And I think Marvin and Ryan also had very iconic faces, and a lot of very charismatic roles, actually much more than LvC.
Actually I think the one really great role he had was Sentenza in GBU, his only role I don’t want anybody else.
The funny thing is in none of his other films he is really essential, not even in FaFDM, but at the same time there are many of other good Spags, which would have benefitted from a possible LvC casting. Especially The Bounty Killer and Run Man Run and Adios Sabata.
Ok, FaFDM is probably the other one in which his presence was very strong, it was Leone who was the only one who could make the best out of his limitations. In his other famous Spags he is not as strong, he is good, but no match for his Leone films. Later the alcohol destroyed everything.
What??? He’s a side character in GBU and a central part of FFDM.
Again, I couldn’t disagree more. The Big Gundown? Day of Anger? Death Rides a Horse? He’s a big part of what made those films great.
It is true he had limitations, he couldn’t do much beyond his usual SW roles. His SW characters are basically all the same, they’re always mysterious, stoic, experienced and strong characters, but he was better than any other actor at playing those types of characters. He was not good at anything else, with El Condor he tried to do something different with a more emotional/comedic character, and he wasn’t good at all, but NO ONE was as good at playing his typical SW roles as he was. No one else could do what he did with his powerful voice, pointed nose, beady eyes, high cheek bones. He could not be imitated or replaced. He was solely unique is basically every way. There is no one like him… and his larger than life presence is immediately felt. Even outside of the SW genre like Escape from New York. He was amazing in every spaghetti western he featured in, even if he doesn’t have much range, because those roles didn’t require him to be anything more than a stylish stoic badass with a powerful voice and an expressive face. He’s the perfect casting choice for basically all his SW roles.
He was not a side character in GBU, but one of the 3 leads. And how big a role is does not tell me how good one is. I prefer Lee as a baddie, and GBU was his most charismatic role, and was easily his best film.
He was good, but not great, in The Big Gundown, Day of Anger, Death Rides a Horse, and the last 2 are imo also only good not great films. TBG is much more interesting, but also no match for any Leone western. Not in my Top 20 SW list, the other 2 not even top 50.
It seems we feel differently about the charisma of LvC. I think he could have achieved more in the genre than he did. In his later Spags he was not bad, but he was a bit forgettable in quite forgettable films.
Actually I think that Anthony Ghidra could have replaced him in all of his films, and would have been (except for GBU) similar good or even better.
Btw for me The Last Killer is in every respect better than Day of Anger. That one is in my top 20.
But I’m sure you don’t like Ghidra.
No… GBU was primarily an Eli Wallach vehicle and LVC has the least screentime out of all 3 “protagonists”.
the last 2 are imo also only good not great films. TBG is much more interesting, but also no match for any Leone western.
Well, I think all those films are better than GBU, so it’s just a matter of taste. You seem to enjoy the GBU and Zapata Western style a lot more than I do… and I enjoy the FFDM/Classic SW style a lot more than you.
Actually I think that Anthony Ghidra could have replaced him in all of his films, and would have been (except for GBU) similar good or even better.
Btw for me The Last Killer is in every respect better than Day of Anger. That one is in my top 20.
But I’m sure you don’t like Ghidra.
I don’t think an option that crap warrants a response
Of course it’s all a matter of taste, but GBU and Il mercenario are classic SW style, as much as FaFDM, but more fascinating for me.
And there is not really a Zapata western style, cause these are more thematically connected films, and the style depends on the individual films. But they more or less all made though in a style typical for SWs, like nearly every other SW also.
And GBU is not primarily an Eli Wallach vehicle. Because it is also to the same amount a Clint Eastwood vehicle. Yes, being the baddie the other 2 are bit more in the center, but LvC was still one of the 3 leads, just check the Italian poster.
GBU and Il mercenario are classic SW style, as much as FaFDM, but more fascinating for me.
They deviate from the style created with FOD/FFDM by integrating war film elements and more large scale setpieces. To a lesser degree with GBU but TM is a full on war film.
And there is not really a Zapata western style, cause these are more thematically connected films
The zapata western is stylistically different. Excluding ABFTG, they’re very GBU inspired, while the others are more in the style of FFDM/FOD. Leone essentially created 2 distinct styles that developed independently.
And GBU is not primarily an Eli Wallach vehicle. Because it is also to the same amount a Clint Eastwood vehicle. Yes, being the baddie the other 2 are bit more in the center, but LvC was still one of the 3 leads, just check the Italian poster.
Clint is present but the focus is on Eli Wallach. If it weren’t for the title/poster of the film, LVC wouldn’t be considered one of the 3, but the fact they are all in the name of the film leads you to thinking they’re all protagonists but they’re not. I think it’s the LVC spaghetti western where he has the smallest role actually.
We were at that point before, and I totally disagree.
I don’t know what your definition of the word “style” is, but for me it means in a film directing and story telling, and by that the style of FaFDM, GBU and TM are pretty close, and GBU is closer to FaWDM than FoD.
What you mean are context things, and these are for me only background. Basically many of these Spags are about a cat and mice game between the protagonists, and this cat and mice game is set in FaFDL against a bounty hinting background and in TM against a Mexican-revolution background. The Big Gundown is another similar one.
Of course there are still differences between all tehse films, and Leone’s use of the Civil-War background is indeed a bit different, but basically all these films follow the same patterns.
And Wallachs definitely not more in the focus of GBU than Eastwood. If you look at posters and Covers of GBU which feature only one of the 3, it is obviously always Clint, and not Eli. On these front covers the other 2 are not even mentioned.
And LvC role is also definitely not his smallest. Unlike most other baddies in westerns, which mostly appear only in scenes in which the hero is also present, he has his own story line, and several individual scenes. But of course he is not as much present as the other 2.
I think in both GBU and OUTW the 2 baddies LvC and Fonda have more presence than in genre films usual, and they have a greater narrative importance than Volonte in the first Dollar films or Palance in the Corbuuci SWs.
I’m using the word loosely to be fair… but war and revolution are not a theme of FFDM or FOD. GBU is slower paced and much more set piece driven and everything revolves around a war. It’s not just a backdrop, no matter how much you say it is. Cut out the war stuff and the film would be just 1 hour long and would have a completely different feel. There are much more conceptual differences too. No emotional main characters in FFDM, there’s no desert adventure parts, there’s no war set pieces etc. Concept and style aren’t the same thing, I know, but there’s always a consistent choice of concepts and themes in film genres, yet there’s not much in common conceptually between GBU and FFDM. Politics isn’t the only reason the GBU inspired Zapata Western subgenre became it’s own thing. They’re different.
If you look at posters and Covers of GBU which feature only one of the 3, it is obviously always Clint, and not Eli. On these front covers the other 2 are not even mentioned.
You seem to focus on the posters as if the purpose of marketing is to be a truthful representation of the film and not sell as many tickets as possible… what about in the film itself? The amount of sceentime Tuco has greatly outweighs that of blondie. Who’s the character who had his brother in the film? Who’s the one who got tortured? Who’s the one who went running through a graveyard to find gold? Who’s the one who escaped a train? Who had to walk through a desert after being left stranded?
And LvC role is also definitely not his smallest.
In what spaghetti western did he have a smaller role?
I think in both GBU and OUTW the 2 baddies LvC and Fonda have more presence than in genre films usual, and they have a greater narrative importance than Volonte in the first Dollar films or Palance in the Corbuuci SWs.
