Quentin Tarantino wishes he could make a movie with this Western actor

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As part of Quentin Tarantino’s love of B-grade entertainment (and spent his career making imitations of it), he would often recruit actors who had worked in low-brow films or TV shows that he liked. “Pulp Fiction,” “Jackie Brown,” and “Kill Bill” were all made to varying degrees as CPR careers for John Travolta, Pam Grier, and David Carradine, respectively. Tarantino was too Franco Nero, the original Django, appears in the movie “Django Unchained.” There is one mid-20th century Western star who regrets not working with him.

In 2014, Tarantino appeared in the film “The Director’s Chair.” A talk show hosted by his friend and sometimes collaborator Robert Rodriguez. During their conversation, Rodriguez asked Tarantino: “Who do you think is the ultimate evil actor of all time?”

“There’s a lot of guys you could say,” Tarantino replied, but the one he chose was Lee Van Cleef (apparently he was “playing a real Lee Van Cleef kick” at the time). Van Cleef is best known for his appearances in westerns Like the “black hats” or the bad guys. Sadly, he died in 1989, a few years before Tarantino began directing the 1992 Reservoir Dogs films.

“I really wish I could have worked with Lee Van Cleef in that time period from ’69 to ’70,” Tarantino continued. During the 1950s and 1960s, Van Cleef had small roles in black-and-white Hollywood westerns. His first film appearance as a gang member was in the 1952 Gary Cooper Western in “High Noon.” In 1962, he appeared as another black hat in John Ford’s The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.

However, it is the films for which Lee Van Cleef is most remembered It is a spaghetti western directed by Sergio Leone. He appeared in two Leone films alongside Clint Eastwood: “For a few dollars more.” And then “The good, the bad, and the ugly.”

Contrary to his usual reputation, Van Cleef played the hero in “For A Few Dollars More.” His character is bounty hunter Douglas Mortimer, who is pursuing a gang of bandits to avenge his sister’s murder. He then balanced it out with Angel Eyes from “The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly” (it’s “The Bad”). There is an archetype of the gun-toting Western villain in popular cultural memory – a greedy, unscrupulous gunslinger in dark clothing, every bit as cool as a cowboy hero but without any heart of gold within him. For most people, the name of this model is Angel Eyes.