Once Upon a Time in the West

C'era una volta il West (1968)

Timing: 2:46 (166 min)

8.276/10
4850

7.981/10
31496

8.5/10
382000

All about film

Video 9

Photo 139

Actors and characters

Release date

1968-12-21

Country

Italy, United States

Production

Paramount, Rafran Cinematografica, San Marco

Genre

Drama, Western

Budget

$5 000 000

Revenue

$5 380 118

Website

Director

Sergio Leone

Actors

Claudia Cardinale, Henry Fonda, Jason Robards, Charles Bronson, Gabriele Ferzetti, Paolo Stoppa, Woody Strode, Jack Elam, Keenan Wynn, Frank Wolff
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Producer

Fulvio Morsella, Bino Cicogna

Operator

Tonino Delli Colli

Composer

Ennio Morricone

Artist

Audition

Editing

Nino Baragli, Ugo Tucci
All team (46)

• Henry Fonda specifically ordered a pair of brown contact lenses for the role. Leone made him take them off – he needed the piercing gaze of Fonda’s blue eyes.
• After the 'dollar' trilogy, Leone no longer wanted to make Westerns. As early as the 60s, he was considering the project 'Once Upon a Time in America.' However, American producers refused to finance the project until he made another Western for them.
• Bernardo Bertolucci, co-author of the screenplay, claimed that the idea of introducing a woman into the story was his. Leone initially hesitated, but then, when he agreed, he had the idea to show Jill McBain from an angle that would immediately reveal she wasn't wearing underwear. He later abandoned this idea, and Claudia Cardinale said that if she had known about Leone’s whim at the time, she wouldn't have agreed to star in the film.
• Leone intended for Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, and Eli Wallach (stars of 'The Good, the Bad and the Ugly' (1966)) to play the three bandits waiting for Harmonica at the station at the beginning of the film. But when it became clear that Eastwood wouldn't be available, the idea had to be abandoned.
• The characters of Claudia Cardinale and Paolo Stoppa made the longest stagecoach journey in the history of cinema. It began in Spain and continued through Monument Valley in the USA.
• The Native American woman who fled the station at the beginning of the film was played by Hawaiian princess Luana Kalaeloa. She was the wife of actor Woody Strode.
• Jill McBain's house served as a location for Orson Welles' film "The Chimes" (1965) somewhat earlier.
• Claudio Mancini, the film's production manager, plays the unlucky brother Harmonica.
• John Landis, a future famous director, was one of the stuntmen on the film.
• This is the last film by Sergio Leone to feature opening credits lasting more than ten minutes.
• Jason Robards (Cheyenne) got drunk on the very first day of filming. Leone threatened to fire him, and Robards did not repeat this behavior. However, when Robert F. Kennedy was killed in June 1968, Robards got drunk again. Leone understood the situation and even halted filming for a day.
• Actor Al Mullock, who played in the opening shootout scene, jumped out of his hotel window the same day, still wearing the same costume. He died on the way to the hospital.
• Henry Fonda initially refused to star in the film. Sergio Leone personally went to America to persuade him. Fonda asked, "Why do you want to film me?" Leone replied, "Imagine: the camera slowly pans up the figure of a bandit, from the bottom up, to his gun, which he draws and shoots at a running child. Then the camera rises to the bandit's face… and it’s Henry Fonda."
• After the "dollar" trilogy, Leone no longer wanted to make Westerns. He had been considering the project "Once Upon a Time in America" as early as the 1960s. However, American producers refused to finance the project until he made another Western for them.
• The idea was for Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, and Eli Wallach (stars of "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" (1966)) to play the three bandits waiting for Harmonica at the station at the beginning of the film. However, when it became clear that Eastwood would not be filming, the idea had to be abandoned.
• Jill McBain's house served as a set for Orson Welles’ film "The Chimes" (1965) shortly before this.
• Henry Fonda initially refused to star in the film. Sergio Leone personally went to America to persuade him. Fonda asked: “Why do you want to film me?” Leone replied: “Imagine: the camera slowly pans up the figure of a bandit, from the bottom up, to his gun, which he draws and shoots at a running child. Then the camera rises to the bandit’s face… and it’s Henry Fonda.”