Once Upon a Time in the West

Original title: C'era una volta il West

19681968
PG-13PG-13
2h 45min

Henry Fonda, Charles Bronson, Claudia Cardinale, and Jason Robards in C'era una volta il West (1968)

UK Trailer

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

Director
- Sergio Leone
Writers
- Sergio Donati(screenplay by)
- Sergio Leone(screenplay by)
- Dario Argento(from a story by)
Stars

See production, box office & company info

See production, box office & company info

Top rated movie #49

Awards
- 4 wins & 5 nominations

Videos1

Once Upon A Time In The West

Once Upon A Time In The West

Charles Bronson in C'era una volta il West (1968)

Henry Fonda and Charles Bronson in C'era una volta il West (1968)

Jason Robards in C'era una volta il West (1968)

Claudia Cardinale in C'era una volta il West (1968)

Henry Fonda and Charles Bronson in C'era una volta il West (1968)

"Once Upon a Time in the West" Claudia Cardinale 1968 Paramount Pictures

Henry Fonda in C'era una volta il West (1968)

C'era una volta il West (1968)

Henry Fonda, Charles Bronson, Claudia Cardinale, and Jason Robards in C'era una volta il West (1968)

Henry Fonda, Charles Bronson, Claudia Cardinale, and Jason Robards in C'era una volta il West (1968)

C'era una volta il West (1968)

C'era una volta il West (1968)

Frankas Frank

Charles Bronson

Harmonicaas Harmonica

Claudia Cardinale

Jill McBainas Jill McBain

Manuel 'Cheyenne' Gutiérrezas Manuel 'Cheyenne' Gutiérrez

Gabriele Ferzetti

Morton - Railroad Baronas Morton - Railroad Baron

Samas Sam

Stony - Member of Frank's Gangas Stony - Member of Frank's Gang

Snaky - Member of Frank's Gangas Snaky - Member of Frank's Gang

Sheriff - Auctioneeras Sheriff - Auctioneer

Brett McBainas Brett McBain

Barmanas Barman

Livio Andronico

Bit partas Bit part
(uncredited)

Salvatore Basile

Member of Cheyenne's Gangas Member of Cheyenne's Gang
(uncredited)

Train Station Masteras Train Station Master
(uncredited)

Marilù Carteny

Mourner at Brett McBain's Funeralas Mourner at Brett McBain's Funeral
(uncredited)

Member of Frank's Gang on Trainas Member of Frank's Gang on Train
(uncredited)

Director
- Sergio Leone
Writers
- Sergio Donati(screenplay by)
- Sergio Leone(screenplay by) (from a story by)
- Dario Argento(from a story by)
All cast & crew

See production, box office, & company info

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

8.8

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

For a Few Dollars More

8.2

For a Few Dollars More

Once Upon a Time in America

8.4

Once Upon a Time in America

A Fistful of Dollars

8.0

A Fistful of Dollars

Casablanca

8.5

Rear Window

8.5

Duck You Sucker

7.6

Duck You Sucker

Apocalypse Now

8.4

Seven Samurai

8.6

Psycho

8.5

Paths of Glory

8.4

Cinema Paradiso

8.5

Cinema Paradiso

Jill McBain travels to the wild frontier; Utah - where she and her new husband planned to settle down. Upon arrival, she finds him and his children dead. There's a lot of land, and potential, but there's those who want to take it - at any cost. Even if it means killing a man and his kids. —DrGoodBeat

harmonica woman in bathtub widow former prostitute railway station 187 more

Taglines
- There were three men in her life. One knew her past. One wanted her land. One wanted revenge.
Genre
- Western
Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)
- Rated PG-13 for western violence and brief sensuality
Parents guide

Trivia
Henry Fonda originally turned down the role of Frank. Director Sergio Leone flew to the United States and met with Fonda, who asked why he was wanted for the film. Leone replied, "Picture this: the camera shows a gunman from the waist down pulling his gun and shooting a running child. The camera pans up to the gunman's face and...it's Henry Fonda" (until then, with one exception, Fonda had only been cast in "good guy" roles. Leone wanted the audience to be shocked).

Goofs
Frank goes to Morton's train and finds that dead bodies are scattered around. But the train's fireman appears not to be bothered. The engine's safety valve opens frequently, which means that the fireman dutifully keeps doing his job and keeps the boiler at maximum pressure. (The fireman and the driver never appear in the movie, but they must be there.)

Quotes
Harmonica: [facing three men] And Frank?
Snaky: Frank sent us.
Harmonica: Did you bring a horse for me?
Snaky: Well... looks like we're...
[snickers]
Snaky: ...looks like we're shy one horse.
Harmonica: [shaking head] You brought two too many.

Crazy credits
The film's title does not appear until the end of the final scene.

Alternate versions
Frank's line upon giving Harmonica his namesake varies from version to version. The Italian translates to "play something for your brother," but the most common English version is "keep your loving brother happy," and the German translates to "play me the song of death." The German movie title was inspired by this line.

Connections
Edited into The Clock (2010)

Soundtracks
Danny Boy
(1913) (uncredited)
Written by by Frederick Edward Weatherly
Hummed and sung a cappella a bit by Simonetta Santaniello

Top review

10/10

It doesn't get any better than this: this is movie history

This one only gets better with each viewing. Leone's masterful storytelling and Morricone's crazy, beautiful, epic soundtrack; desperate, haunted faces which look like the barren landscapes the story is set in and a plot that unfolds with impeccable pacing to culminate in THE ultimate western finale.

As in Leone's previous films, music isn't just used to add to the atmosphere but is essential to the story, or perhaps even more: Morricone's main musical theme plays the actual role of a (or rather: the) protagonist in the film.

Anyone who thought that the so called "Spaghetti westerns" were nothing but cheap, violent B-movies had to reconsider after seeing this film. It doesn't get any better than this: this is movie history; iconic, classic, unforgettable, epic. For this film, I just run out of superlatives.

My vote: 10 out of 10

Favorite films: http://www.IMDb.com/list/mkjOKvqlSBs/

Lesser-known Masterpieces: http://www.imdb.com/list/ls070242495/

Favorite Low-Budget and B-movies: http://www.imdb.com/list/ls054808375/

Favorite TV-Shows reviewed: http://www.imdb.com/list/ls075552387/

helpful•254

30

gogoschka-1
Dec 24, 2013

Release date
- July 4, 1969 (United States)
Countries of origin
- Italy
- United States
Languages
Also known as
- There Was Once the West
Filming locations
- Monument Valley, Arizona, USA
Production companies
See more company credits at IMDbPro

Budget
- $5,000,000 (estimated)
Gross US & Canada
- $5,321,508
Gross worldwide
- $5,434,825

See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

Runtime
- 2h 45min
Color
- Color
Sound mix
- Mono
Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1

Jun 1Trailers from Hell

10 Things You Didn't Know About The Making Of Once Upon A Time In The West

10 Things You Didn't Know About The Making Of Once Upon A Time In The West

May 26ScreenRant.com

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