Ranking the Leone westerns
Alamo Drafthouse Leone Fest posters
Today, I want to offer my ranking of the Leone films and solicit reactions from you guys. Tomorrow, I’m going to give a top ten favorite non-Leone spaghettis, to which you’ll also hopefully react. Trailers and brief, list-style justifications follow:
1. Once Upon a Time in the West
The silent masterpiece that opens the film. The visual poetry throughout. The close-up of those cold Fonda baby blues. The haunting Morricone score, his best. The abstract view in Bronson’s flashback of the figure walking ever closer. Fonda’s walk through town while Bronson amusedly watches and drops hints. Robards out-duelling Mr. Choo-Choo’s hired hands, and his sad, slow death in the denouement. The final chapter of the old west, Leone-style. And, above all perhaps: Claudia Cardinale. A perfect film.
2. For a Few Dollars More -
The two bounty hunters who are all archetypes in one. The detached lunacy of El Indio, player perfectly by Volonte. Kinski being directed by Leone. The carillon twinkling at the end of the watchchain(s). The moment that trumpet explodes in the middle of “Sixty Seconds to What?” The gladiator arena that is the corral, the sweet revenge that is fulfilled there, and the void that it leaves in its place. Better than its more popular prequel, aka….
3. The Good, The Bad and the Ugly -
The surreal, picaresque western. Van Cleef switching sides from benevolent father figure to pure evil bastard. Eli Wallach in the performance of a lifetime. Cannonballs ripping through hotel walls. “If you’re going to shoot, shoot. Don’t talk.” Gloves beating against dusty uniforms. An eyepatch that moves around quite a bit. A beautiful monologue as bandit berates his brother the priest. A dream fulfilled in the destruction of a bridge. The slow gathering of familiar accouterments. The ecstacy of gold. Also, Morricone’s “The Ecstacy of Gold.” The gut-tightening build-up to gunshots. And a perfect ending.
4. Duck, You Sucker -
AKA Fistful of Dynamite. AKA Once Upon a Time The Revolution. A bandit pissing on ants. Steiger doing Eli Wallach. A funny little Irishman on a funny little motorcycle. A mutual dislike that becomes mutual respect. Morals forged in the fire of experience. Explosions! Lots of them! Sean, Sean, Sean!
5. A Fistful of Dollars -
Fifth on this list is nothing to sneeze at, especially for a film that created a genre. Dashiell Hammett or Kurosawa in the desert. The world-weary bartender. The enigmatic pallbearer. Get three coffins ready. Apologizing to mules. Bonds and betrayals and barrels and bonfires. A fallible hero. Aim for the heart or you’ll never stop me. And they never did.
There are two types of people in this world my friend – those that say The Good, The Bad and the Ugly is the best Leone western – and those that dig. You dig!
We should start a club, David. It will be called The Club of People Who Are Right.
What no 2 Mules for Sister Sarah in your top 5? But seriously, agree with your top 5 but I would maybe swap 4 and 5 around as Duck, was in some ways the cowboy version of Monty Pythons Holy Grail where it was very good, but a bit disjointed.
Can you do a top 5 on soundtracks or say one song from each movie and do another ranking?
I once got into an argument (good natured, of course) at a trivia night where the host asked us to name the four spaghetti westerns that Clint Eastwood made.
My asertion was that he only made three.
Hang ‘Em High was American – American director, filmed in America.
Two Mules for Sister Sarah (despite the Morricone Score), was directed by Don Siegel (American) and filmed in Mexico. So I wouldn’t count that either.
I still have to watch the proper version of Duck You Sucker. I have only seen the cut to shreds version of Fistful of Dynamite. Strangely I have had the uncut version for a few years but never gotten around to watching it…the weird part being that my son went through a spaghetti western phase last school holidays (how’s that for a life – nothing better to do than sit around watching spaghetti westerns all day) and he actually sat down and watched most of what I own, so I would suggest he has a better knowledge than I.
And finally, cheekily, pre-empting your top-ten list – three words ‘Day of Wrath’ AKA ‘Day of Anger’.
Check out Corbucci’s: The Great Silence (Il Grande Silenzio), Morricone soundtrack and a marvelous Kinski. Sublime. Thanks for your site, I have been looking for the ringo tab for ages, great song great tab. Thank you !