Top 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsMost Popular Video GamesMost Popular Music VideosMost Popular Podcasts
    Release CalendarBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV NewsIndia TV Spotlight
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsBest Picture WinnersBest Picture WinnersSundance Film FestivalIndependent Spirit AwardsBlack History MonthSXSWSTARmeter AwardsAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
Sign In
New Customer? Create account
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
IMDbPro

Once Upon a Time in America

  • 19841984
  • RR
  • 3h 49m
IMDb RATING
8.3/10
355K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
700
70
Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
Trailer 2 for Once Upon A Time In America
Play trailer2:41
2 Videos
99+ Photos
CrimeDrama
A former Prohibition-era Jewish gangster returns to the Lower East Side of Manhattan 35 years later, where he must once again confront the ghosts and regrets of his old life.A former Prohibition-era Jewish gangster returns to the Lower East Side of Manhattan 35 years later, where he must once again confront the ghosts and regrets of his old life.A former Prohibition-era Jewish gangster returns to the Lower East Side of Manhattan 35 years later, where he must once again confront the ghosts and regrets of his old life.
IMDb RATING
8.3/10
355K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
700
70
    • Sergio Leone
  • Writers
    • Harry Grey(based on novel "The Hoods" by)
    • Leonardo Benvenuti(screenplay by)
    • Piero De Bernardi(screenplay by)
  • Stars
    • Robert De Niro
    • James Woods
    • Elizabeth McGovern
    • Sergio Leone
  • Writers
    • Harry Grey(based on novel "The Hoods" by)
    • Leonardo Benvenuti(screenplay by)
    • Piero De Bernardi(screenplay by)
  • Stars
    • Robert De Niro
    • James Woods
    • Elizabeth McGovern
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 825User reviews
    • 128Critic reviews
    • 75Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Top rated movie #80
    • Won 2 BAFTA Awards

    Videos2

    Once Upon a Time in America
    Trailer 2:41
    Watch Once Upon a Time in America
    What Roles Has Jennifer Connelly Turned Down?
    Clip 3:18
    Watch What Roles Has Jennifer Connelly Turned Down?

    Photos226

    Robert De Niro and Tuesday Weld in Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
    Robert De Niro and James Woods in Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
    Brian Bloom, Rusty Jacobs, Noah Moazezi, and Scott Tiler in Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
    Robert De Niro and Elizabeth McGovern in Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
    Jennifer Connelly, Brian Bloom, Rusty Jacobs, Noah Moazezi, and Scott Tiler in Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
    Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
    Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
    Robert De Niro and James Woods in Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
    Joe Pesci and Burt Young in Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
    Robert De Niro, James Woods, Joe Pesci, William Forsythe, and Burt Young in Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
    Robert De Niro and Elizabeth McGovern in Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
    Jennifer Connelly and Scott Tiler in Once Upon a Time in America (1984)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Robert De Niro
    Robert De Niro
    • Noodles
    James Woods
    James Woods
    • Max
    Elizabeth McGovern
    Elizabeth McGovern
    • Deborah
    Treat Williams
    Treat Williams
    • Jimmy O'Donnell
    Tuesday Weld
    Tuesday Weld
    • Carol
    Burt Young
    Burt Young
    • Joe
    Joe Pesci
    Joe Pesci
    • Frankie
    Danny Aiello
    Danny Aiello
    • Police Chief Aiello
    William Forsythe
    William Forsythe
    • Cockeye
    James Hayden
    James Hayden
    • Patsy
    Darlanne Fluegel
    Darlanne Fluegel
    • Eve
    • (as Darlanne Fleugel)
    Larry Rapp
    Larry Rapp
    • Fat Moe
    Dutch Miller
    • Van Linden
    Robert Harper
    Robert Harper
    • Sharkey
    Richard Bright
    Richard Bright
    • Chicken Joe
    Gerard Murphy
    • Crowning
    Amy Ryder
    • Peggy
    Olga Karlatos
    • Woman in the Puppet Theatre
      • Sergio Leone
    • Writers
      • Harry Grey(based on novel "The Hoods" by)
      • Leonardo Benvenuti(screenplay by)
      • Piero De Bernardi(screenplay by)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    More like this

    Once Upon a Time in the West
    8.5
    Once Upon a Time in the West
    Casino
    8.2
    Casino
    Apocalypse Now
    8.5
    Apocalypse Now
    The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
    8.8
    The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
    Scarface
    8.3
    Scarface
    Goodfellas
    8.7
    Goodfellas
    For a Few Dollars More
    8.2
    For a Few Dollars More
    Raging Bull
    8.2
    Raging Bull
    L.A. Confidential
    8.2
    L.A. Confidential
    Heat
    8.3
    Heat
    The Deer Hunter
    8.1
    The Deer Hunter
    The Godfather Part II
    9.0
    The Godfather Part II

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      When filming was completed, the footage ran to a total of eight to ten hours. Director Sergio Leone and editor Nino Baragli trimmed the footage to around six hours, with the plan of releasing the film as two three-hour movies. The producers refused this idea, and Leone had to further cut the film down to three hours and forty-nine minutes.
    • Goofs
      When celebrating the end of the Prohibition Era, four bottles are opened with machetes. However, the actor in the back to the right fails to open his bottle cleanly and accidentally smashes it in half before quickly walking off-screen with the broken bottle.
    • Quotes

      Noodles: [to Deborah] There were two things I couldn't get out of my mind. One was Dominic, the way he said, "I slipped," just before he died. The other was you. How you used to read me your Song of Songs, remember? "How beautiful are your feet / In sandals, O prince's daughter." I used to read the Bible every night. Every night I used to think about you. "Your navel is a bowl / Well-rounded with no lack of wine / Your belly, a heap of wheat / Surrounded with lilies / Your breasts / Clusters of grapes / Your breath, sweet-scented as apples." Nobody's gonna love you the way I loved you. There were times I couldn't stand it any more. I used to think of you. I'd think, "Deborah lives. She's out there. She exists." And that would get me through it all. You know how important that was to me?

