The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Turns 60, and Its Final Standoff Has No Rival

Illustration: AI-generated with Pollinations (FLUX), free to use

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly premiered in Italy in December 1966, so it turns 60 this month. Sergio Leone directed it as the last part of his Dollars trilogy, with Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef and Eli Wallach in the lead roles. It is long, dusty and very funny, and it still feels like no other western.

Photo: Nick, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Eli Wallach is the film's best surprise as Tuco, a scruffy bandit who spends the story running from and bickering with Blondie. Their partnership is funny, cruel and oddly tender, and Wallach gets the best lines.

Photo: Nick, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The film was shot in Spain, and the Almería desert doubles for the American West, so the locations are a big part of the look. The cemetery at the climax was built for the film near Burgos, and fans still visit it to see where the final duel took place.

Photo: studio publicity still, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Ennio Morricone's score is the other half of the film. The theme is so well known that most people can hum it, and the final duel is built around the music more than the shooting. That is a big reason the scene still works after 60 years.

Photo: santiago lopez-pastor, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Which Leone film do you pick first? I usually say this one, because the Eastwood, Wallach and Van Cleef trio is the most fun ever put together in a western.