10 Things You Never Knew About The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
From a California chase for Clint to a cemetery built by an army, the Spaghetti Western classic hid wild behind-the-scenes chaos.
Decorations from the film The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. — Nick, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Where to watch The Good, the Bad and the Ugly ↓Eastwood Was Chased Down In California
Sergio Leone flew to California to personally convince Clint Eastwood to return. The deal landed at $250,000 plus 10 percent of North American profits, a number Leone himself wasn't happy about.
Volonté Was Almost Tuco
Gian Maria Volonté was Leone's first pick for Tuco. He passed on him in favor of Eli Wallach because Leone wanted natural comic talent for the part.
Contreras — TurismoRuralArlanza, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
A West Was Won Audition
Leone spotted Wallach in the Railroads sequence of How the West Was Won. To win over the skeptical actor, he screened the opening credits of For a Few Dollars More.
Publicity photo of Clint Eastwood for A Fistful of Dollars (Per un pugno di dollari) — movie studio, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
French Between Takes
On set Leone and Wallach talked in French. Wallach spoke poorly and Leone spoke well, and the language barrier didn't stop them from becoming close friends.
Budget Bloat Before Roll
United Artists first earmarked one million dollars for the production. As Leone developed the script, the budget grew to $1.2 million.
Almost Called Two Magnificent Tramps
The film was working under the title The Two Magnificent Tramps right up to shooting. Screenwriter Luciano Vincenzoni suggested The Good, the Ugly, the Bad just before cameras rolled, and Leone loved it instantly.
Brady And Gardner Inspired The War
Leone built the Civil War settings and cemetery scenes with help from archival photos by Mathew Brady and Alexander Gardner. He wanted the images to convey the war's absurdity and tragedy.
An Army Built Sad Hill
Several hundred Spanish soldiers built the Sad Hill cemetery from scratch. They erected thousands of gravestones and wooden crosses just for the climactic Mexican standoff.
Bridge Blast Wiped Out Cameras
The bridge demolition explosion was so powerful it destroyed all three cameras on the first take. Spanish army sappers had to rebuild the bridge so the scene could be shot again.
Tuco Almost Died Three Times
Eli Wallach survived three near-fatal accidents on set. He nearly poisoned himself with acid, was dragged by a panicked horse with a noose around his neck, and almost got decapitated by iron steps on a train boxcar.