Which 1966 Western features the 'Ecstasy of Gold' by Ennio Morricone?

The 1966 Western featuring Ennio Morricone’s “The Ecstasy of Gold” is The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Directed by Sergio Leone, it stars Clint Eastwood as Blondie, Lee Van Cleef as Angel Eyes, and Eli Wallach as Tuco.

“The Ecstasy of Gold” appears during Tuco’s frantic search through Sad Hill Cemetery for a grave containing $200,000 in Confederate gold. Morricone’s soaring arrangement turns the search into an operatic spectacle, using vocals by Edda Dell’Orso and a steadily intensifying orchestral texture.

The film was the third and final entry in Leone’s Dollars Trilogy, following A Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More. The three films share style and themes rather than a continuous storyline. This movie places its shifting alliances against the American Civil War.

The piece is often confused with the film’s famous main theme or “The Trio,” which accompanies the climactic three-way standoff. They are separate compositions in Morricone’s score. “The Ecstasy of Gold” later became especially recognizable through Metallica, which has used it as concert-intro music since the 1980s.