Welcome to theBad.net Lee Van Cleef Blog! Here you will find information, photos, videos, and some of my opinions of the badman himself.

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Saturday, March 16, 2013

How Bad was "The Bad"?


After recently rewatching The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, it occured to me that the Lee Van Cleef character of Angel Eyes didn't actually have that many kills in the movie.  Infact all of his kills were in the first reel of the movie before you ever even see Clint Eastwood!



How bad was he compared to Tuco and Blondie?  How does he stack up against other Leone villians?  Let's take a look...

Angel Eyes only kill 3 people in the entire film.

"When I'm paid, I always follow my job through"

First of all, Angel Eyes kills Stevens and Baker, because he was paid to (see quote above!).  So really he was just doing his job, right?  His third kill, the teenager with a rifle?  Self defense!

Now what of the so called "Good" and "Ugly"...

Blondie
Kills 10.



Tuco
Kills 6.




Now let's take a look at the other Leone villians


Ramon Rojo
Kills 29.  TWENTY NINE!
Most of these were the Rio Bravo massacure or the murder of the Baxters.  This guy was seriously bad!



Indio
Kills 6.
This seems like a suprisingly low number, but one should also consider all the deaths he was responsible for in which he did not pull the trigger (Mortimer's sister's suicide, the farmer's wife and infant son).


Frank
Kills 5.
Henry Fonda shoots a little boy after murdering his entire family.  Let's also not forget his sadistic way of killing Harmonica's brother!




Am I defending Angel Eyes?  Well not really... just offering some "Bad" perspective!

Oh and one last Leone kill statistic...

Mortimer kills 6, double that of Angel Eyes!

7 comments:

  1. Interesting Aaron. I never really thought about it before but you're right. I guess Angel Eyes just had an evil heart compared to Blondie and Tuco. The commentary channel on the "restored" English version DVD says Angel Eyes is one of the most implacable & evil characters in screen history. He shows NO remorse & is only concerned with greed & getting the job done. But one could say the same for Blondie and Tuco? Probably but those characters show a lighter, more humane side in the film.

    I like what Frank (Henry Fonda), which is a very similar character (even has the same kind of hat) in Once Upon A Time in the West when he is scolded for killing those he was sent to scare. "People scare more when they are dying".

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  2. Good thoughts on Angel Eyes, he just did what he did because he was paid, no concern for others, there are people like that and he carried that character out very well.
    Still love that movie *sigh!

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  3. Lee Van Cleef's performance, personality and reptilian manner--along with Leone's direction--are what make Angel Eyes so chilling and so much worse. Don't forget the Torture Tuco scene! "Like a little music with your meal, Tuco?" He insinuates his evil so nicely.

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  4. Excellent observation! Maybe it worked out that way because origninally the Bad and the Ugly were reversed - the title was The Good, The Ugly and the Bad but somehow it got switched - but if it had remained true, Sentenza (VanCleef) just ugly! HAH!

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  5. Would have liked to see LVC in Fonda's part. Lee had a fabulous face that he used to portray any emotion needed. His beautiful face when he looks down at the returned watch is classic. No one wore black better!

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    1. I can't stand henry fonda, and found his portrayal of Frank completely one note. I kept thinking how much better LVC would have been in the part and I would have been interested to see how he would have played Frank in a way that would have differentiated him from Angel Eyes.

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