Although the duo don’t appear onscreen together in the movie, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly star Clint Eastwood brought back one of that classic Western’s biggest stars for a later hit. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly might be one of star Clint Eastwood’s best Western movies, but the classic wouldn’t work if it weren’t for all three title characters. As The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly’s ending proves, Tuco, Angel Eyes, and Blondie all play pivotal roles in the labyrinthine plot’s tangled web of double-crosses and betrayals. Notably, Eli Wallach’s Tuco provides consistent comedic relief.
Tuco is the luckless, gutless sidekick to Eastwood’s Blondie. However, the pair betray each other so often that it might be more accurate to say that they are simply slightly better acquainted with each other than they are with Lee Van Cleef’s monstrous Angel Eyes. Although Tuco doesn’t appear in The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly’s precursors, he and Eastwood share a hilarious chemistry that makes the duo feel like believably resentful old collaborators. Wallach leans into the ugliness of Tuco’s character but also renders him surprisingly sympathetic, shining in a scene where he’s reunited with his pious brother.
Eli Wallach Had A Supporting Role In Clint Eastwood’s Mystic River
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Star Played Mr Looney In Mystic River
It is no surprise, given W allach’s ease in moving between comedy and drama, that Eastwood cast him in his 2003 critical hit, Mystic River. Adapted from Dennis Lehane’s dark crime novel of the same name, Mystic River is a harrowing drama about the fallout from a child’s abduction. Set years after the event occurred, Mystic River sees the now-adult victim struggle with his trauma while his distant friends investigate a tragic murder. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly’s Tuco actor plays the local liquor store owner, Mr. Looney, who gives a pair of police a hard time when questioned.
Like many of Mystic River’s characters, Looney wears his hard-won cynicism as a badge of honor.
Looney lights up when given the opportunity to discuss a robbery that he foiled years earlier, but grows cagey when the police keep probing. In only two minutes of screen time, Wallach paints a portrait of a troubled, bitter old man who doesn’t trust the detectives any more than his customers. Looney vacillates between humor, warmth, coolness, and sarcasm, eventually asking Kevin Bacon’s cop “Do I look senile to you?” with a deadpan sneer. Like many of Mystic River’s characters, Looney wears his hard-won cynicism as a badge of honor but doesn’t recognize it could cost him his humanity.
Why Clint Eastwood Cast Eli Wallach In Mystic River
Wallach Brings His Usual Mix Of Grit and Charisma To The Role
It makes perfect sense for Eastwood to cast an uncredited Wallach as Mr. Looney since the role brings back Tuco’s blend of grit, meanness, and well-obscured humanity. While Mystic River is a great movie that isn’t mentioned nearly enough despite its critical success, Wallach’s brief role still manages to leave an impression over two decades later. Much like he made the antihero of Sergio Leone’s Western appealing despite his obvious flaws, Wallach finds the substance in Looney in only two minutes. This proves Clint Eastwood was right to cast The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly star in this role.