Tuco Ramirez
Encyclopedia
Tuco Ramírez is one of the three eponymous characters from Sergio Leone
's spaghetti western
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
. In the film, Tuco is identified as the ugly (incorrectly as the bad in the film's trailers) through in-film texts. He is of Mexican origin and also the only character of whom the audience learns any history (in comparison to his companion Blondie
or enemy Angel Eyes). In the movie he is played by Eli Wallach
, whose performance was based on a similar character he played in How the West Was Won
.
, bigamy
, abandoning his wife and children, receiving and selling stolen goods, etc. He has committed enough crimes to earn himself a $3,000 bounty. It is dubious, however that he has actually committed all the crimes listed in the film: Blondie and Tuco's arrangement at the beginning entails building up Tuco's reputation as a bandit in order to receive a higher ransom. Tuco's greed is also shown when he encounters the ambulance-cart full of dead confederate soldiers in the desert as he heartlessly digs through the pockets of the clothes on corpses.
Tuco is also shown as extremely vengeful. When Blondie leaves Tuco in the desert at the beginning of the movie, Tuco becomes obsessed with exacting revenge by leading Blondie on a forced march in harsh desert conditions until Blondie expires.
Despite Tuco's greedy nature, he regards his own family highly. He is devastated after his brother Pablo Ramírez informs him that their father has been dead for a long time. His brother, who is a father at a mission
turned field hospital, helps Tuco to rehabilitate Blondie. Pablo also tells Tuco that their mother had also died recently, which is why Pablo was not at the monastery to meet Tuco and Blondie when they first arrived. Tuco remains convinced that his way of living is better than his brother's, thinking his brother became a priest because it was easier. Even though they end trading blows, Tuco still speaks highly of his brother to Blondie when the two leave for Sad Hill cemetery (not knowing Blondie has witnessed their exchange).
Tuco also has a faux-religious side to him. Sometimes when encountering corpses or killing someone, he performs a hasty sign of the cross.
He also appears extremely durable physically as he is able to find a town after Blondie leaves him in the desert with no horse, water or shade with a noose around his neck and his hands tied. Later on he torments Blondie in a similar fashion who finally faints from exhaustion. When he's being interrogated violently by Wallace and Angel Eyes he fights back briefly but eventually succumbs when Wallace begins to press his thumbs into his eyes. However Tuco remains defiant and is able to kill Wallace by throwing him off the train when he (manacled to Wallace) gets up to urinate.
Tuco also seems extremely proficient in the assembling of guns. After surviving his ordeal in the desert he enters a gun-shop and assembles a new gun for himself, combining a revolver frame, breech cylinder and barrel from three different guns.
He also manages to surprise Blondie twice in the film. Enlisting the help from his former gang who are all killed by Blondie when they enter his room through the front door, Tuco instead comes through the window and tries to force Blondie to hang himself. Blondie is saved by sheer luck as a Union cannon shoots the hotel and causes the floor to collapse. Later Tuco is able to track him down by finding campfires and cigars that Blondie has left behind.
Sergio Leone
Sergio Leone was an Italian film director, producer and screenwriter most associated with the "Spaghetti Western" genre.Leone's film-making style includes juxtaposing extreme close-up shots with lengthy long shots...
's spaghetti western
Spaghetti Western
Spaghetti Western, also known as Italo-Western, is a nickname for a broad sub-genre of Western films that emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's unique and much copied film-making style and international box-office success, so named by American critics because most were produced and...
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is a 1966 Italian epic spaghetti western film directed by Sergio Leone, starring Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, and Eli Wallach in the title roles. The screenplay was written by Age & Scarpelli, Luciano Vincenzoni and Leone, based on a story by Vincenzoni and Leone...
. In the film, Tuco is identified as the ugly (incorrectly as the bad in the film's trailers) through in-film texts. He is of Mexican origin and also the only character of whom the audience learns any history (in comparison to his companion Blondie
Man with No Name
The man with no name is a stock character in Western films, but the term usually applies specifically to the character played by Clint Eastwood in Sergio Leone's "Dollars Trilogy."...
or enemy Angel Eyes). In the movie he is played by Eli Wallach
Eli Wallach
Eli Herschel Wallach is an American film, television and stage actor, who gained fame in the late 1950s. For his performance in Baby Doll he won a BAFTA Award for Best Newcomer and a Golden Globe nomination. One of his most famous roles is that of Tuco in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly...
