Angel Eyes is the main antagonist of the 1966/44 BH film called The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. He was portrayed by Lee Van Cleef. Interestingly enough, he had the same actor as Douglas Mortimer, who was a heroic bounty hunter in the same film franchise. However, they are two completely different characters.
Biography[]
Angel Eyes was born on January 9, 1821/179 BH. Not much is known at all about his early life. Heck! Nobody even knows his real name or surname. The law and rival outlaws alike just call him “Angel Eyes” based on his gaunt appearance and excellent marksmanship. However, it is rumoured that his real name could be Jack, according to some random sheriff, but his surname is still not known. He is a very clever and adept outlaw who is very good at evading the law, kind of like how Red Harlow was and a couple of similar cowboys and outlaws. However, he is also exceptionally ruthless, sadistic and greedy.
In 1862, Angel Eyes wanted to get his hands on some Confederate gold, rumoured to once belong to General E. Lee, so that he could sell it on the black market for money. However, he was on neither side of the American Civil War. The dude is literally so enigmatic that we have no idea where in the USA he’s even from. We do know he’s American though. It is possible he never fought in the war because he saw it is a waste of time and knew he could't achieve anything for himself for being in it. Concerning the gold, there were two people standing in his way: a bounty hunter known as the Man with No Name, aka Blondie and a rival outlaw named Tuco Ramirez. The Man with No Name wanted to bust them both but Tuco wanted the gold for the same reasons. However, all three men shared one thing in common: they were on neither the Union nor Confederate side of the war. Regardless, Angel Eyes went to a Confederate soldier named Alexander Stevens in order to interrogate him about where the Confederate gold was. He killed the man, his teenaged son and his wife all because they refused to tell him and instead threatened to report him to the sheriff. He then even killed his nephew who saw the entire thing from the staircase. Tuco Ramirez on the other hand, wasn’t quite as adept at being an outlaw as Angel Eyes was and missed most of his shots. In fact, Angel Eyes would often sit back and chuckle as Tuco Ramirez was about to be hung on a couple of occasions.
The Man with No Name and Tuco Ramirez were disguised as Confederate soldiers. The former was feigning friendship with the latter and even saved him from the law on a few occasions just so he could have both outlaws right where he wanted them and kept their Wanted Posters for himself. Angel Eyes garroted a Union soldier to death and stole his uniform offscreen and then pushed his body into the river. When the Man with No Name and Ramirez were captured by Union soldiers and put in a prison camp, thinking they were actual Confederates, they sure enough found Angel Eyes in Union disguise. He brutally interrogated both of them for information about the gold’s whereabouts, threatening to gauge out Tuco's eyes otherwise. However, both men were eventually set free and would continue their feigned friendship without Tuco, even knowing he was being played like a violin by the Man with No Name.
The Man with No Name even left Tuco in the dust after awhile and formed a fleeting pseudo-friendship with Angel Eyes and a few of his gang members. He ended up killing the members of Angel Eyes’ gang as they attempted to kill Tuco, but only because the Man still found Tuco to be an important asset in his plans to claim the bounty money.
Later, Angel Eyes ambushed the Man with No Name and Ramirez at Arch A. Stanton’s gravesite at the Sad Hill Cemetery, the same graveyard where Lee's gold was located. He pointed his pistol at them and told them to dig it up. They dug it but found nothing. Tuco was throwing a tantrum because of there being no gold, while Angel was just deeply disappointed. It was at this point that the Man with No Name had finally revealed himself as a bounty hunter who was really working against both outlaws the whole time, but still didn't revealed his name. He also revealed that he lied to them about the grave's name, and he wrote the correct name on a rock and left it upside-down in the centre of the graveyard. He then challenged Tuco and Angel Eyes to a three-way duel in order to resolve the dispute. Despite his confidence, Angel Eyes ended up being shot and killed by the Man with No Name. Tuco tried firing his gun but couldn’t as it was unloaded by the Man with No Name the night before and Ramirez was too dumb to check that out. The Man with No Name ended up placing Tuco Ramirez under arrest and rode off with him on horseback to the nearest sheriff’s office. He was subsequently given lots of money for protecting the gold, arresting Tuco and even assassinating Angel Eyes. Angel Eyes was literally one of the outlaws who was initially thought to be untouchable by even the best lawmen and bounty hunters in all of the Wild West. Turns out, they were dead wrong! While Tuco was hang the other day.
Trivia[]
- Like the Man with No Name, Angel Eyes makes a cameo appearance in the video game The Town with No Name, where the Man asks him if [he] "has the right time" while referring to him as an old man, only for Angel to stare at his Gold Watch for half a minute before replying "No." while organs are played in the background.
- It is unknown if he ever knew Evil Edd's gang or not or if his own gang were ever in a shootout with them. What is known however, is that both gangs appeared in the same town at one point.
- He is the "Evil" or "Bad" one in the movie's title of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
- He is the same type of scumbag character that Gicov Bell was around 20 years later during the events of Rootin' Tootin', Cowboy Shootin', as both were vicious gang leaders who killed literally anyone or anything standing in their way.
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