Once Upon a Time in The West: The Ultimate Spaghetti Western?
By the early 1960s, the traditional American Western movie was a fading genre in the film industry. The classic western probably peaked somewhere between High Noon and The Searchers, though John Wayne nostalgia carried the old-fashioned romantic shoot-em-ups for some time. Westerns had shifted from films to television through the 50s and into the 60s series like Have Gun, Will Travel, Gunsmoke, The Rifleman, Bonanza, Wyatt Earp and Maverick were TV mainstays when I was growing up. But the box-office draw of the Western movie waned slowly, until what came to be known as spaghetti westerns galloped across the big screen. These predominately European-made films were mainly produced in Italy or Spain, with mostactors, cinematographers and technical staff from those countries (lower production costs, a ready supply of relatively unknown character actors, and locations that at least generally resembled American western landscapes had a lot to do with the rapid development of Euro-westerns).
Between 1960 and 1968, about 600 foreign-made cowboy movies were made in Europe, nearly all originally in Italian language, with American dialogue dubbed in for release (of the most successful) in US theatres. The best-known of the spaghetti westerns are now cult classics, the work of one manSergio Leone. The son of a noted Italian director, Leone cut his teeth on sword and sandal flicks including Quo Vadis and Ben Hur. When historical fiction films declined in popularity in the early 60s, Leone turned his attention to a genre he had long admired: the Western. His films were to make him internationally famous, and to influence films and film-makers for the next generation.
In 1964, American audiences were captivated by A Fistful of Dollars, a different kind of Western starring a young American television actor named Clint Eastwood. Eastwoods man with no name was a Western anti-hero, a hired-gun character primarily motivated by money, with an underlying streak of morality concealed beneath a veneer of laconic cynicism. Leones film departed from the stereotypic westerns, with protagonists who were both visually and morally less readily-identifiable heroic charactersno white hats are evident in Leones vision of the American west. While Eastwoods terse dialogue is reminiscent of Gary Cooper in High Noon, his portrayal of the cunning and deceitful serape-wearing gunslinger shares little else with the stalwart Marshal Kane of Hadleyville. American audiences went gaga over the nameless gunslinger, launching Leone and Eastwood into collaborations that would make them both famous.
Following on the heels of Fistful, Leone brought Eastwood back in 1965 with For a Few Dollars More, another box-office success for the mysterious stranger whose name is never spoken. Leones signature cinematographic style of John Ford vistas intercut with intense facial close-ups became more pronounced in the second of what would be known as the Dollars trilogy. The directors increasing reputation and box-office clout enabled him to recruit Lee Van Cleef as Eastwoods anti-hero and ambiguous partner (you might recall Van Cleef as one of the supporting villains in High Noon). The runaway success of Fistful of Dollars and A Few Dollars More culminated in perhaps the best-known Leone film, The Good, The Bad & The Ugly, released in 1968. Eastwoods character finally acquires a name in this film, or at least a nickname: Blondie; he is Good mainly by comparison to Eli Wallachs amoral Ugly Tuco and the near-psychotic villainy of Lee Van Cleef as the Bad Angel Eyes. Leone intended the completion of the Dollars trilogy to be the end of his endeavors in Western movies, but fate (and Paramount Pictures bankroll) led to one more spaghetti western project, perhaps his most ambitious, and some say his masterpiece---
Leones fame and his box-office appeal led to a big-budget offer from Paramount, one with a hook he couldnt refuse: Henry Fondaan actor Leone greatly admired and had wanted to work with throughout his directorial career. With major money and solid directors credits, Leone was able to tap nearly any actor he wanted. After casting Fonda as the villainous Frank (Fondas only bad-guy role as far a I know), he went after some of the biggest stars of the day. Clint Eastwood declined a reprise as the Man With No Name, and the role went to Charles Bronson as Harmonica (ironically, Bronson had originally been offered the role of the man with no name in Fistful, and declined.) The stellar cast was rounded out with Claudia Cardinale and Jason Robards, as well as veteran character actors Jack Elam (also a player in High Noon), Woody Strode and Keenan Wynn. (Interesting side-note: the town where Jill McBain arrives [and which only appears in the film for a half-minute or so in the famous 'crane-shot'] cost about a quarter-million to build in Spain-- equal to the entire budget for The Good The Bad & The Ugly.) Leone's alternation of wide vista shots with dramatic close-ups is quite marked in this movie-- the faces of the characters become a landscape equal to their surroundings. If you freeze-frame on a close-up, you can literally count the pores on Bronson's cheeks or Jack Elam's whiskers in the 'fly sequence'.
