Once Upon a Time in the West
Out of the many masterpieces that Sergio Leone has under his rap , it seems spare to even endeavor to name just one as his honest chef-d’oeuvre . But as a western epical thatserves as a swansong to a dead genre , fete its chronicle while also confront the flaws in its mythmaking , Once Upon a fourth dimension in the Westis certainly in disputation for that title .
Whenever Vince Gilligan recruit a newfangled director to work onBreaking Bad , he showed them the opening shot ofOnce Upon a Time in the Westto give them an idea of the style of ocular storytelling they were taste to do , because Leone and his team nailed it .
Sergio Leone Originally Planned To Retire From Westerns Before Making Once Upon A Time In The West
After finishingThe Good , the Bad , and the Ugly , Sergio Leonedecided to retire from western sandwich , feel he ’d say everything he had to say about the Old West , and focused his efforts on adapting Harry Grey’sThe HoodsintoOnce Upon a Time in America .
However , he struggled to get his offence epic off the ground and accepted an offer from Paramount Pictures to do a western with Henry Fonda , his pet actor since childhood .
The First Draft Of The Script Was 436 Pages Long
Sergio Leone recruited both Dario Argento and Bernardo Bertolucci to help him put together a news report forOnce Upon a Time in the West , watching their favorite Western and publish a script out of a sort of greatest come to collection of their favored panorama from movies likeThe SearchersandHigh Noon .
An mean feature - length screenplay will be around 90 to 120 Page , with the worldwide dominion that one pageboy equals one minute of arc . But the first draft of the script forOnce Upon a fourth dimension in the Westwas a whopping 436 pages long .
Leone Was Reluctant To Include A Female Lead
This is the only picture show in the Sergio Leone oeuvre with a female hint . The director had previously been criticized for the misogynous depiction of cleaning lady in his movies . When co - author Bernardo Bertolucci propose admit a female lead , it take a batch of convincing to get Leone on circuit card .
At first , the director only agreed to a female leash on the condition that she ’d be revealed to be wearing no underwear in her first shot . Bertolucci eventually managed to get Leone interested in a female character without including graphic nudity .
Henry Fonda Initially Turned Down His Role In The Film
Henry Fonda was Sergio Leone ’s favorite worker since childhood , and he only accord to doOnce Upon a Time in the Westfor the opportunity to influence with him .
The role player initially turned down the role until Leone fly out to the U.S. , met with him , and explained how effective it would be to see Fonda playing against type as a gun - toting villain . He wangle to change Fonda ’s mind .
An Actor Playing A Gunslinger In The Opening Scene Took His Own Life In His Costume From The Film
Al Mulock , who played one of the three hitman in the hatchway scenery ofOnce Upon a Time in the West , charter his own spirit after a day of dissipate by jumping out of a hotel window in his costume .
product handler Claudio Mancini and screenwriter Mickey Knox saw him vanish past their window . Leone had to apply a stunt man to complete the scene .
Robert Ryan Turned Down A Role To Appear In The Wild Bunch Instead
Sergio Leone offered the role of the Sheriff of Flagstone to Robert Ryan , one of his favorite actors , but Ryan turned it down in party favor of a much large role in Sam Peckinpah’sThe Wild Bunch .
Kirk Douglas lobbied for the office of Cheyenne , having been a huge fan of Leone ’s , but he did n’t cease up landing the part .
Sergio Leone Wanted To Cast The Leads From The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly In The Opening Scene
Originally , Sergio Leone want to cast the titular trio from his previous movie , The Good , the Bad , and the Ugly – Clint Eastwood , Lee Van Cleef , and Eli Wallach – as the three hit man in the opening scene .
However , Eastwood turned down this role , and the role of Harmonica , because he was n’t interested in doing any more spaghetti westerns with Leone . This really lead to a rupture between the doer and director that was n’t patched up until a few months before Leone ’s end .
Once Upon A Time In The West Was The First Spaghetti Western To Be Shot In America
After shooting the entireDollarstrilogy in Spain , Sergio Leone took his cast and crew to the United States to shoot some scenes forOnce Upon a fourth dimension in the Westin Monument Valley , which appear ina ton of classical John Ford western .
This madeOnce Upon a Time in the Westthe first ever spaghetti western to actually be shoot in America . The inside of Lionel Stander ’s establishment were filmed at Cinecittà , but the red dust was spell from Monument Valley .
Ennio Morricone Wrote His Score Around The Script, But The Script Changed During Filming
Ennio Morricone began composing his scotch forOnce Upon a Time in the Westbased on the rhythm and social structure of the script .
However , this handwriting was change during filming . Leone still want to utilize Morricone ’s music , so he still direct the picture show to equate it .
The Studio Gave Leone Freedom During Production, Then Cut 20 Minutes In The Edit
While Paramount executives did n’t interfere with Sergio Leone during filming , they did step in during the edit and cut 20 minutes out of his final cut . The intact tavern sequence and Cheyenne ’s destruction were cut , leading to negative reviews .
This hinderance was pretty balmy compared tothe hatchet job that the studio editor in chief would do to Leone ’s terminal movie , Once Upon a Time in America .
NEXT:10 Behind - The - Scenes fact About Once Upon A Time In America
