The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: A Creation of the Myth of Clint Eastwood

In the movie The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, Clint Eastwood's creates the  character of the silent and ruthless action hero, which in turn became the symbol of masculinity. This character was/is a character in which Eastwood is known for playing throughout most of the movies he has done since. Eastwood's combination of slow and deliberate movements, glaring stare, and usage of an even speaking tone of voice all laced with a combination of arrogance and nonchalance are the components of Eastwood's signature in most of his movies.

In the first scene when we first meet Eastwood's character "the Man With No Name" (also referred to as "Blondie" by the character Tuco), Blondie confronts three men who are trying to capture Tuco for the $2000 reward. As he confronts the men, his movements are slow and deliberate, yet also carry an arrogance which is announced when he informs them men that they will not be collecting the bounty for Tuco. Even as he tells one of the men to step back and challenges the three men to a shootout (which he does silently, his challenge is simply inferred by his telling the man to step back), he does not change the pace of his movements, neither does he change the volume of his tone of speech or use inflections in his tone. He seems calm and collected.

Another example is when Tuco captures Blondie after Blondie double crosses him. As Blondie is taking aim to rescue another bandit by the name of Shorty (Blondie was running a scam with a Tuco but double crossed him and left in the desert and his new scam partner was Shorty), Tuco arrives and points a gun at Blondie's head. In this moment, Blondie does not flinch, but simply asks can he save Shorty. When Tuco says no, there is no protest by Blondie, just the acquiescence of his fate for the moment. Even when Tuco has Blondie walking through the desert with a gun aimed at his back, Blondie's stride suggest arrogance and nonchalance. This in turn makes one think that all will work out, and Blondie will prevail. Eastwood's personification of Blondie, thus, becomes this person in which nothing phases them. Blondie is  always calm and his movements are always deliberate and slow. He always has the upper hand on those whom he faces.

These attributes came to be the landmark of what is Clint Eastwood's myth. In the Gran Torino we see an older version of "Blondie" in the cantankerous character of Walt Kowalski. He is slow and deliberate with  his movements and delivers the same smoldering stare. In the scene in which he first confronts Spider's gang, he goes so far as to threaten then even when he is clearly out numbered and out gunned. This is the seems to be repeat of the introduction scene to Blondie in The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. Kowalski uses the same even tone and again is unphased in the face of his circumstances.

Eastwood took certain characteristics, such as slow and deliberate movements, glaring stare, and usage of an even speaking tone of voice, that he brought to the character of Blondie in The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly and made them his signature. These characteristics of Eastwood's characters also made him the epitome of masculinity and created the myth of Clint Eastwood.