Once Upon a Time in the West
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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 Western film directed by Sergio Leone, considered by many to be his "greatest film". Its critical acclaim has led some to declare it the greatest "Western ever made".[link], [link] 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.
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".
Style
Once Upon a Time in the West features Leone's distinctive style, which is very different from earlier Westerns.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.
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.
Acclaim
Though not as popular as the "Dollars trilogy" which preceded it, "Once Upon A Time in the West" is considered to be his most acclaimed film. West has also gained an ardent cult following around the world, particularly among cineastes and film makers. John Milius, John Carpenter, Stanley Kubrick, George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, Alex Cox, and many other film directors have cited this film to be one of their personal favorites, and many of them have referenced it in their own movies #redirect . Martin Scorsese owns a prized, near-mint condition 70mm print of the film's 165 minute version which he gained some time in the mid-'70s (when the "official version" was the famous 145 minute cut); he showed it to actor/collaborator Robert De Niro to help convince that actor to appear in Once Upon A Time In America[[Citing sources citation needed]]. Talk show host David Letterman has also referred to it as one of his favorite films. (See Christopher Frayling's books, Spaghetti Westerns (1984) for box-office grosses, and (2000) for an evaluation of the film's critical/popular reception and legacy.)
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. MGM/UA (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. [link]
Movie references
Leone's intent was to take the stock conventions of the American Westerns of John Ford, Howard Hawks and others, and rework them in an ironic fashion, essentially reversing their intended meaning in their original sources to create a darker connotation 'An Opera of Violence', documentary on the DVD Once Upon a Time in the West: Special Collector's Edition. The most obvious example of this is the casting of veteran movie good guy Henry Fonda as the villainous Frank, but there are also many other, more subtle reversals throughout the film. According to film critic and historian Christopher Frayling, the film quotes from as many as 30 classic American Westerns. (See [this] discussion, which lists many references confirmed by Frayling, Leone, and others, as well as speculative ones.)
Some of the major films used as references for the movie include:
- High Noon. The opening sequence is similar to the opening High Noon, in which three bad guys (Lee Van Cleef, Sheb Wooley, and Robert J. Willkie) wait at a station for the arrival of their gang leader (also named Frank, played by Ian MacDonald) on the noon train. In the opening of Once Upon a Time in the West, three bad guys (Jack Elam, who appeared in a small part in High Noon, Woody Strode, and Al Muloch) wait at a station. However, the period of waiting is depicted in a lengthy eight-minute sequence, the train arrives several hours after noon, and its passenger is the film's hero (Charles Bronson) rather than its villain. The scene is famous for its use of natural sounds: a squeaky windmill, knuckles cracking, and Jack Elam's character trying to shoo off a fly. According to rumor, Leone offered the parts of the three bad guys to The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly stars Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, and Eli Wallach but Van Cleef turned him down and Eastwood had another commmitment. [link]
- . This cult Western by Delmer Daves may have had considerable influence on the film. The most obvious reference is a brief exchange between Keenan Wynn's Sheriff and Cheyenne, in which they discuss sending the latter to Yuma prison. In addition, as in West the main villain is played by an actor (Glenn Ford) who normally played good guys. The film also features diegetic music (Ford at one point whistles the film's theme song just as Harmonica provides music in West). And the scene in which Van Heflin's character escorts Ford to the railroad station while avoiding an ambush by his gang may have inspired the ambush of Frank by his own men in Leone's film.
- Johnny Guitar. The character of Jill McBain is supposedly based on Joan Crawford's character Vienna, and Harmonica may be influenced by Sterling Hayden's title character. Some of the basic plot (settlers vs. the railroad) may be recycled from this film. (Frayling)
- The Iron Horse. West may contain several subtle references to this film, including a low angle shot of a shrieking train rushing towards the screen in the opening scene, and the shot of the train pulling into the Sweetwater station at the end of the film. (Frayling)
- Shane. The massacre scene in West features young Timmy McBain hunting with his father, just as Joey hunts with his father in Shane. The funeral of the McBains is borrowed almost shot-for-shot from Shane. (Frayling)
- The Searchers. Leone admitted that during the massacre of the McBain family, the rustling bushes, the stopping of the cicada chirps, and the fluttering pheasants to suggest a menace approaching the farmhouse, were all taken from The Searchers. (Frayling)
- Warlock. At the end of this film, Henry Fonda's character wears clothing very similar to his costume throughout West. In addition, Warlock features a discussion about mothers between Fonda and Dorothy Malone that is similar to those between Cheyenne and Jill in West. Finally, Warlock contains a sequence in which Fonda's character kicks a crippled man off his crutches, as he does to Mr. Morton in West.
