R.I.P. Eli Wallach: 1915-2014

Eli Wallach in The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

The world was fraught with news of character actor Eli Wallach's death today. The character actor, who has had over 50 years working with some of the greats, passed away at the age of 98. To many, the news is shocking for many different reasons. For me, I wanted him to be one of the rare celebrities to reach 100. Even then, 98 is no chump change and the legacy that he has left behind is one of phenomenal envy. Few actors could play as diverse of roles as him and with limited exception, is one of the few character actors everyday people know. Even then, Wallach died with one iconic role looming in almost every headline: the spaghetti western epic The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. 

We are first introduced to Wallach as Tuco (a.k.a "The Ugly") as he bursts through a window after stealing merchandise. The Ennio Morricone score plays over a still shot, giving us a small moment to understand this low life character. Everything is mentioned within that one shot and along with iconic performances by Clint Eastwood (a.k.a. Blondie a.k.a. "The Good") and Lee Van Cleef (a.k.a. Angel Eyes a.k.a. "The Bad"). Through the course of the film to follow, the three would intertwine in a pre-Civil War setting that shows bridges blowing up and running around graveyards. The film had a plot, but it was more wrought with tension that elevated near-three hour run time into something more meditative and iconic.

A large part of the film's success came from director Sergio Leone, who many consider to be the master of the spaghetti western. While he did produce the great Dollars Trilogy, it was also in the performances. Eastwood had proven himself in all three and this was Van Cleef's second collaboration. For Wallach to steal the show, he had to do something rather impressive. What followed was something unprecedented. Where his co-stars were silent, brooding types, Wallach played a Mexican character who was in many ways repulsive, complex, and maybe even oafish. He was comedic relief while pulling off a pretty good Mexican portrayal (he was a white Jewish man). It was a time before race-bending was considered taboo and the greats, including Peter Sellers in The Party, played minority performers. The only benefit was that they embodied the roles perfectly.

The ultimate question is if Wallach the actor ever out-shined Tuco the character. Their ethnicity were different, yet everything about Tuco feels authentic. When he is being dragged around, shouting in Spanish, it feels natural. When he talks his way out of trouble, his physicality and nervous twitches feel personal. The physical embodiment down to his accent is phenomenal work that is so great that audiences would likely not be aware of how intricate Wallach worked to bring the character to life. That is to ignore also the energy that he brought to scenes and even riding on a horse with his hands tied behind his back. If anything, Wallach was a brave, unapologetic performer who put his investment into every detail.

Compared to his other iconic western, The Magnificent Seven, Leone's epic was bare bones. Countless shots of desert and long, drawn out scenes playing over Morricone's iconic score. However, it was because of the apocalyptic nature of the western. Society had crumbled and it was every man for himself. As the title suggests, there are many facets to consider in this discussion. What matters most is implicit, only seen through the eyes of the beholder. The looming shots of Angel Eyes, Blondie, and Tuco at the end of the film is tense not because of the heightened music, but because of the greed and desires coming to its bare roots. The film was about tearing away the pretension and getting to the essence. There was no better representation of the superego than Tuco.

Why does the film resonate? In some ways, it does seem baffling considering how much more beloved John Ford's traditionalist approach is. Even Eastwood is better loved for his more mainstream westerns. Yet a film that features countless close-ups of the eyes has remained iconic in the spaghetti western genre. It currently ranks #6 on IMDb's Top 250, higher than any other western. What makes it so special compared to Stagecoach or Rio Bravo? 

I would like to believe that it has a lot to do with the performances. Eastwood has a menacing stare and a drawl that can spook you. The danger lies in the crevices of the disintegrating old west. With the Civil War trying to form unity, Blondie, Angel Eyes, and Tuco could care less about that. In fact, they never really get to that point. Along with exceptional cinematography, the film holds a lot of power with so little. Tuco's charm is not only in the flamboyant comedic nature, but that he is the wild card, never quite making sense and being loyal less so. Even with subplots exploring his religious brother, he is a character that may be broadly offensive to good intentions, but we can sense where he is coming from.

Most of these details come not in dialogue, but through performance. For many, labeling Eli Wallach as The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly actor is an ultimate praise. Yes, he has made great work since, but rarely has an actor perfectly embodied a different race without distracting. Every small detail down to his vulnerable tendencies are aspects that most actors would envy. He was fearless and not afraid to be repulsive. In a sense, it encapsulates what made Wallach so great, even as he grew older and took on roles in films such as The Godfather: Part III and The Holiday. He was a chameleon that didn't tell you what he was doing. He simply showed you. As he passes away at 98, his legacy serves as an example of the power of character actors and why they deserve respect when it comes to their thankless movie work.