STACK #203 Sep 2021

FEATURE EXTRAS

Claudia Cardinale was cast as Jill McBain, the female protagonist protecting her land, and Jason Robards as Cheyenne – a gunman falsely accused of murdering Jill‘s family. The now iconic opening 12 minutes of the movie are played out mesmerisingly slow, without music or dialogue. All we hear is the squeak of a rusty

ONCEUPON ATIME IN THEWEST (1968) Directed by Sergio Leone

TRIVIA: Two of the gunmen waiting at the railroad station were played by John Ford regulars Woody Strode and Jack Elam. The third character was played by Canadian actor Al Mulock, who had previously appeared in Leone‘s The Good, the Bad and the Ugly . After filming the opening scene, Mulock committed suicide by throwing himself out of the window of his hotel bedroom, still wearing his western costume.

windmill, the buzzing of a tenacious fly, and drops from a water tank falling on the hat brim of one of three gunmen waiting at a desolate railroad station. The three men and the image of train tracks stretching to the horizon clearly refers to Fred Zinneman‘s classic western, High Noon . When the train finally arrives, it would

O nce Upon a Time in the West is today still described by many film historians/critics as a “spaghetti western“ but in fact, it had a more international mix than Sergio Leone‘s previous “Dollars“ trilogy. It was financed by US Paramount Pictures,

would also carry the name of the instrument he plays – Harmonica. By the mid-1960s Charles Bronson had been a tough guy character actor for well over a decade, but apart from a few poverty row productions, had never had a starring role. However, his charismatic presence and minimalist acting style were extremely popular with European audiences. Subsequently, when Leone offered him one of the leading roles, as the avenging gunman

filmed in Arizona, Utah, Mexico and Italy with a cast containing a number of popular US actors, and by his own admission was Leone‘s homage to Hollywood‘s western genre. The original story was written by Leone and two young men soon to be major film directors in their own right – Bernado Bertolucci and Dario Argento. They began by watching literally dozens of American westerns and meticulously studied all the stereotypical characters of the genre. Subsequently, the lone avenging gunfighter, the romantic bandit, the crooked railroad baron, the innocent homesteader, the black-clad hired killer and the harlot with a heart of gold all found their way into their storyline. However, Bertolucci initially had a hard time

seem that the person they are expecting has not alighted. As the trio turn to walk to their horses, a harmonica is heard playing a mournful tune. Harmonica has disembarked from the other side of the train and has patiently waited for it to pull out, allowing him to get the drop on his would- be assailants, whom he swiftly dispatches. Once Upon a Time in the West certainly revamps well-worn western conventions, including the impressive vistas of Monument Valley, which can be recognised by any Western aficionado as a reference to John Ford‘s classical landscape where he filmed many of his westerns. There are also countless references to scenes, dialogue, even characters' Henry Fonda, Claudia Cardinale, Sergio Leone, Charles Bronson and Jason Robards on location

Harmonica, Bronson grabbed it. Leone also got his long-standing wish to cast Henry Fonda, but inverted the revered actor‘s normal heroic role to make him a particularly sadistic villain. He plays the character Frank, the leader of a gang hired by the railroad boss to violently clear the land of settlers. Frank is a cold-blooded killer who, in the film‘s most heinous scene, guns down a small child. The shock audiences experienced watching a close- up of Fonda‘s innocent baby-blue eyes whilst shooting the young boy was palpable.

convincing Leone to award a principal role to a woman. He finally achieved it by forcing Leone to watch Nicholas Ray‘s J ohnny Guitar . This 1954 baroque western had starred Joan Crawford as a strong- willed woman trying to keep hold of her real estate that will become valuable when the railroad finally arrives. She is aided by a man with a past, identified by his eponymous musical instrument.

names from other westerns, and yet Leone still managed to make his operatic tale of greed and revenge quite unique – as

well as delivering a masterful piece of moviemaking.

The iconic opening scene

Leone was so impressed with Ray‘s film that his new production would now feature a prominent woman (the first in any Leone movie) protecting her land, aided by a character who

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