Clint Eastwood not please the critics, one writing that "no other performance of his is quite so 'un-Clintlike'." Two months later Eastwood began work on the third "Dollars" film, "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly", again playing the mysterious Man with No Name. Lee Van Cleef returned as a ruthless fortune seeker, with Eli Wallach portraying the cunning Mexican bandit Tuco Ramirez. The storyline involved the search for a cache of Confederate gold buried in a cemetery. During the filming of a scene in which a bridge was blown up, Eastwood urged Wallach to retreat to a hilltop. "I know about
Clint Eastwood in the 1960s in the United States until 1967. "A Fistful of Dollars" opened in January, "For a Few Dollars More" in May and "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" in December 1967. Some twenty minutes were cut from "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly", particularly many scenes involving Lee Van Cleef, although Eastwood's remained intact. The trilogy was publicised as James Bond-type entertainment. All three films were successful in American cinemas, and turned Eastwood into a major film star in 1967, particularly "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly", which eventually collected $8 million in rental earnings. However, upon release,