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Yes, I too, remember seeing this film around thirty years ago, when it was first released. I remember it as a very, very good film, made all the better by suberb acting from both Riccardo Cucciola and Gian Maria Volonte (better remembered as the psycopathic 'Indio' in 'For a few Dollars More') and the absolutely brilliant score by Ennio Morricone and Joan Baez. While most reviews criticise the judgement and death of the two men and their subsequent posthumous pardons, did I not read somewhere or other that recent ballistic tests on the weapons proved that the gun found on Nicola Sacco was the gun used to murder the payroll guards ? I might be wrong and there again, I might not. None the less, a great film.

I have, like most film buffs, my own top ten favourite films. No comment is necessary here on the story of the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly--we all know it and admire it by now. Occasionally, a film comes along which makes it into the 'top ten', e.g Saving Private Ryan, Dave, Schindler's List, Life is Beautiful etc. However The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is, was and I reckon always will be my numero uno. I enjoy the film as much today as when I first saw it in 1967. In 1968 I WALKED eleven miles to a local town to see it and walked home again! Some thirty five years ago! No Videos, or DVD's in those days! I also, when I got my first car, drove to whichever local cinema the GBU was showing on the night. When I eventually got a video version I thought all my birthdays had arrived at once. What's more, I was lucky enough to get the version which I had never seen before and is seldom seen since on TV, where the captions to each character appear in English, i.e "THE GOOD", "THE BAD", and "THE UGLY", instead of "IL BUONO", "IL BRUTTO," "IL CATTIVO", and a version which contain extra unseen (at that time)footage, eg. when Angel eyes gives Maria (Bill Carson's girl)a bigger hiding than we usually saw on the cinema version and when Wallace gives Tuco the severe beating in the POW camp, it goes on much longer than I had seen in other versions. Only recently I obtained the DVD, showing some scenes which were shot in Italian, but never in English and never incorporated in the final English spoken version. (They were in a "Director's Cut" version on a German channel some time back, but I suppose it was easy to incorporate them in a German version, which was dubbed anyway into German). I look forward to some method of "digitally" adding them to the English speaking version. These scenes were and would be still important to the continuity and understanding of the scenes. One is were Lee van Cleef, during his quest for Bill Carson, visits a military hospital. He sees the absolute horror of war and this is the only time that his character becomes almost human. He shakes his head in disbelief at the futility of the war. (Eastwood echos this belief in the futility of the war in a later scene at the bridge.) Another scene shows more of the torture that Tuco put's Eastwood's character through in the desert. A quite funny scene too! and two scenes, one before the arrival at the monastry and one after leaving, which helps the viewer to understand the whole "Pablo Ramirez and Monastry" scenes better. However the DVD did not show one scene which I saw on the German version. One typical Eastwood scene, where he outdraws and shoots three of van Cleef's henchmen. It is also my all time favourite soundtrack. Favourite scene- Blondie and Tuco carrying the stretcher through the wounded and dead soldiers, two soldiers pass by, Blondie and Tuco lift an arm and a leg of a body, the two soldiers pass on, Blondie and Tuco drop the limbs like two lumps of meat. Favourite script - Tuco-(while reading paper message) "It's for you, iidd, idii, ii--" Blondie- (reaching for paper) "idiot !" Tuco- (Glancing up) "Huh?" Blondie-(handing him the paper) "It's for you !". Priceless !

Having read various comments, I think that it's pretty obvious that TMWSLV is viewed by some users as a cheaply made, poorly cast, made-in-black-and-white (in a Technicolor era) film, with bad scripting and worse sets --OR--- TMWSLV is seen and accepted as one of the greatest westerns ever made.

I would have to come down on the side of the latter, in that, as time goes by, this film WILL by lauded and accepted as a classic in all senses of the word.

However, I also take a slightly sideways view of the film. While TMWSLV is a Goody versus Baddy western, with all the usual suspects thrown in for good measure, the rancher, the sheriff, the doc, the newspaper man,

the girl, etc, I consider TMWSLV to be a comedy western. Perhaps not a comedy in the same category as Blazing Saddles, or Support Your Local Sheriff, but a comedy none the less.

Next time you watch the film, remark how many comical situations there are and how many more comical remarks there are.

I consider it a comedy, in, for instances, look at some of the comical situations, which, in a "serious" western, like High Noon, simply would not or could not exist.

Halle kicking John Wayne's hat, as he is about to reach for it. The whole eating episode with Andy Devine (Link Appleyard)

and his sudden loss of appetite with the arrival of Lee Marvin.

Duttin Peabody (What a name!)(Edmond O'Brien) is over the top in his hamming of the newspaper editor.

John Wayne knocking hell out of Duttin Peabody's hat on the table at the election.

At the dropped steak scene, when Strother Martin (As Floyd) declares that he will pick it up, John Wayne doesn't even look round, doesn't take his eyes of Liberty Valance and doesn't take his hands out of his pocket's, but manages to kick Strother Martin the nicest kick on the jaw ever seen and then says to Liberty Valance, "You pick it up"

At the convention, the way-over-the-top speech by John Carradine and his casting aside of his 'speech', (which never existed on the paper)

As regards funny remarks, who could forget Kaintuck with his s-ss-sss stutter and "d-d-dee-dee-deep dish app-app-apple pie." Andy Devine (Sheriff Appleyard) almost choking as he ask's in disbelief "arrest Liberty Valance ?"

John Wayne's famous remark that "Liberty Vallance is the toughest man south of the Picketwire", whereupon he pauses and adds, nearly as an afterthought, "next to me" and finally, to me, one of the best one liners ever seen or heard on screen.

Liberty Valance is lying on the street after being shot, a crowd gathers round, his sidekick, Floyd (Strother Martin) calls, "get the doc, get the doc", whereupon Doc Willoughby (Ken Murray) in his top hat and drunk as usual, appears out of nowhere, gazes intently at Liberty Valance, calls out "Whisky, quick" takes hold of a proffered bottle, unscrews it, takes a generous slug, wipes his lips, reaches out with his boot, turns Valance (Lee Marvin )over on his back, glances a little to the crowd, nods his head and states "Dead!"

Yes, a comedy western indeed, but with the added ingredients of the greatness of John Ford to produce a film which can be viewed as a comedy, but also as a love story and a good versus evil film all wrapped up in his favourite set, the Western set.