Tuco was the best character in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

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In Los Angeles, Leone met Wallach, who was skeptical about playing this type of character again, but after Leone screened the opening credit sequence from For a Few Dollars More, Wallach said: "When do you want me?"[16] The two men got along famously, sharing the same bizarre sense of humor. Leone allowed Wallach to make changes to his character in terms of his outfit and recurring gestures. Both Eastwood and Van Cleef realized that the character of Tuco was close to Leone's heart, and the director and Wallach became good friends. They communicated in French, which Wallach spoke badly and Leone spoke well. Van Cleef observed, "Tuco is the only one of the trio the audience gets to know all about. We meet his brother and find out where he came from and why he became a bandit. But Clint and Lee's characters remain mysteries."

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The film catapulted Eastwood to stardom, but Eli Wallach was every bit as good, if not better, in this classic movie.

I gave it another watch last night, and was very impressed with Wallach’s acting.

When he crawls out of the desert and ambles in to the gunsmith, picks apart his inventory, and creates his own pistol, that’s good stuff right there. Then the scenes by himself talking to the chicken are funny, knowing damn well he is setting up his gang members to be slain by Blondie.

All in all, there’s a reason this movie is what it is… great acting.

Note: Clint got $250,000 and 10% of North American profits for his role…. Oh and another Ferrari…

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Eastwood was not initially pleased with the script and was concerned he might be upstaged by Wallach. "In the first film, I was alone," he told Leone. "In the second, we were two. Here we are three. If it goes on this way, in the next one I will be starring with the American cavalry."[37]

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