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
- Writers
- Sergio Donati(screenplay by)
- Sergio Leone(screenplay by)
- Dario Argento(from a story by)
- Stars
Top credits
- Director
- Writers
- Sergio Donati(screenplay by)
- Sergio Leone(screenplay by)
- Dario Argento(from a story by)
- Stars
- Awards
- 4 wins & 5 nominations
Videos1
Livio Andronico
- Bit partas Bit part
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- Sergio Donati(screenplay by)
- Sergio Leone(screenplay by) (from a story by)
- Dario Argento(from a story by)
- All cast & crew
- See more cast details at IMDbPro
Storyline
Jill McBain travels to the wild frontier, Utah, where she and her new husband planned to settle down, but upon arrival, she finds him and his children dead. There's a lot of land, and potential, but there are also those who want to take it--at any cost. Even if it means killing a man and his kids. —DrGoodBeat
- Taglines
- There were three men in her life. One knew her past. One wanted her land. One wanted revenge.
- Genre
- Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)
- Rated PG-13 for western violence and brief sensuality
- Parents guide
Did you know
- TriviaHenry 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).
- GoofsFrank 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.)
- Crazy creditsThe film's title does not appear until the end of the final scene.
- Alternate versionsFrank'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.
- ConnectionsEdited into The Clock (2010)
- SoundtracksDanny Boy
(1913) (uncredited)
Written by by Frederick Edward Weatherly
Hummed and sung a cappella a bit by Simonetta Santaniello
Top review
"When you've killed Four, it's easy to make it five."
In the annals of western film lore, there are good and bad films. This is one of the finest. Because "Once Upon A Time in The West" is such a remarkable film, it is hard to define what makes it so memorable. The story centers on a beautiful former prostitute called Jill McBain (Claudia Cardinale) who arrives to assume the role of wife to a stubborn, crazy, red-headed Irishman with a dream. Waiting, instead is tragedy and 'Mr. Morton' who is a powerful, but ailing land grabbing baron (Gabriele Ferzetti) who desires to crush everything and everyone who stands in his way to reach the Pacific ocean with his railroad. To help him is an equally ruthless gunfighter named Frank (Henry Fonda; the success of this movie owes much to Fonda who plays a very convincing heavy) who has been removing obstacles for years and now targets the McBain family for death and that includes Jill. Unfortunately for Frank, he has accrued many enemies over the years with one particular, mysterious and deadly Harmonica playing stranger seeking revenge. Frank arranges for three of his best and fastest gun hands to meet and eliminate the stranger at the train-station. Joining the instrument playing stranger is an unpredictable, half-breed, renegade, who is a notorious gunfighter called 'Cheyenne.' ( Jason Robards ) The entire film is a triumph to the superb direction of Sergio Leone, who christens each major character with their own theme song. Each theme was created by Ennio Morricone and when the character makes an entrance, the theme prepares the audience for mood change, drama, action, and lifelong memories. Special guest appearances, by Woody Strode, Jack Elam, Keenan Wynn and Lionel Stander add to the classic nature of this excellent story. ****
helpful•367
- thinker1691
- Jun 27, 2007
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $5,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $5,321,508
- Gross worldwide
- $5,434,825
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Top Gap
By what name was C'era una volta il West (1968) officially released in Japan in Japanese?
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