- The Magnificent Seven. In this film, Charles Bronson's character whittles a piece of wood. In West, he does the same, although in a different context.
- Winchester '73. It has been claimed that the scenes in West at the trading post are based on those in Winchester '73, but the resemblance is slight. (Frayling)
- The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. The dusters (long coats) worn by Frank and his men in the opening massacre resemble those worn by Liberty Valance (Lee Marvin) and his henchmen when they are introduced in this film. In addition, the auction scene in West was intended to recall the election scene in Liberty Valance (Frayling).
- The Last Sunset. The final duel between Frank and Harmonica is shot almost identically to the duel between Kirk Douglas and Gregory Peck in this film. (Frayling)
- Duel In The Sun. The character of Morton, the crippled railroad baron in West, was based on the character played by Lionel Barrymore in this film. (Frayling)
- Sergeant Rutledge. In this John Ford Western, there is a scene in which Constance Towers's character falls asleep in a chair with a rifle in her lap, looking out for hostile Apache, just as Jill McBain does in Leone's film.
- My Darling Clementine. A deleted scene in West featured Frank getting a shave with perfume in a barber's shop, much like Fonda's Wyatt Earp in this film.
Contrary to popular belief, the name of the town "Sweetwater" was not taken from The Wind, Victor Sjöström's silent epic. Bernardo Bertolucci has stated that he looked at a map of the southwestern United States, found the name of the town in Arizona, and decided to incorporate it into the film. However, a "Sweetwater" - along with a character named McBain - also appeared in a John Wayne Western, The Comancheros, which Leone admired. (Frayling)
Deleted scenes and alternate versions
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:
- The entire scene at Lionel Stander's trading post. Cheyenne (Robards) was not introduced in the American release until his arrival at the McBain ranch later in the film. (Interestingly, Stander remained in the credits, even though he did not appear in this version at all.)
- The scene in which Morton and Frank discuss what to do with Jill at the Navajo Cliffs. This scene was important because it established the growing rift between Morton and Frank - a key reason why Morton decides later on in the film to have Frank killed.
- Morton's death scene was edited considerably.
- Cheyenne's death scene was completely excised.
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:
- A scene after the opening shootout, in which Harmonica is recovering from his wounds in a hotel in Flagstone, and is beaten by three Sheriff's deputies. It is established during this scene that the Sheriff of Flagstone (Keenan Wynn) is apparently being paid off by Frank or Morton - a point that does not appear in the final version. (Harmonica carries several scars on his face from this scene throughout the rest of the film.)
- A scene in which Jill first meets Sam the coach driver (Paolo Stoppa) was cut, and a lot of the dialogue was reworked into the scenes in which Sam drives Jill first to the bar, and then to the McBain ranch.
- Jill goes into town to see a Mr. O'Leary about the deed to the Sweetwater ranch. Dialogue from this scene was later reworked into the scene where Harmonica and Cheyenne begin constructing the railroad station.
- Just before the first meeting of Harmonica and Frank on Morton's train, Harmonica tracks Wobbles (Marco Zuanelli), one of Frank's henchmen, through a crowded passenger train, before reaching Morton's train.
- A brief scene after Frank and his gang depart from Morton's train, leaving Harmonica tied up with Morton and several of his henchmen. In this scene, Harmonica challenges Morton's assertion that he really is Frank's boss - which precipitates the beginning rift between Frank and his boss.
- A scene where Frank goes into Flagstone just before the auction to get a shave. During this scene, the barber says of Harmonica "He's whittling on a piece of wood, and I have a feeling that when he gets through whittling, something's going to happen" is spoken by the barber; in the final cut, this line is given to Cheyenne just before the final duel.
- A short sequence in which Harmonica pulls a gun on Cheyenne before turning him into the Sheriff at the auction was cut. This scene was replaced by Harmonica and Cheyenne exchanging glances on the hotel stairwell.
Trivia
- Actor Al Mulock (featured in the opening train sequence as well as Leone's The Good, The Bad & The Ugly) committed suicide on set in full costume.
- Leone originally detested having a female lead character. He stated that the only way he would do it would be to have her establishing shot reveal that she is not wearing any underwear as she exits the train. This was changed before Claudia Cardinale took the role.
- Brett's daughter sings a couple of lines of Danny Boy while waiting for Jill McBain to arrive. The lyrics for this song were not written until 1910.[link]
Quotes
- Harmonica: " You don't 'sell' the dream of a lifetime."
- Frank: "How can you trust a man who wears both a belt and suspenders? The man can't even trust his own pants."
Notes
External links
- [Review by Jonathan Dunder]
- [List of bloopers and continuity errors in the film]
- [Review of DVD of film]
- [Rotten Tomatoes site listing of film reviews]
- [Stills of monument valley]
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