

For Lee Van Cleef who plays Sentenza aka Angel Eyes, THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY was a high point for the actor after over a decade of supporting roles. Van Cleef was a connection to the classic Hollywood westerns Leone was both paying homage to and twisting the genre's conventions. Van Cleef made his film debut in Fred Zinnemann's HIGH NOON (1952) with Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly, played a baddie in John Sturges' GUNFIGHT AT THE O.K. CORRAL (1957) with Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas as well in John Ford's THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE (1962) with James Stewart and John Wayne. Van Cleef's first prominent role with Leone was as bounty hunter Col. Douglas Mortimer in FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE. In THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY, Van Cleef's Angel Eyes is the definition of the "Bad."  If Blondie is an angel, Angel Eyes/Sentenza is the devil with dark slits for eyes. He's evil incarnate. Angel Eyes kills both a father and his son, the man who hired him to find the gold, and he orders Tuco to be tortured for the name of the remote graveyard. Van Cleef would make a few more Spaghetti westerns in Europe in the late 60s and early 70s. My generation discovered Van Cleef in John Carpenter's sci-fi adventure ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK (1981) with Kurt Russell doing his best Clint Eastwood imitation as Snake Plissken. 

Eli Wallach who plays Tuco Ramirez aka "the Ugly" of the trio was the most classically trained actor of the three leads, having attended the Actors Studio where Marlon Brando and Paul Newman studied. Like Van Cleef, Wallach was also a bridge for Leone to Hollywood's western past. Wallach played the Mexican bad guy Calvera in John Sturges' THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN (1960) and was one of 25 big stars in HOW THE WEST WAS WON (1962) co-directed by John Ford and Henry Hathaway. Wallach has the flashiest role as Tuco in THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY and he takes full advantage of that opportunity. Tuco is part child; part maniac. As previously pointed out, Leone provides more back story for Tuco than either Blondie or Angel Eyes. We learn Tuco was the leader of a gang that he briefly reunites with. We discover that Tuco had parents (who have died) and a brother who's a priest who has disowned him for deserting their family. Even with all the despicable things Tuco does, he still believes in the Lord, genuflecting in times of crisis or to protect him. 

Director Sergio Leone began his career in the Italian film industry as an assistant director on sword and sandal films in the 1950s before getting his big break to direct THE LAST DAYS OF POMPEII (1959) in the middle of production when the original director Mario Bonnard became ill. As renowned and revered as Sergio Leone became, he was not a prolific director. Besides "The Man With No Name" trilogy and ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST, Leone only made two more films: DUCK, YOU SUCKER! (also known as A FISTFUL OF DYNAMITE) in 1971 with James Coburn and Rod Steiger and his final dream project, the gangster themed ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA (1984) starring Robert DeNiro and James Woods. With THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY, Leone reached new heights with his stylized, brutal violence; his gorgeous wide screen compositions; his edits from a panoramic wide shot to an extreme close up; and a magnum opus of a story full of twists and turns of fate within a real historical event - the Civil War.

Some final THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY thoughts and trivia. Sergio Leone was famous for picking unique actors with unforgettable faces for large and small roles in his films. One of my favorite faces that Sergio Leone showcased in two of his films including THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY was Canadian actor Al Mulock (credited as Al Mulloch in TGBU). Mulock is the first person you see in THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY as the One Armed Bounty Hunter, stepping into frame in one of Leone's signature close ups. Mulock also appeared in Leone's ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST as Knuckles, one of Frank's (Henry Fonda) gang waiting to kill Charles Bronson at the start of the film. Mulock tragically committed suicide right after filming his scenes, jumping to his death from his hotel in Guadix, Spain. One of the unique features of Leone's early Spaghetti westerns like THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY was that all the dialogue was done post synchronization, meaning the actors recorded their lines after the filming was done. Leone's films were fairly low budget and not recording the actual dialogue on set saved the production money. Except for the American stars of THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY like Eastwood, Van Cleef, and Wallach, the supporting actors were mostly Italian, Spanish, or German. Post synchronization allowed Leone (and English translator/screenwriter Mickey Knox) to translate some dialogue into more American vernacular for English audiences and to dub the supporting actors with American voices when they really had Italian or Spanish accents. 

The Golden Age of the Western brought us John Ford's STAGECOACH (1939), Howard Hawks' RED RIVER (1948), and George Stevens SHANE (1953) among the best but the genre was beginning to wane in the 1960s with rising production costs and television churning out quicker and cheaper western stories. It would take an Italian director named Sergio Leone who watched those classic American westerns while growing up in Rome, Italy to redefine the western, his westerns affectionally given the nickname Spaghetti westerns. Taking a page from Akira Kurosawa's Japanese samurai films with characters that were loners and anti-heroes, Leone created an international movie star in Clint Eastwood and a stylized visual style that has been imitated and parodied countless times. THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY is the pinnacle of Leone's "The Man With No Name" trilogy, where all his themes and visual ideas blend into a sprawling, entertaining epic tale of greed and perseverance.