“The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” A picaresque romance in which three thugs go on a treasure hunt.

Eli Wallach's presence transforms tense scenes into comedy

Gian Maria Volonté, who played the villain Ramon Rojo in A Fistful of Dollars, was originally considered for the role of Tuco. At his true potential, he is a psychopathic mad act. If you let him play an abnormal person who lacks mental balance, he would be the best actor in the world. But Sergio Leone thought about it. I think what is needed for the role of Tuco is not abnormality, but deep comedy. The person who decided to do so was Eli Wallach.

Wallach, who is one of the founding members of the Actors Studio, studied method acting with Marlon Brando and Montgomery Clift, and was active mainly on stage in his early career. It's a bit surprising given his appearance, but he's a well-known New York actor. When my agent asked me, ``Are you interested in starring in an Italian Western?'' I had never heard of macaroni westerns, and all I could think was ``It's probably like Hawaiian pizza.'' It seems like a lot.

"I don't know how they chose me for ' The Good, the Bad and the Ugly,' but I think they saw my performance in ' The Magnificent Seven Seven.' I'd also appeared in other westerns like ' How the West Was Won ,' so I think they thought I was the right fit for the role." (Quoted from an interview with Eli Wallach )

"The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" (c) Photofest / Getty Images

Eli Wallach humorously plays Tuco, who yells and yells while flashing googly eyes. No, it would be more accurate to say that his unique presence turned the occasion into a humorous one.

For example, there is a scene where he is attacked by a gang while he is in the bathtub. Tuco attacks him with the gun he had hidden in the bathtub, but the entire staff bursts into laughter when he says, "When you shoot, shoot, don't talk!" Actually, this was an ad-lib from him, and it was meant to be a serious line rather than a joke, but his demeanor turned the tense scene into a comedy.

What's more, Wallach injects a subtle pathos into the character. A feeling of loneliness and desolation clings to their backs.

"There are two types of people. Those who have many friends and those who are lonely like me."

"You're an orphan just like me. You're all alone."

How strange it is when the words "loneliness" and "alone" come to Eli Wallach's lips. We, the audience, find Tuco, a small-time villain, extremely charming.

“The era of the great macaroni western” has come to an end