, whose performance was based on a similar character he played in How the West Was Won
How the West Was Won (film)
How the West Was Won is a 1962 American epic Western film. The picture was one of the last "old-fashioned" epic films made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to enjoy great success. It follows four generations of a family as they move ever westward, from western New York state to the Pacific Ocean...
.
Character
Tuco is a greedy, self-serving bandit wanted for a string of crimes involving, but not limited to, armed robbery, rapeRape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
, bigamy
Bigamy
In cultures that practice marital monogamy, bigamy is the act of entering into a marriage with one person while still legally married to another. Bigamy is a crime in most western countries, and when it occurs in this context often neither the first nor second spouse is aware of the other...
, abandoning his wife and children, receiving and selling stolen goods, etc. He has committed enough crimes to earn himself a $3,000 bounty. It is dubious, however that he has actually committed all the crimes listed in the film: Blondie and Tuco's arrangement at the beginning entails building up Tuco's reputation as a bandit in order to receive a higher ransom. Tuco's greed is also shown when he encounters the ambulance-cart full of dead confederate soldiers in the desert as he heartlessly digs through the pockets of the clothes on corpses.
Tuco is also shown as extremely vengeful. When Blondie leaves Tuco in the desert at the beginning of the movie, Tuco becomes obsessed with exacting revenge by leading Blondie on a forced march in harsh desert conditions until Blondie expires.
Despite Tuco's greedy nature, he regards his own family highly. He is devastated after his brother Pablo Ramírez informs him that their father has been dead for a long time. His brother, who is a father at a mission
Mission (station)
A religious mission or mission station is a location for missionary work.While primarily a Christian term, the concept of the religious "mission" is also used prominently by the Church of Scientology and their Scientology Missions International....
turned field hospital, helps Tuco to rehabilitate Blondie. Pablo also tells Tuco that their mother had also died recently, which is why Pablo was not at the monastery to meet Tuco and Blondie when they first arrived. Tuco remains convinced that his way of living is better than his brother's, thinking his brother became a priest because it was easier. Even though they end trading blows, Tuco still speaks highly of his brother to Blondie when the two leave for Sad Hill cemetery (not knowing Blondie has witnessed their exchange).
Tuco also has a faux-religious side to him. Sometimes when encountering corpses or killing someone, he performs a hasty sign of the cross.
Skills
Despite his greed and occasional simplicity (Blondie calls him an idiot indirectly twice in the film) Tuco is shown as being a very capable outlaw. Though not as quick on the draw as Blondie, he's still extremely accurate with a gun as displayed when he tries out his new gun behind the gun-shop and when he and Blondie take out Angel Eyes's assistants. He also bathes with his gun as seen when one of the three bounty hunters who tried to kill him at the beginning of the movie tries to get him by surprise at the abandoned hotel.He also appears extremely durable physically as he is able to find a town after Blondie leaves him in the desert with no horse, water or shade with a noose around his neck and his hands tied. Later on he torments Blondie in a similar fashion who finally faints from exhaustion. When he's being interrogated violently by Wallace and Angel Eyes he fights back briefly but eventually succumbs when Wallace begins to press his thumbs into his eyes. However Tuco remains defiant and is able to kill Wallace by throwing him off the train when he (manacled to Wallace) gets up to urinate.
Tuco also seems extremely proficient in the assembling of guns. After surviving his ordeal in the desert he enters a gun-shop and assembles a new gun for himself, combining a revolver frame, breech cylinder and barrel from three different guns.
He also manages to surprise Blondie twice in the film. Enlisting the help from his former gang who are all killed by Blondie when they enter his room through the front door, Tuco instead comes through the window and tries to force Blondie to hang himself. Blondie is saved by sheer luck as a Union cannon shoots the hotel and causes the floor to collapse. Later Tuco is able to track him down by finding campfires and cigars that Blondie has left behind.