Long awaited book on the making of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly due soon

Last week I was contacted by Dr. Peter Hanley, author of the forthcoming book The Good, the Bad and the Ugly - A tribute to the experts behind the scenes. The Clint Eastwood Archive was proud to be asked to help contribute towards this book and of course, only too happy to help. Peter intends to keep me right up to date as the production nears completion. In the meantime, here are some of the things we can look forward to.

The aim of this book project is essentially to document this classic film in great detail. Highlights will include over 20 interviews with cast and crew, more than 140 rare behind-the-scenes stills, and detailed analysis of the historical background (including numerous historical comparison photos, sketches), documentation of the film locations, lobby cards, posters and more.

INTERVIEWS WITH CAST AND CREW

An extensive volume of information, amounting to over 40,000 words, has been gained by the generous input of cast and crew. The following were interviewed on one or more occasions: Tonino Delli Colli (director of photography), Franco Di Giacomo (camera operator), Sergio Salvati (assistant camera operator), Eros Bacciucchi (special effects), Giovanni Corridori (assistant special effects), Ennio Morricone (music), Bruno Battisti D’Amario (guitar), Carlo Leva (assistant art director), Elisabetta Simi (wife of Carlo Simi, art dir.), Carla Leone (wife of Sergio Leone), Giancarlo Santi (assistant director), Fabrizio Gianni (assistant director), Eugenio Alabiso (editor), Luciano Vincenzoni (story/script), Eli Wallach (the Ugly), Silvana Bacci (actress in deleted scene), Chelo Alonso (actress), Ricardo Palacios (actor in deleted scene), Alberto Lardani (son of Iginio Lardani, titles), and more . . .

EXTENSIVE COLLECTION OF STILLS

The book will be lavished with numerous stills, including over 140 behind-the-scenes stills, most of which have been scanned from original negatives or stills and not previously published. The format of the hard-covered book will be about 28 x 26 cm, which will allow much space for large glossy photos (on high-quality glossy paper). Each still will be accompanied by a detailed legend.

LOBBY CARDS & POSTERS

An extensive collection of mostly Italian, as well as Spanish, French and German lobby cards and posters will be dispersed throughout the book.

FILM LOCATIONS

The shooting locations will be presented in the form of “comparison” photos, taken using a small aperture and a tripod-mounted camera. All location photos will be accompanied by 3D GPS coordinates, as well as a vivid description of the terrain and comments from Spanish locals.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

The vast majority of the American Civil War (1861- 1865) was fought in the East, in states such as Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia, whereas Sergio Leone's The Good, the Bad and the Ugly was, by definition of a western, set in the West. In 1862, though, there was a Civil War battle lasting one day on the Rio Grande, led on the Confederate side by the drunken General Sibley. This battle was followed by several days of fighting in Glorieta Pass. These relatively small engagements did not escape the meticulous preproduction research of Sergio Leone and colleagues, who made numerous references to Sibley's 1862 New Mexico campaign. A brief outline of this campaign and its “appearances” in the The Good, the Bad and the Ugly are highlighted in the book.

DELETED SCENES

In collaboration with expert Ulrich Angersbach, a detailed description of cut scenes will be provided in the book. The legendary cut “Socorro” scene will be reconstructed with the help of stills and interviews with actors involved in this sequence. In addition, a synopsis of the original script for the complete film will be provided and differences between the script and film will be elucidated.

ATTENTION TO DETAILS

One of the characteristics of a Sergio Leone film, especially The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is attention to detail. Historical details of the Civil War period were closely studied and reproduced on the wide screen, albeit with embellishments. Numerous examples of this attention to detail will be presented throughout the book.