Once Upon a Time in America
Sergio Leone is principally known for directingsome of the greatest spaghetti western sandwich ever made , from theDollarstrilogy toOnce Upon a Time in the West , but on the back oddment of his career , he came to the U.S. to give the offense music genre a go . He turned outOnce Upon a meter in America , one of the finest gangster epics ever put on pic , starring Robert De Niro and James Woods .
Leone ’s cutting was slaughter by the distributors , but his original version has since been released and isregarded as a cinematic classic . A movie of this size always has some fascinating behind - the - scenes details .
Sergio Leone First Became Interested In The Story In 1967
Sergio Leone first readThe Hoodsand became interested in adapting it in 1967 , just after he ’d finishedThe Good , the Bad , and the Ugly . However , the movie would n’t come out for another 17 years . During that clip , he directed two other movies and farm a bunch of others .
Throughout this time , the hand went through several drafts and Leone continuously come across with author Harry Grey to realize his perspective on America . Leone passed on helmingThe Godfatherbecause he was attached to getting this movie made .
Norman Mailer Wrote A Rejected Draft Of The Script
Norman Mailer was concerned in collaborating with Sergio Leone , so the director let him take a wisecrack at the script forOnce Upon a Time in America . Mailer hole up in a hotel elbow room in Rome with some whiskey bottles , a few boxwood of Cuban cigars , and a typewriter . Three calendar week subsequently , he ’d moil out a draft of the script , then take on with Harry Grey to nail it down .
However , Leone establish this book to be unusable , and aside from that , Mailer ’s imagination for the story was at betting odds with his own , so he rejected it . Mailer was furious and litigate Leone and the Ladd Company for an undisclosed small town .
John Milius Was Sergio Leone’s First Choice To Direct
In the other level of ontogeny , Sergio Leone did n’t plan to directOnce Upon a metre in Americahimself . His top selection was John Milius . Despite being a devotee of Leone ’s , Milius was too busy makingThe Wind and the Lionand writingApocalypse Nowto pull to the labor .
Leone also met with Miloš Forman , but he eventually decided to makeRagtimeinstead . So , Leone ended up seat in the theatre director ’s professorship himself .
Leone Met With More Than 3,000 Actors For The Movie
Between 1980 and 1982 , Sergio Leone was committedly wholeheartedly to pre - production onOnce Upon a Time in America , divide his time between reconnoitering for locations , oversee playscript rewrites , and meeting with over 3,000 actor for the flick ’s more than 100 public speaking roles .
Al Pacino And Jack Nicholson Both Turned Down The Lead Role
Both Al Pacino and Jack Nicholson turn down the lead role of Noodles before Robert De Niro was cat . De Niro was the first actor cast inOnce Upon a Time in America , having been approached for the part while he was shootingThe Godfather Part II , and once he was on board , he became heavily involved in rove the other roles .
Regular Leone partner Clint Eastwood was reportedly put up the part of Jimmy O’Donnell , but turned it down . The part of Max was offer to John Belushi , but he passed away before the audition process start .
Joe Pesci Was Cast As A Favor To Robert De Niro
Joe Pesci audition to play Max , but Sergio Leone did n’t call back he was right for the part . As a favour to his star Robert De Niro , a close friend of Pesci ’s , Leone allow Pesci to pick any role he wanted from the remainder of the uncast roles .
Pesci choose Frankie , whose office was much bigger in the script than it terminate up being in the final film , since hours of material got cut out .
Nobody On The Crew Spoke Any English
According to Scott Tiler , the actor who played Noodles ’ younger ego , nobody on the gang could speak any English . Even director Sergio Leone only ever used one English news on the Seth : “ Goodbye . ”
Ennio Morricone’s Score Was Played On The Set During Filming
SinceOnce Upon a metre in Americatook so long to get made , Ennio Morricone had finish indite the score before filming was even midway ended .
so as to create a worthy atmosphere for the motion-picture show , Leone played pieces from Morricone ’s grudge on the set during filming .
Sergio Leone Wanted To Release The Movie In Two Parts, Each Three Hours Long
At the end of production , the footage inOnce Upon a prison term in Americaran over eight hour , which no picture show field of operations would toy for obvious rationality . Sergio Leone and his editor in chief Nino Baragli managed to burn the movie down to six hr .
Leone ’s plan was to split this six - hour opus in half and release it in two three - 60 minutes persona , but the producers deny , so the director further cut back it down to three hours and 49 moment .
Hollywood Executives Infamously Chopped Down Leone’s Cut
After cutting downOnce Upon a prison term in Americato a 269 - minute beast that he was glad with , the manufacturer necessitated Leone to reduce it down even more , sohe got it down to 229 minutesfor its Cannes premiere .
However , the U.S. distributor still thought it was right smart too long , so they gutted the movie and rationalize it down to a most inexplicable 139 min , against Leone ’s wishes .
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