20 Things You Didn't Know About The Good, The Bad And The Ugly

12. The Bridge Exploding Scene Resulted In A Crewman Being Fired

During the large-scale battle scene near the end of the film, Sergio Leone asked the captain of the Spanish Army who was working with the crew to trigger the fuse to blow up the bridge for the scene's climax, as thanks for his collaboration.

Unfortunately, a crew member speaking on the same radio channel used similar terminology for an unrelated instruction, resulting in the captain thinking he had been given his cue and giving the signal to blow up the bridge. No cameras were rolling at the time, and a furious Leone immediately fired the crew member. The captain then offered to have the army rebuild the entire bridge to reshoot the scene on the condition that the crewman be re-hired.

Leone agreed, the crewman was forgiven, the scene was incredible and once again everything was right with the world.