Conflicting things about Sergio

[Poggle]

There's three things about Sergio that bug the hell out of me:

Smoking - They say he never smoked, but in pictures(Like the one on the top of the page) he has a huge cigar in his mouth. When did he take up smoking?

Speaking English - I've heard English-speaking people mock his Italian accent and I think the original director-to-be of DYS was talking about about how wanted a close up on the "Beeeg green eyes!" or something. Did he decide to learn English later in his life?

Being a jerk - In stories I hear he's either a very great guy to work with or he's a very terrible person. Guys like Steiger and De Niro loved him yet guys like Clint and Mickie Knox hated him. Do you think there's some sucking up by guys like Steiger and De Niro? What do you think?

Sergio sounds like he had split personalities from all the people that knew him Just like his movies, very mysterious... Almost like the garbage truck thing at the end of OUATIA, or the "Sean or John?" issue.

[cigar joe]

Don't know about the smoking but remember interviews with Clint where he'd say Sergio knew all the english curse words, Sona ma beech, etc., etc. lol.

As far as working relationships the reports run the from good to bad.

[grandpa_chum]

as far as most great artists go... it's a love-hate sort of thing, people either love them for the work they do, I've heard sergio was great to work with... or they hate him for his personality, I've also heard he was jerk... my guess would be he was a jerk who was great to make films with.

[titoli]

guys like Clint and Mickie Knox hated him

You could also add Vincenzoni or Donati to the list. But maybe hate is not the right word. I think that if Eastwood  really hated him, then he's an imbecile. He doesn't strike me like being that. And I don't have read that he "hated" him. I think they were two strong personalities, who may have had different opinions on how to do things. But I ask you: if you were Leone, would you be taking advices from the actor you made  a star out of the blue  on how a film should be made?
With Mickey Knox, well I wouldn't know. But if somebody cares to know who Knox is and goes to interview him it is all because of Leone. He tells stories about his being thrifty: granted, but it is the proof that the artist is often superior to the meanness of the man.
It is more interesting the case of the 2 Leone screenplayers. But as was said in another topic, probably one of the reasons for their strives was the fact that Leone was Roman and they were not. Carlo Verdone, who is a cultured person and whose first movies were produced by Leone, interviewed for a Leone documentary tells how, in his first meeting with the producer  to whom he had sent his screenplay, he was flabbergasted as he told him to sit down and, when asked what he thought of the screenplay, he just took it and threw it in the wastebasket. But then he also tells as the night before starting shooting Leone came and took him for a ride through the city to make him relaxed. He also speaks of Leone as of a cultured person (and nobody can deny that Verdone is a cultured person). So I think that, maybe, some of the strives he had with those two precious collaborators were because of their not being roman as him. Sure, I have the impression that some of his roman collaborators like Mancini, Morricone (of course) and Verdone speak of him always on the verge of tears. He may have had his lows, like all the rest of us, but if that was the price to pay to make the movies he made, who cares?

[Groggy]

It's very simple: the actors (or most of them) loved to work with Sergio, but his writers/crew thought he was an asshole.  Did you read Nighteagle's interview of Stefanelli?

[grandpa_chum]

It's very simple: the actors (or most of them) loved to work with Sergio, but his writers/crew thought he was an *******.  Did you read Nighteagle's interview of Stefanelli?

thats how it always works with great take charge directors

[Poggle]

I've been wanting to read the Stefanelli interview. Where could I read it?

[Groggy]

I've been wanting to read the Stefanelli interview. Where could I read it?

If nighteagle's still around (and I haven't seen him for quite some time) either PM him or e-mail him.  I don't think he has it online anywhere.  It's free though, don't worry about it.

[KC]

You could also add Vincenzoni or Donati to the list. But maybe hate is not the right word. I think that if Eastwood  really hated him, then he's an imbecile. He doesn't strike me like being that. And I don't have read that he "hated" him.

If Eastwood had "hated" Leone, he wouldn't have dedicated his masterpiece "To Sergio and Don" ... would he?