The entire film is rife with allusions or direct references to famous American Westerns, including High Noon, The Searchers, Shane, Johnny Dollar, The Comancheros, and several others. The funeral sequence in Once Upon a Time is almost shot-for-shot of the sequence in Shane. Similarly, the final showdown between Harmonica and Frank is nearly identical to the duel between Rock Hudson and Kirk Douglas in The Last Sunset. Even names of characters and places are subtle nods toward other films: McBain and the farm Sweetwater are lifted from The Comancheros. When Leone was doing location scouting in Monument Valley for sequences there, he made constant references to locations and camera angles from several John Ford films made in Monument Valley. Once Upon a Time is Leones homage to classic Westerns he had loved, as well as an oblique commentary on the death of the wild west culture under the onslaught of technology & civilization.
While Once Upon A Time In The West is anchored to a plotline centered on retribution and revenge, it is also reminiscent of the main theme of Sam Peckinpaughs The Wild Bunch--- a cultural change that leaves no place for the loner and the renegade. The coming of the railroad presages the demise of a way of life where individual strong men (whether of good will or bad) could stand on their own. The crippled railroad baron whose ruthless ambition underlies the entire film is the wave of the futureeven Fondas character Frank acknowledges that in the final analysis, the dollar is more powerful than the gun. In the New West, there is no place for romantic outlaws like Cheyenne, or asocial loners like Harmonica. When the railroad finally arrives in Sweetwater, it marks the passing of an age--- every spike in the rails was literally driven into the heart of an era that America would never see again
Perhaps the ultime irony is that Paramount Pictures made drastic cuts to the movie for release in America, screwing up the continuity, and the movie was poorly received and flopped at the box office. (The European release, less viciously hacked, did quite well.) The film has been praised by the likes of John Carpenter, Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino and a raft of critics---it took over 30 years for Paramount to finally release what was basically the European cut, when they belatedly realized the film had become a cult classic. Just one more commentary on 'business interests' running rough-shod over one man's individual vision; if Leone had lived to see it, he'd surely have appreciated the schadenfreude...
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If you've missed this flick, you're in for a treat. If you know it and it's been a long time, give it a re-run. For my money, one of the top 5 westerns ever made...
Wonderful synopsis and analysis!
I loved this movie when it came out, and vividly remember many scenes of it... I now have it on DVD and can watch it any time!
Great movie!
I believe it was the only "bad guy" role ever played by Henry Fonda. I really had to cringe when he shot the kid because one of his sidekicks had mentioned his name "Frank" in front of the kid.
Great article, Swamijim. Although I wish it could have found its home in the Classic Cinema group I have long realized that good articles get such little exposure unless they show up on the front page. IMO that problem is one of the shortcomings of NT.
I know I'm off topic but here is another Italian Sergio of note . And he too has dominated a US gestalt . In this case Chrysler motors . I give you Sergio Marchionne :
Howdy D... tnx for dropping in.
I thought TGTBTU was a great flick when it came out, but Once Upon a Time is just over the top!! I've got the Paramount 2 disc 'we finally caught on' release, and the commentaries are great. Interesting that Leone went in the opposite direction from Peckinpaugh's 'Wild Bunch'... jack up the tension to the max before the violence, which is over in seconds, rather than focus on the violent action & stretch it out with slo-mo shots...
Love that wrap-around reveal on Fonda's face... I understand that Leone said he wanted everyone in the audience to go "Jesus Christ, that's Henry Fonda!" And that's exactly the reaction everybody has... Oddly, increased my appreciation of Fonda as an actor-- you get so used to him being a good guy that it's really striking to see him being a villain. I had the same kind of reaction seeing Jimmy Stewart turn out to be the bad guy in 'After the Thin Man'... so bass-ackwards to the characters he played through most of career.
A tip of my Billy Jack hat on this article Swamijim. One of the best ''Western's'' of all time.
Fonda, as a bad guy was excellent. His portrayal was so out of character for the ultimate good guy. I didn't know that Charles Bronson had been offered the role that Eastwood ended up with in the first movie of the series. Bronson is one of my favorite actors. I loved him in, ''Hard Times''.
Thanks for the article Swamijim.