    • Crazy credits
      Joey Faye is credited as the "adorable old man."
    • Alternate versions
      For its U.S. theatrical release the film was cut by 90 minutes from 3 hours and 47 minutes to 2 hours and 19 minutes despite the original cut gaining rave reviews at the film's premiere at Cannes. Many film critics gave two separate reviews for the film. While the complete European version was highly praised, the heavily edited US theatrical release was critically butchered.
    • Connections
      Edited into Bellissimo: Immagini del cinema italiano (1985)
    • Soundtracks
      God Bless America
      Music by Irving Berlin

      Irving Berlin Music Corporation

      Performed by Kate Smith

      Courtesy of RCA Record

    User reviews825

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    10/10
    Last, butchered, unappreciated, work from one of the greatest...
    ... Directors of all time. Let's start with a story. Many years ago, when your grandfather was still a boy, a failed, beaten-down actor named Clint Eastwood packed up his horse and saddle (speaking metaphorically here), left Hollywood forever (or so he thought) and headed out to Europe to pick up cash wherever he could. He ended up doing a film in Italy for an almost-unknown director named Sergio Leone and an almost-unknown sound guy named Ennio Morricone. The film was (as history would later record) an "Italian Western," that is, as the iconic western drama was all but disappearing in the US, it was being "re-imagined" by Italian writers and directors, and then filmed in Italy, using mainly Italian actors. On the set, Eastwood spoke in English and everyone else spoke in Italian. (Dubbing later fixed all that). Filming now over, Eastwood took his cash and left. Weeks later, in a bar in another part of Europe, he overheard mention that a certain film was the leading box office attraction on the continent. The name sounded familiar but, frankly, during production, a final name for the film he'd just done had not even been selected. He investigated. Yes, this was the film he had just completed, now titled A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS. The rest is history. Sort of. Two sequels were done with Eastwood playing the same character. Monster hits.

    By this point the critics began to acknowledge not only Clint, but also the man behind the camera, Leone, who was one of the most promising directors of the era. HE DID THINGS WITH THE CAMERA THAT NO ONE HAS DONE BEFORE OR SINCE, especially his use of closeups, especially his ability to match powerful emotional orchestrals to key scenes. The fourth film in the series, done by Leone but by this time lacking Eastwood, was ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST. (Eastwood meanwhile had returned to America as a major celebrity, formed his own production company, Malpaso, and over time became a director as well as the #1 box office star. Over the course of his career, Eastwood subtly voiced his distaste for Leone's work by scrupulously avoiding all Leone's trademark camera angles, even in his westerns!)

    Back to Leone. While he lent his name to a handful of oddball productions, the last passionate work he left behind as his legacy was this film. OMG. What a film. Showcasing not only Leone's talent behind the camera, but also his musical magic as well as his ability to tell a complex tale like no one before him. It was by and large produced in obscure locations in NA, and the performances of the players, especially James Woods, and also de Niro, could possibly rank even today as the best they have ever given. (Also a performance from a young and charismatic Jennifer Connolly that by itself is worth the price of the ticket)

    The film is magical. But here is the catch. Very few people have ever seen it. Even people who "think" they have seen it, really have not. The studio behind the film went berserk when they saw the length and, fearful of losing dollars when they could be changing reels and selling more tickets, they brought in a butcher to shorten it. Now maybe the new editor was not a butcher by trade, but he was sure one by disposition. The late Roger Ebert said that, in his career, this was the most abusive re-edit he had ever seen. The actual film, the one that Leone left, was not seen until years later when the director's version surfaced. It is astounding. It is magical. It is one of the best films ever made. It is a must see. ((Designated "IMDb Top Reviewer." Please check out my list "167+ Nearly-Perfect Movies (with the occasional Anime or TV miniseries) you can/should see again and again (1932 to the present))
    helpful•338
    48
    • A_Different_Drummer
    • Nov 6, 2013

    FAQ11

    • How did the invention Noodles' shows to Capuano work?
    • Is 'Once Upon a Time in America' based on a book?
    • What is the book Noodles reads as a kid when he's in the bathroom?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • June 1, 1984 (United States)
      • Italy
      • United States
      • Official Facebook
      • Warner Bros. (United States)
      • English
      • Italian
      • French
      • Yiddish
      • Hebrew
    • Also known as
    • Filming locations
      • Williamsburg Bridge, New York City, New York, USA
    • Production companies
      • The Ladd Company
      • Warner Bros.
      • Producers Sales Organization (PSO)
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • 3 hours 49 minutes
      • Color
      • Mono
      • Dolby Digital

    Related news

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
    Top Gap
    What is the streaming release date of Once Upon a Time in America (1984) in Australia?
    Answer
    • See more gaps
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb App
    • Get the IMDb App
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • IMDb Developer
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Your Ads Privacy Choices
    IMDb, an Amazon company

    © 1990-2023 by IMDb.com, Inc.