C'era una volta il West (1968)

Director:

Sergio Leone

Writers:

Dario Argento (story) &
Bernardo Bertolucci (story) ...

Release Date:

21 December 1968 (Italy)

Genre:

Western

Tagline:

There were three men in her life. One to take her... one to love her... and one to kill her.

Plot:

Epic story of a mysterious stranger with a harmonica who joins forces with a notorious desperado to protect a beautiful widow from a ruthless assassin working for the railroad.

Plot Keywords:

Harmonica | Assassin | Epic | Widow | Man With No Name

Awards:

4 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Henry Fonda	...	Frank
Claudia Cardinale	...	Jill McBain
Jason Robards	...	Cheyenne
Charles Bronson	...	Harmonica
Gabriele Ferzetti	...	Morton (railroad baron)
Paolo Stoppa	...	Sam
Woody Strode	...	Stony - Member of Frank's Gang
Jack Elam	...	Snaky - Member of Frank's Gang
Keenan Wynn	...	Sheriff (auctioneer)
Frank Wolff	...	Brett McBain
Lionel Stander	...	Barman

Also Known As:

Once Upon a Time in the West (International: English title) (UK) (USA)
Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West (Australia)
There Was Once the West (USA) (literal English title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for western violence and brief sensuality. (re-rated; rated M/PG in 1969)

Runtime:

Italy:175 min | 165 min (international version) | Finland:137 min (1970)

Country:

Italy | USA

Language:

Italian

Colour:

Colour (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Canada:13+ (Quebec) (original rating) | Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | Canada:G (Quebec) (re-rating) (2004) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Iceland:16 | South Korea:15 | Finland:K-16 (cut) (1970) | Finland:K-16 (cut) (re-rating) (1977) | Brazil:14 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Netherlands:12 | Norway:16 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 (re-rating) (2000) | UK:15 (video rating) (1989) | UK:AA (original rating) | USA:M (original rating) | USA:PG-13 (re-rating) (2003) | USA:PG (re-rating) (1969) | West Germany:16 (w)

Filming Locations:

Arizona, USA

Company:

Finanzia San Marco

Trivia:

Jason Robards showed up at the set completely drunk on the first day of filming, and Leone threatened to fire him if he ever did that again. Robards was generally well-behaved thereafter, though in June 1968, after receiving word of the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, Robards broke down and refused to perform until the day was over, and Leone decided to stop filming for the day.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Spanish railways have a broader gauge (1,674 mm) than the American railways, which are mostly built in standard gauge (1,435 mm). In some scenes of the film it can be clearly seen, that the "Morton Railroad" has been erected in the broad Spanish gauge. Also, European locomotives are outside-frame designs, while US locomotives are generally inside-frame.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Station agent: Hey - hey hey hey hey, if you want any tickets, you'll have to go around to, eh, to, eh, the front of the, eh... oooh, well, I s'pose it'll be all right.

Movie Connections:

References Warlock (1959)

Sergio Leone:I salute you

I have recently commented on Leone's GBU and was intending on reviewing AFOD and FAFDM as well as this one - OUATITW, but after reading a number of the comments about these from all the avid fans on this great site, I will simply give you a short account of how these films have affected my life. I am 55years young and saw all these films on their first release in Sydney.(late '60's) They were cut, but it didn't stop me seeing the brilliance in them. I would imagine that a lot of the members of this site are much younger than myself and have only watched these films on DVD or TV quite recently. (Stood the test of time, eh!!) (WideScreen is a must for these.) Leone's films exhibit an idealism in art that surpassed his Hollywood models (eg: Ford). Although, at the time of creation, I doubt he would have thought he was. He simply had a vision.

From film to film he improved on this. Like most artists, I don't think he was too concerned with the financial gains that might or might not be realized.(This was probably his downfall). That these little films can impress all you younger fans so much says a lot about good taste and the sad lack of it in American films of recent times.

Great directors, like Leone, don't come along every day and it saddens me greatly to know he died before he was recognised for the genius he surely was. Morricone must be 75 now, soon we will loose him too. I am a successful composer in Australia and can tell you, without bias, that Morricone is in the top five best ever film composers just from these four films alone, if not one of the best composers in general (yes, this includes Stravinsky, Bartok, Debussy and Schoenberg.) of the 20th century. Eastwood is also reaching the end of his life and although I'm not a huge fan of his recent work, he is one of the last living greats. Without the inspirations put forth by these men, I might not still be writing and recording my music these days. Plenty of times I could have stopped when things got tough but all I had to do was revisit these gems of modern art to realise that greatness does still exhist , all you have to have is the love and desire and guts to make your visions a reality. Leone, Morricone and Eastwood: I salute you.