Talking about Bronson as "Harmonica", do you remember the scene of the villain sitting in the railway station when the fly buzzed around him. Leone thought that scene was so incredible he shot it non-stop much longer than the script called for.
Tnx for checking in, K.
Yeah, Fonda as a villain was somehow just so creepy...played it to the max IMO. I've often thought Bronson felt like kicking himself in the ass for turning down the lead role in Fistful-- and he'd be about the only guy I can think of who might have been as credible as Clint Eastwood in that character. Here's another little tidbit for you-- after Eastwood turned down the role of Harmonica in Once Upon a Time, Leone tried for a sharp casting call for the three 'duster guys' at the train station in the opening scene: Eastwood, Eli Wallach & Lee Van Cleef.
Tnx again for your comment, Kavika
Jack Elam has always been one of my favorite supporting actors, he does those slightly-mental characters so well--- it's that weird lame eye, I think. Yeah, they smeared Elam's face with jam or syrup and had a jar of flies just off camera that they released one at a time while filming... the first few just buzzed right off, and then they got the one that wouldn't go away, so Sergio just kept on filming. what a hoot!
Hello, jenni, tnx for checking in... I'm also a big fan of Eastwood westerns-- I think Unforgiven is probably at the top of my list.
Unforgiven, one of the best. Loved Morgan Freeman in it.
One of my oldie favorites of Eastwood's is, The Outlaw Josey Wales.
Holy six-shooters, Gunny... tnx for the tip. I've gotta go do a Google on that one.
The Paramount Pics 2-disc collectors' edition is pretty much the Euro release, from what I've heard Gunny. Leone's original finished film was 166 minutes, which Paramount slashed down to 145 for US theaters-- 21 minutes chopped is a lot of cuts. There was apparently a whole sequence where the local sheriff beats the piss out of Harmonica, which is why Bronson's face is all battered in some of the early scenes. I think there was probably some transition scene hacked out that causes the weird continuity jump from Fonda w/ Cardinale at sweetwater to the bit with Frank & the rail baron at the pueblo ruins...
One of only 3 westerns to get an Oscar for Best Picture. I think Gene Hackman really stole the film as sheriff 'Little Bill'-- he took an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. Eastwood dedicated the movie to Sergio Leone & Don Siegal, the two people he most credited with helping launch his career.
Jason was fabulous in that movie - Claudia didn't look too shabby either.
I loved it because of the tension-building, too-- and the fact that in unexpected places, there was a lot of humor to it.
It is truly a great movie, and one of my favorites!
Glad to see you, always!!!
Somewhat unusual role for Robards, but a very good handling of the romantic bandit character. Cardinale of course could probably have played Helen Keller and made it seem sexy...
All of Leone's westerns were a little tongue-in-cheek; Once Upon a Time was darker then the others, but those little jokey touches were still there.
Always good to hear from you D.
Hello JR, tnx for weighing in...
I'm w/ you on Searchers, Magnificent 7 for sure, TMWSLV, Wild Bunch. I haven't seen Lonesome Dove-- can't really face the idea of six hours worth of western, at least not so far. There'd have to be one helluva story-line to hold up to 6 hours of development...
The Magnificent Seven - best adaptation to a Western by a foreign film (Seven Samurai) and High Noon for its characterizations and music.
Magnificent Seven is one of my all time faves-- while the plotline really doesn't work for the American west (7 mercenary gunslingers riding into the boonies for fuck-nothing???), the top-ranked star-power & action is purely awesome!!
High Noon is probably my tops for 'classic' stereotype westerns; set the bar for hero marshal vs psycho badguys. Pretty astonishing for an urban Jewish director who'd never been anywhere near the West... Ironically, John Wayne hated High Noon, and later teamed up w/ Howard Hawks to make 'Rio Bravo' as the 'response' to what Hawks & the Duke considered a 'chickenshit sheriff' story.
HN is prettyunique in that it's about the only early flick I know of that's essentially told in 'real time'-- just about a 90 minute move that depicts events from 10:30 am to nigh noon. Interesting little side-note: the 'Do Not Forsake Me' theme (which won two Oscars- Best Music & Best Song) was actually palmed off by Dmitri Tiomkin from an obsucre Russian folk tune he'd heard as a kid...
Watched it again last night on Netflix ( "New" digitally remastered version) and was stunned by Henry and Charles - but more so by the constant, long drawn out facial expressions that, for me, didn't lend to the "character" of the film.
Claudia still looked awesome though - specially in the barn with Harmonica.