The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Characters: "The Bad"

 

Old South Western Tribune

By Richard Garcia

 

Lee Van Cleef plays the role of "La Brute" 16, an insensitive and ruthless mercenary who is called in the Italian and French versions Sentenza, the name became in the American version of Angel Eyes. He doesn't hesitate to cold wipe out anyone he encounters in his treasure hunt. After Blondin and Tuco are captured and imprisoned, Sentenza is the sergeant who interrogates and tortures Tuco by Corporal Wallace, thus discovering the name of the cemetery where the gold is hidden. Knowing Blondin would lie instead of giving her the real name of the grave, he decides to form an alliance with Blondin. The latter prefers to go back with Tuco whenever the opportunity arises.

Originally, Leone wanted Charles Bronson to play Sentenza, but this one was already filming The Twelve Bastards (1967). Leone was then considering working with Lee Van Cleef again: "Knowing that Van Cleef had already played a more romantic role in And for a few more dollars, the idea of having him play a completely opposite character intrigues me." »

Lee Van Cleef recounts: "For the first movie, I couldn't negotiate, given that I couldn't even pay for my phone." I was shooting the movie, paying my phone bill and exactly one year later, on April 12, 1966, I was called back to shoot Le Bon, la Brute et le Truand. And at the same time, I was touring Colorado as well. So instead of just making $17,000 I'm making over $100,000 all thanks to Leone's talent not mine9. »

The actor had a strange fear of horses and knew nothing about horse riding. Sergio Donati recounts: "We found him a docile and affectionate horse like a circus beast, but to be able to get on it, he needed a chair and someone needed to hold the animal." The same story was obviously repeated when it came to re-descending (Wallach used the same horse in his own stages, as he couldn't ride either) 14. »

Lee Van Cleef, on the other hand, although he played "villains" in most of his films, was a gentle man who contrasted sharply with his characters. It was his acting skills that allowed him to so well characterize roles so far from his own personality. Donati tells another joke about it: "In a movie scene, he has to hit a prostitute who knows Bill Carson and he couldn't get that far." The actress (Rada Rassimov) said to him: "Don't worry if you give me a real slap, I don't mind, hit me..." “But Van Cleef blushingly explained to him that he simply couldn’t lift his hand on a woman, he was stronger than him.”