The movie in the thread title shall henceforth be referred to as GBU.
So, Angel Eyes knows he’s following Bill Carson to find the $200K in gold. In one of the restored scenes, we find that Angel Eyes finds out that IF Bill Carson is still alive, he would most likely be a POW in Bannerville, a Yankee POW Camp.
So far, so good. Even if it is a bit implausible that Angel Eyes gets this great lead, We find that after Tuco and Blondie get sent to the POW camp, and Tuco has taken the name of Bill Carson, who is the Sgt. Of the POW camp? None other than Angel Eyes himself!
Now just how did he pull this off?
Even in the Civil War, soldiers had to have credentials, so Angel Eyes inserting himself in a POW camp as a SGT was no small feat.
However, is it believable? Because I love GBU so much, I ignore obvious plot holes, but the more I watch the movie, the more this one is hard to let slide.
Any thoughts? Remember, even after establishing himself in the camp, he had a band of henchmen that came in and took the stolen loot from the prisoners, and they called him Angel Eyes. And the band of Henchmen… Where did they pop up from? He had Six of them!
I assume he bought his way in with the money he got from the two guys who paid him to kill one another at the start of the film. I don’t remember if Angel Eyes had a gang before the POW camp. Maybe he just recruited then from among the guards.
I assumed that he was just well connected, and was able to get himself appointed to the post by calling in a few favors. He wasn’t called “The Bad” for nothing!
I know this, and I also realize that many things in movies happen for convenience. However, GBU overall, is much tighter than most movies in this regard. The Civil War backstory, for example, is accurate, even though most viewers don’t realize this.
This plot-line just doesn’t fit, from his appearance in the camp, to his leaving just as easily, with no problems whatsoever. I know it is a convenient way to explain how Angel Eyes ends up at Sand Hill Cemetery at the end of the movie… But it is a huge flaw in an otherwise perfect movie.
Based on no evidence at all, Angel Eyes would have set up his gang at the POW camp way earlier. Its a good spot to hang out - away from the front line, lots of potential for corruption, getting intelligence to sell on and so on. They are the real force in the camp so Lee Van Cleef could have come and gone as he pleased.
Agree with you that its a perfect movie, but this is only a small flaw.
The thing about Angel Eyes “gang” is that they weren’t in the POW camp. If you recall, the guy that is taking all of the stolen items from Angel Eyes and Wallace (the big corporal who beats the snot out of Tuco), leaves the camp office through the window, and he leaves the camp completely. He also tells the other guys Angel Eyes instructions to “lay low” outside the camp walls. So those guys weren’t fake soldiers, and weren’t fake prisoners. They were your basic outlaws. Somehow, Angel Eyes was able to etablished a small band of henchmen to work with him on the outside of a POW camp while he works the inside.
Angel Eyes also seems to have a good relationship with Wallace, but that could be explained by the ranks of the two men. Wallace could just be following orders from his Sgt. However, Wallace DOES know about the thievery gang, so he’s in on at least some part of Angel Eyes’ scam. To me, Wallace is in the camp with Angel Eyes, as his parter. He knows about Tuco and Blondie’s scam of shooting the rope around Tuco’s neck and splitting the reward money. (Wallace says to Tuco at the train station that he will be hung, but this time he won’t have his partner to shoot the rope and save him.
Also, two other pieces of dialogue indicate that Wallace and Angel Eyes have been in the POW camp for a significant period of time. The first is from the old rebel pow, who tells Blondie he’s luckier than his friend. “Wallace will beat your friend for as long as the music goes, so many of us have had a session in there.” The other is the head of the POW camp, who accuses Angel Eyes of abusing and stealing from prisoners. That is something that was developed over time, not over a weekend.
Maybe the movie wasn’t meant to be dissected this much!
I apologize in advance for this random tangential comment, but the version of the movie’s theme song done by the Ukelele Orchestra of Great Britain is awesome.
