The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (partially found deleted scenes of Italian western film; 1966)

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Gbuposteritalian.JPG

The film's original Italian theatrical poster.

Status: Partially Found

Il Buono, Il Brutto, Il Cattivo, better known by its English title, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, is an Italian western film directed by Sergio Leone. Originally released in Italy on December 23rd, 1966, it would gain international fame a year later when it was re-edited and dubbed into several languages for an international theatrical release, first in West Germany on December 15th, 1967, with releases in other countries coming over the course of the following year.

As time went on, interest in the film's original Italian cut grew, with attention also being focused on several now-lost scenes which had been deleted from even that version.

Deleted Scenes

The Socorro Sequence

The subject of the most attention out of all the film's deleted scenes, the Socorro sequence saw protagonist Tuco extorting money from a small town in Confederate-held territory, with his rival Blondie hatching a successful plot to steal back the money for himself with the aid of a prostitute. Though official efforts were made to locate the scene, only two brief clips from the French theatrical trailer and several promotional stills were ever found. A description and reconstruction of the Socorro sequence are included on MGM's 2004 Special Edition DVD, and most subsequent home video releases.

Skeleton in the Desert

Amongst the scenes of Tuco leading a dehydrated Blondie through the desert, an additional scene was completed but ultimately discarded, wherein Blondie collapses and slides into an animal skeleton partially buried in the sand.[1] The beginning of this scene was found and uploaded to Vimeo, sourced from a damaged collector-owned Italian print of the film. A complete version of this scene with the original sound missing would later be included on Kino's controversial 50th Anniversary Blu-ray.

Tuco Fires Back

Late in the film, Blondie uses a cannon to fire several volleys at Tuco, who immediately retreats. In a deleted scene, Tuco would've first taken aim with a cannon of his own, only for it to misfire and collapse into pieces. The French theatrical trailer features the only surviving footage from this scene, a single shot of the cannon collapsing.

Angel Eyes Explains Himself

For many years the only information or evidence regarding this scene was a color still featured on one of the film's English lobby cards. A blog post featuring additional promotional stills and the script for the scene describes how the deleted scene would have played out. While stopped at a riverbank, Angel-Eyes, the film's antagonist, explains to Blondie how he came to be involved in the search for the missing Confederate gold that the film's plot is centred around.[2] No footage from this scene has yet to surface.

Gallery

Comparison video featuring the surviving segment of the skeleton scene.

The official MGM reconstruction of the Socorro sequence.

French theatrical trailer featuring the shot of Tuco's cannon collapsing.

References