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Once Upon a Time in the West (originally released in Italy under the title C'era una volta il West) is a 1968 epic spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Leone. Its critical acclaim has led some to declare it "the greatest Western ever made". The epic film stars Henry Fonda unusually cast as the villain Frank, Charles Bronson as his "Harmonica", Jason Robards, as the generally benign bandit Cheyenne and Claudia Cardinale, as a newly-widowed homesteader with a past, Jill. Leone said that his last three films, Once Upon a Time in the West, A Fistful of Dynamite and Once Upon A Time In America, were a trilogy based on "the three periods that touched America". The films are sometimes referred to as the "Revolution" trilogy. Tagline:
Plot Brett McBain and his family are preparing to welcome Brett's new wife Jill to town when all of a sudden they are murdered. A mysterious lone stranger nicknamed Harmonica arrives on the same train and is ironically looking for Frank, the man who killed Jill's family. Frank is a merciless gunfighter / assassin who works for railroad tycoon Morton and his railroad company. A bandit, Cheyenne, joins forces with Harmonica against Frank and at the same time they aid Jill. It is now to see why Harmonica is after Frank. Cast Origin of the film After making The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, Leone had intended to retire from making Westerns. He had come across the novel The Hoods by "Harry Grey" (a pseudonym), an autobiographical book based on the author's own experiences as a Jewish hood during Prohibition, and planned to adapt it into a film (this would eventually, seventeen years later, become his final film, Once Upon A Time In America). However, Leone was offered only Westerns by the studios. United Artists (who had produced the Dollars Trilogy) offered him the opportunity to make a film starring Charlton Heston, Kirk Douglas and Gregory Peck, but Leone refused. However, when Paramount offered Leone a generous budget along with access to Henry Fonda, his favorite actor whom he had wanted to work with for virtually all of his career, Leone accepted this offer. Leone commissioned then-film critics (and future directors) Bernardo Bertolucci and Dario Argento to help him develop the film in late 1966. The men spent much of the following year watching and discussing numerous classic Westerns at Leone's house, and constructed a story made up almost entirely of "quotations" from American Westerns (see below). (see Frayling) Leone later commissioned Sergio Donati, who had worked on several of Leone's other films, to help him refine the screenplay, largely to curb the length of the film towards the end of production. Many of the film's most memorable lines of dialogue came from Donati, or from the film's English dialogue director, expatriate American actor Mickey Knox. Style Once Upon a Time in the West features Leone's distinctive style, which is very different from, but very much influenced by, earlier American Westerns. Themes and motifs A major motif of the film is the railroad; its advent heralds the arrival of civilization and culture, marking the death of the mythic Old West. The climax involves a gun duel between Harmonica (Bronson) and Frank (Fonda), iconic figures of the "ancient race" about to disappear forever from the Western landscape. Pacing The film features long scenes in which there is very little dialogue and not much happens, broken by brief and sudden violence. Leone was more interested in the rituals preceding violence than with the violence itself. The dry, unsentimental tone of the film is consistent with the arid semi-desert in which the story unfolds, and imbues it with a feeling of realism which contrasts with the elaborately choreographed gunplay. Music The music was written by Leone's regular collaborator Ennio Morricone, who wrote the score under Leone's direction before filming began. As in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, the stirring music contributes to the film's mythic or operatic grandeur. The film features leitmotifs which relate to each of the main characters (each with their own unique theme music), as well as to the spirit of the American West. It was Leone's desire to have the music available and played during filming. DVD release After years of public requests, Paramount released a 2-DVD "Special Collector's Edition" of Once Upon a Time in the West on November 18, 2003. With a running time of 165-minutes, this edition is the color 2.35:1 aspect ratio version in anamorphic wide-screen, closed captioned and Dolby. The commentary, by film experts and historians such as John Carpenter, John Milius, Alex Cox, film historian and Leone biographer Sir Chirstopher Frayling, Dr. Sheldon Hall, as well as Claudia Cardinale and director Bernardo Bertolucci, a co-writer of the film, highlights many facts most commentaries do not. The second disc has special features, including three recent documentaries on several aspects of the film: An Opera Of Violence The Wages Of Sin Something To Do With Death There is a Railroads: Revoultionizing the West featurette, location and production galleries, cast profiles, as well as the original trailer. Acclaim Though not as popular as the "Dollars trilogy" which preceded it, Once Upon A Time in the West is considered to be Leone's most acclaimed film followed by The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, his second most acclaimed film. West has also gained an ardent cult following around the world, particularly among cineastes and film makers. Film directors have cited this film to be one of their personal favorites, and many of them have referenced it in their own movies . Christopher Frayling's books, Spaghetti Westerns (1984) lists box-office grosses, and Sergio Leone: Something To Do With Death (2000) has an evaluation of the film's critical / popular reception and legacy.) The American release The film was a huge hit in Europe and quickly developed a cult following. In the US, however, it had a rather poor opening reception, gaining largely negative or indifferent reviews in its complete form (165 minutes). Paramount edited the film to about 145 minutes for the wide release, but the film tanked at the box office. The following scenes were cut for the American release: 1984 re-release The English language version was restored to approximately 165 minutes for a re-release in 1984, and for its video release the following year. This version has gained a large cult following in America. Extended versions A slightly longer, 168 minute version exists in Italy which features several scenes augmented with additional material, though no complete scenes are present that are missing. The longest known cut to exist is 171 minutes long. Deleted scenes Several scenes, only some of which were filmed, appear in the original screenplay; had they been included, they would have made the movie around three and a half hours long. They include: Trivia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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