TOP 10 + 2 - THE LIST CONTINUES

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Here is another instalment of the next Top 10 + 2, the fourth of such lists.

As I have previously posted, my Top 10 + 2 films is based on “watchability”, those type of films which you (meaning me) like to watch more than once and enjoy thoroughly for whatever reasons. Hence Groundhog Day is on the list, Citizen Kane is not, at least in my case never having had the urge to watch Citizen Kane more than once. My friend Steve cringes at my choices .

The reason my first list was called Top 10 + 2 was that I had difficulty whittling the list down to 10.

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The fourth list so far:

How Green Was My Valley

It Happened One Night

The Maltese Falcon

Take the Money and Run

Das Boot

Falling Down

Rambo: First Blood

Today: a cowie, to be followed by 2 more, America’s best contribution to film . . .

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The Good, The Bad and the Ugly

A great spaghetti western from 1966 directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood as "the Good", Lee Van Cleef as "the Bad", and Eli Wallach as "the Ugly". I even have a favourite Clint Eastwood poncho copied from the film that I wear in winter:

Clint Eastwood wore the same poncho through all three "Man with No Name" movies without replacement or cleaning. In a 2020 interview with the Daily Mail, Eastwood revealed his still owns the iconic poncho, that it is kept in a glass case, and that it has never been washed. At one point he loaned it to a friend who displayed it in a Mexican restaurant near his home in Carmel, California.

I love the 3 Clint Eastwood spaghetti Westerns: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly; A Fistful of Dollars; For a Few Dollars More.

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Synopsis:

During the American Civil War, three men set off to find $200,000.00 in buried gold coins. Tuco and Blondie have known each other for some time, having used the reward on Tuco's head as a way of earning money. They come across a dying man, Bill Carson, who tells them of a treasure in gold coins. By chance, he reveals the name of the cemetery and the name of the grave where the gold is buried.

Now rivals, the two men have good reason to keep each other alive. The third man, Angel Eyes, hears of the gold stash from someone he's been hired to kill. All he knows is to look for someone named Bill Carson.

The three ultimately meet in a showdown that takes place amid a major battle between Confederate and Union forces.

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Some comments and trvia:

Most of the filming took place in Spain.

The film is known for Leone's use of long shots and close-up cinematography, as well as his distinctive use of violence, tension, and highly stylised gunfights.

Ennio Morricone composed the film's score. Ennio Morricone's iconic theme music was designed in places to mimic the sound of a howling coyote. Originally, Morricone did not want to use the trumpet but Leone insisted. Along with the electric and acoustic guitars, and the "tarzan yell", the trumpet became the most distinctive part of the soundtrack.

In addition to the train scene, Tuco (Eli Wallach) cheated death in the first scene where Blondie (Clint Eastwood) shoots him down from a hanging. The gunshot scared the horse, which took off running at full speed for nearly a mile. Wallach's hands were tied behind his back, and he had to hang on for dear life with his knees.

Eli Wallach was almost poisoned on the set after drinking acid used to burn the bags filled with gold coin, to make them rip open easier when struck with the spade. He didn't know the acid had been poured into a lemon soda bottle. He drank a lot of milk, and filmed the scene with a mouth full of sores.

For the scene where Angel Eyes interrogates Maria the prostitute for information about Bill Carson, Lee Van Cleef was appalled by the fact that he was required to actually hit Maria (Rada Rassimov), complaining "I can't hit a woman." Rassimov replied with, "Don't worry. I'm an actress. Even if you slap me for real, it's no problem", but Van Cleef further stated, "I know, but I can't!" As a result, a stunt double was used for shots where Rassimov was slapped, which were intercut with shots of Van Cleef. As he later put it: "There are very few principles I have in life. One of them is I don't kick dogs, and the other one is I don't slap women in movies."

When Eli Wallach arrived in Madrid, Spain, all of the hotels were full. Clint Eastwood invited him to sleep over at a friend's house, and they shared the same bed. Wallach's wife Anne Jackson told him he could boast that he was the only man to sleep with Clint Eastwood.

As a non-smoker, Clint Eastwood hated smoking cigars and Sergio Leone often did multiple takes. According to Eli Wallach, Eastwood would sometimes tell Leone: "You'd better get it this time, because I'm going to throw up."

By the time filming had completed, Clint Eastwood had grown tired of Sergio Leone's perfectionism and demands. The two never worked together again, though Leone tried to get Eastwood to appear in Once Upon a Time in the West (1968).

The three principal actors are the only ones who speak actual English in this movie: Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, Eli Wallach, with the exceptions of Al Mulock (the one-armed man), and John Bartha (the Sheriff). Everyone else in this movie is really speaking his or her native language, mostly Italian and Spanish, and was later dubbed into English.

In the 1960s, Hollywood still followed The Motion Picture Production Code of 1930 (a.k.a. The Hays Moral Code), especially with westerns. This movie broke many, if not most, of those standards. After it was released, Hollywood had to change its moral standards to compete with such foreign-made movies.

The trumpet theme for the "mexican standoff" at the graveyard was inspired by El Degüello - a traditional Mexican piece adapted from a Spanish composition that was also used as a military bugle call. The name refers to the cutting of the throat, and is used to indicate that no quarter will be given. El Degüello was played over and over by the Mexican army during the late stages of the battle of the Alamo, indicating the intention to slaughter the defenders.

Over to you, Steve.