[Poggle]

Well I doubt he would hold a grudge against the guy, but it doesn't exactly mean they couldn't have had a lot of bad blood between them.

[Concorde]

My impression is that Eastwood was long accustomed the brisk, non-nonsense, keep-it-on-schedule pace of shooting a new RAWHIDE episode each week, and he quickly got VERY tired of Leone's agonizingly detailed perfectionism and the crawling pace (and behind-the-scenes chaos) of the big international co-productions which Leone helmed.

No doubt this all came to a head during the shooting of THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE UGLY, in which Eastwood had to hang around waiting for his few small on-screen bits while Leone and Wallach had all the "fun" and while various organizational disasters (such as the accidental detonation of the bridge before the cameras rolled) shook his confidence to the core.

Look at how Eastwood himself directs movies -- he's the anti-Leone when it comes to directing! His productions are always well-organized and proceed at a comfortable pace. He runs a relaxed, cheerful set. He doesn't boss or bully, and we never hear any stories of big delays or sequences that went wrong, forced re-shoots, etc. It's almost as if his entire directorial career is an attempt to thumb his nose at the folks behind those chaotic Italian-Spanish-German co-productions, and to say, "Look, there IS better way!"

That said, over time Eastwood has obviously come to appreciate what the DOLLARS trilogy did for his career, how iconic that Joe/Manco/Blondy character has become, and how unforgettable those movies are in the mind of the public. He must have slowly realized Leone's genius, the method behind all that Roman "madness"....

This is why he never worked with Sergio after GBU, and also why he "loved" Sergio enough to dedicate UNFORGIVEN to him.

[titoli]

What you say is very well thought and there is probably more than a grain of truth in what you wrote.  Actually you may very well have explained one of the reasons why I don't like so much Eastwood's movies: they run too close to plan.
 I also think he should have come to appreciate what Leone did for him well before, as without the trilogy and expecially GBU (of which he was given a percentage) there wouldn't have been no "Clint Eastwood", no Malpaso and the rest of the story. That's why I also think that his putting Leone on a par with Don Siegel is unfair.And this even not taking into account the fact that FFDM and GBU are still the best movies he was in and the closest he ever got to Art.

[spag fan]

What you say is very well thought and there is probably more than a grain of truth in what you wrote.  Actually you may very well have explained one of the reasons why I don't like so much Eastwood's movies: they run too close to plan.
 I also think he should have come to appreciate what Leone did for him well before, as without the trilogy and expecially GBU (of which he was given a percentage) there wouldn't have been no "Clint Eastwood", no Malpaso and the rest of the story. That's why I also think that his putting Leone on a par with Don Siegel is unfair.And this even not taking into account the fact that FFDM and GBU are still the best movies he was in and the closest he ever got to Art.

You seem to be forgetting that cinematic gem - Pink Cadillac!

[titoli]

Must admit I missed that. But I saw Honkytonk Man: did you?

[Beebs]

Speaking English - I've heard English-speaking people mock his Italian accent and I think the original director-to-be of DYS was talking about about how wanted a close up on the "Beeeg green eyes!" or something. Did he decide to learn English later in his life?

Being a jerk - In stories I hear he's either a very great guy to work with or he's a very terrible person. Guys like Steiger and De Niro loved him yet guys like Clint and Mickie Knox hated him. Do you think there's some sucking up by guys like Steiger and De Niro? What do you think?

After reading Eli Wallach's book heres what I've learned. Leone spoke English and has said " I learn a little each day" Wallach says, though, that he only used as he got further into knowing Eli.

He and Wallach played sort of tricks on eachother, this may make it look like he was a "jerk" but I don't think he was.

I posted a thread, The Good the Bad and Me. it explains in more detail. About the hanging scene, Eli was scared about the dynamite and the horse being spooked and running away with him on it. When he asked if it could be safer with cotton in the horses ears, Leone glared and said "It's not dangerous" in Italian  Eli said in his book "His use of Italian at this point meant that he didn't give a damn whether it was dangerous or not.