The Good, the Bad and the Best of Westerns!

 

I grew up on westerns (and monster movies!), as did a lot of my generation. So when the first of Sergio Leone's westerns opened in NY, of course I went to see it. A Fistful of Dollars brought Clint Eastwood to everyone's attention and who started to see him in a whole new way. It was everything a western should be and that score! Ennio Morricone's brilliant soundtracks brought these films to a whole new level, underscoring the action and making them even more memorable!

I have a deep love for these films and for Lee Van Cleef, who really lit up the screen in every scene he was in beginning with For a Few Dollars More and the Good, the Bad and the Ugly, maybe one of the best westerns ever made, and Eli Wallach was great in that one, too!

Lee Van Cleef was well known as a character actor in numerous gangster films and westerns but he became a leading man through these Italian westerns.

I just rewatched The Big Gundown (directed by Sergio Sollima) , which I haven't seen since it came out, and is on Youtube. It has a great Ennio Morricone score and if you haven't seen it, check it out! Here's a link to the opening theme song!