Kitten in "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly"
 

Those of you who've seen The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly probably know what I'm referring to; that scene maybe 100 minutes in in which Blondie, having been captured by Angel Eyes and his men, is sitting in a decrepit building and, inexplicably, is holding a kitten in his hat. He pets it a bit, and puts it down, and that's the last we see of it.

Now, I recently purchased the DVD with the additional 18 minutes of footage, and I haven't watched it straight through yet, so it's possible the answer is in there, but either way: what on earth is up with that kitten? Is it just some quirky little moment of contrast?

I've heard a few people simply attribute it to an attempt to establish the character's "softer" side (which we see more instances of later), but I thought I'd ask, anyway.

Re: Kitten in "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly"
 

It was Angel Eyes that was petting the kitten wasn't it? Or was it Blondie? Now I gotta go watch this again.

Re: Kitten in "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly"
 

It was Blondie. Angel Eyes was there, too, though, along with his men. They were waiting for Tuco.

Re: Kitten in "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly"
 

That's right, now I think I remember Angel Eyes I believe was kicking back and smoking a pipe. I already got the theme song running through my head I may have to throw this on pretty soon.

Re: Kitten in "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly"
 

Could it be that Eastwood was simply trying to manufacture a movie career for his pet cat as he later attempted to do for girlfriend Sondra Locke?:)

Re: Kitten in "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly"
 

Probably just a funny juxtaposition. Cold hard killer, cute soft kitten. Funny.

Re: Kitten in "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly"
 

I wonder how the movie goes,looks to be very interesting...:eek:

Re: Kitten in "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly"
 

Can't remember offhand but when I get a moment I'll stick the disc in and see what Richard Schickel in the commentary has to say about it. Presuming he's removed himself from Clint's rectum long enough to chat about it, that is...

Re: Kitten in "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly"
 

Maybe it's supposed to be about a small and defenseless creature that gets lost without a trace in war, kind of like that dog in Apocalypse Now, but it's more likely that it's just to make Blondie feel more human. At the beginning of the movie, characters are presented to us as black-and-white - as if they can be only on one side of the spectrum, but, as we soon see, everyone is bad, and some are just a little less bad than the others. I think that, after all the events that occur in the movie, Blondie "forgets" he was supposed to be the good guy like all those other good guys in westerns, so Leone "reminds" him of it with the caption "good". So, no one is all that good or bad, which we can see from Tuco's conversation with his brother, Blondie's petting of the kitten, and Angel Eyes'... okay, he's a total bad guy.

Re: Kitten in "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly"
 

The cat actually tells Blondie where Tuco is - covering that plot hole up.

Re: Kitten in "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly"
 

Actually, starting with the openning titles there are at least three "colors" in the spectrum. :cool:

Re: Kitten in "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly"
 

"there is no kitten"

Re: Kitten in "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly"
 

Jeez, can't a tough as nails gunfighter just pet the kitty once in a while without it being over-analyzed as some crazy social commentary?

Re: Kitten in "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly"
 

Meester Schickel he say naatheeng...

I would imagine that it's Leone's way of harking back to, an homage if you will, the days when Westerns had a certain innocence. A picaresque little moment which encapsulates the innate humanity behind Eastwood's carefully cultivated masque... :p

Or else the prop girl's cat had just had kittens and one escaped on to the set. Clint, great guy that he is, decided not to eat it. :D

Re: Kitten in "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly"
 

I don't even remember the cat. Guess it's time to watch this flick again...

Re: Kitten in "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly"
 

That's nothing, wait till you see my in-depth analysis of anti-establishment undertones in man-and-the-fly scene in Once Upon A Time In The West.