2. The Good, The Bad And The Ugly (1966)
United ArtistsThe culmination of the Dollars Trilogy is 1966's The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, a film which many consider to be the greatest Western of all time. Clint Eastwood returns as The Man With No Name (referred to as Blondie over the course of this film) and is joined by Lee Van Cleef as the villainous Angel Eyes and the indomitable Eli Wallach as the petty thief Tuco. Separately they are the Good, the Bad and the Ugly - and together, under Leone's careful direction, they're nothing short of brilliant. Composer Ennio Morricone has been conspicuously absent from this article thus far, but some of his best work comes in this film. Though he composed music for every Leone film, no compositions are as recognisable as the whistling theme or the climactic Ecstasy of Gold suite. Likewise, special mention should be made of Eli Wallach, an incredible actor who passed away last week. His Tuco is the heart and soul of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, and his fervent rapid-fire diction plays perfectly off of Eastwood's brooding silence throughout the film. Wallach intended to appear in Leone's last Western film Duck, You Sucker! as Juan Miranda (ultimately played by Rob Steiger), but a schedule conflict ensured only Wallach's Tuco remained atop the high pedestal of memorable Western rogues.