AIMS AND SCOPE
Sergio Leone's
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
- A tribute to the experts behind the scenes
Sergio Leone’s monumental film The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
will be forty in 2006. 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, detailed analysis of the historical background (including numerous
historical comparison photos, sketches etc), documentation of the film
locations, lobby cards, posters and more.
INTERVIEWS
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 . . .
BEHIND THE SCENES STILLS
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.
GPS: N 37° 00.775, W002° 24.517,
1686 ft
GPS: N 41° 59.428, W003° 24.512,
3760 ft
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 Pennsylvannia, 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.