Frank: Nothing matters now… Not the land,
not the money, not the woman…I came here to see you.
Harmonica: So you found out you’re not a businessman at all?
Frank: No, just a man.
Harmonica: An ancient race…
In 1966, after the commercial failure of his first two movies, (and well before the smash international success of The Conformist and Last Tango In Paris), fledgling director Bernardo Bertolucci found himself at a professional and personal dead end, and fled, as he often did, to repair to the movies and re-energize himself. He decided on a screening of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, and, in one of those happy coincidences that seem to figure in the back stories of so many film classics, present in the projection room were, not only TGTBATU’s newly successful director Sergio Leone, but a young critic looking for an ‘in’ in the film industry, future horror maestro Dario Argento. When asked by Leone why he liked the film so much, Bertolucci blurted out that he admired the fact that Leone, like John Ford, rather than prettifying horses in profile, filmed ‘their arses from behind”. After a stunned silence, the Ford-worshipping Leone replied “We must make a film together sometime”. While this suggested partnership might have gone against the grain of the young Marxist’s usual filmic tendencies, Bertolucci was (like his entire generation of European directors) also an infatuated Hollywood film buff; and, as he later admitted, “I dreamed… of making a film that (simply) gave pleasure to everyone”. He succeeded beyond his wildest dreams, as the film which grew out of this chance meeting was arguably (with the possible exception of Ford’s The Searchers) the greatest Western ever made: the epic, astonishing and mesmerizing Once Upon A Time In The West.
Bad Guys: Looks like we brought one too few horses, haw haw haw... Harmonica: Nope, you brought two too many... |
A perfect cast and director take a break during the filming of Once Upon a Time in the West |
“It is essential that all the details seem right, never invented. A fairy tale captures the imagination most when the setting is as realistic as possible”
— Sergio Leone
A world weary Jill seeks a new start, in a fast-disappearing West... |
Hope of a new life turns to desperation, as Jill's new family is slaughtered by Frank on their wedding day... |
A Fistful of Character Thesps, in full, glorious Leone closeup... Woody Strode, Jack Elam and the second most famous fly in movie history, Lionel Stander, Frank Wolff, and Keenan Wynn |
It is easy to dwell on the stunning setpieces that form the structure of OUATITW: the opening time-stands-still train station duel, the sun-bleached, hissing dance of death of the McBain family massacre, the final showdown between Harmonica and Frank,
"Jesus Christ, it's Henry Fonda!" |
Charles Bronson's Harmonica, and the late great Moebius' loving tribute, the iconic French comic strip Blueberry. |
As the laconic gunfighter with a past, Charles Bronson created an archetype that populated countless westerns to come, and was immortalized in the classic French comic Blueberry by Jean (Moebius) Giraud; but the role was first offered to, or considered for, Clint Eastwood, James Coburn, Terence Stamp, and incredibly, Warren Beatty and Rock Hudson (!) before Leone finally offered it to Bronson; who made it very much his own, and created his own iconic screen persona in the process.
Jason Robards as the roguish and romantic Cheyenne, Jill's Guardian Angel... |
Claudia Cardinale as Jill. The author rests his case... |
While it is at once a film which can be read as cowboy fairy tale or epic historical drama, knowing parody or as the ultimate film buff’s spot-the-reference trivia game, in the end, One Upon a Time in the West is beyond categorization; it exists in its own rarified atmosphere, a dreamlike fantasy wrought with unparalleled craftsmanship whose reputation, as the years pass, only grows with each new generation of viewers. There, is, literally, no other film like it.
The author wishes to express his appreciation for, and highest recommendation of, Christopher Frayling’s monumental Leone biography “Something To Do With Death”, whose extraordinary insights and biographical information were so helpful in writing
this article.