The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
In 1862, during the American Civil War, a mercenary known as "Angel Eyes" interrogates former Confederate soldier Stevens, whom Angel Eyes is contracted to kill, about Jackson, a fugitive who stole a cache of Confederate gold. Learning Jackson's new alias "Bill Carson," Angel Eyes kills Stevens and then his employer Baker so he can find the gold himself. Bandit Tuco Ramirez is rescued from bounty hunters by a nameless drifter who is called "Blondie" by Tuco. Blondie delivers Tuco to the local sheriff to collect his $2,000 bounty. As Tuco is about to be hanged, Blondie severs Tuco's noose by shooting it and setting him free. The two escape on horseback and split the bounty. They repeat the process in other towns until Blondie grows weary of Tuco's complaints and strands him in the desert.
Bent on revenge, and after one failed attempt with his gang, Tuco finally catches up with Blondie and force-marches him across the desert until Blondie collapses from dehydration. A runaway horse-drawn hospital ambulance arrives with several dead Confederate soldiers and a near-death Bill Carson, who promises Tuco $200,000 in Confederate gold, buried in a grave in Sad Hill Cemetery, in exchange for help. When Tuco returns with water, Carson has died and Blondie is slumped next to him, revealing that Carson recovered and told him the name on the grave before dying. Tuco poses as a Confederate soldier and takes Blondie to a nearby frontier mission to recover. At the mission, Tuco reunites with his brother, Pablo, who left his family when Tuco was young to become a priest. Their meeting does not go well; they become hostile and engage in a physical confrontation. Tuco and Blondie subsequently leave the monastery.
The duo decides to search for the gold together. Tuco yells Confederate-supportive statements to a group of soldiers but they turn out to be members of a Union patrol, the blue color of their uniforms having been obscured by dust. Blondie and Tuco are taken to a prison camp that Angel Eyes has infiltrated as a Union sergeant in his search for Bill Carson. Tuco poses as Carson and is taken away for questioning. He reveals the name of the cemetery under torture and is sent away to be hanged. Knowing Blondie would not reveal the name on the grave, Angel Eyes recruits him into his search. Tuco escapes his fate by killing Angel Eyes' henchman and soon finds himself in an evacuated town, where Blondie, Angel Eyes, and his gang have also arrived.
Blondie finds Tuco and the pair kill Angel Eyes' men, though Angel Eyes escapes. They travel toward Sad Hill before ending up on the Union side of a military siege over a strategic bridge. Blondie decides to destroy the bridge to disperse the two armies to allow access to the cemetery. As they wire the bridge with explosives, Tuco suggests they share information. Tuco reveals the name of the cemetery, while Blondie says "Arch Stanton" is the name on the grave. After the bridge is demolished the armies disperse. Tuco steals a horse and rides to Sad Hill to claim the gold for himself. Tuco finds Arch Stanton's grave and begins digging, where Blondie encourages him at gunpoint to continue. Angel Eyes arrives and holds Blondie at gunpoint. Blondie states that he lied about the name on Stanton's grave and appears to write the real name of the grave on a rock before challenging Tuco and Angel Eyes to a three-way duel.
The trio stares each other down. Everyone eventually draws with Blondie killing Angel Eyes, while Tuco discovers that his gun was unloaded by Blondie the night before. Blondie reveals that the gold is actually in the grave beside Arch Stanton's, marked "Unknown". Tuco is initially elated to find bags of gold, but Blondie holds him at gunpoint and orders him into a hangman's noose beneath a tree. Blondie binds Tuco's hands and forces him to stand atop an unsteady grave marker while he takes his half of the gold and rides away. As Tuco screams for mercy, Blondie returns into sight. He severs the rope with a rifle shot, leaving Tuco alive to furiously curse him while Blondie disappears over the horizon.
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