C'era una volta il West

C'era una volta il West (Italy, 1968) was director Sergio Leone's ultimate ode to the genre and is considered by many to be the best or one of the best westerns or even movies of all time.

Also known as

Once Upon a Time in the West (USA) | Spiel mir das Lied vom Tod (Germany) | Il était une fois dans l'ouest (France) | Aconteceu no Oeste (Portugal) | Hasta que llegó su hora (Spain) | Harmonica - en hämnare (Sweden) | Pewnego razu na Dzikim Zachodzie (Poland) | Huuliharppukostaja (Finland) | Harmonika - en hämnare (Sweden) | Vestens hårde halse (Denmark) | Ondt blod i Vesten (Norway) | Bir Zamanlar Batida (Turkey) | Era uma vez no Oeste (Brazil) | ウエスタン Western (Japan) | Tenkrát na Západě (Czechoslovakia) | روزی روزگاری در غرب (Iran) | Volt egyszer egy Vadnyugat (Hungary) | Имало едно време на запад (Bulgaria) | Едно време на запад (Bulgaria Betamax) | 원스 어폰 어 타임 인 더 웨스트 (Korean) | Er was eens in het verre Westen (Belgium, Flemish)

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• Books: Shooting a Masterpiece, The Art Of Sergio Leone's Once Upon A Time In The West: A Critical Appreciation
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• Top 20 (#2) · QT favorite

Synopsis

Once upon a time three men are waiting at a railway station. Once upon a time a mysterious nameless harmonica player arrives who is relying on the past. Once upon a time an Irish man dreams of turning the desert into a paradise. Once upon a time a killer named Frank kills people to leave his past behind and to turn from a man into a business man. Once upon a time a whore from New Orleans named Jill has to realise that her dream of a family had been destroyed just before it could begin. Once upon a time a romantic bandit named Cheyenne helps to build a future which can't be his own. Once upon a time a railway tycoon dreams of building a railway from one ocean to another before multiple sclerosis will inevitably kill him. Once upon a time men kill and die for a future they don't understand and a woman inherits their broken dreams by turning a mother role into something bigger than she ever had imagined. Once upon a time, with the arrival of the railroad, the times are no longer what they were before.

Credits

• Cast (Italian): Claudia Cardinale (Jill McBain), Henry Fonda (Frank), Jason Robards (Manuel 'Cheyenne' Gutierrez), Charles Bronson (Harmonica), Gabriele Ferzetti (Mr. Morton), Paolo Stoppa (Sam, Jill's taxi), Woody Strode (Stony, train station gunman), Jack Elam (Snaky, train station gunman), Marco Zuanelli (Wobbles), Benito Stefanelli (Frank's henchman, train), Keenan Wynn (sheriff of Flagstone), Frank Wolff (McBain), Lionel Stander (waystation barman), Livio Andronico, Salvatore Basile [as Salvo Basile] (Cheyenne henchman), Aldo Berti (Frank's henchman, train), Marilù Carteny (old lady at funeral ?), Luigi Ciavarro (deputy sheriff, Flagstone), Spartaco Conversi (Frank's henchman, train), Bruno Corazzari (Cheyenne henchman), Paolo Figlia (Frank's henchman, auction), Stefano Imparato, Frank Leslie, Luigi Magnani, Claudio Mancini (Harmonica's brother), Umberto Marsella, Enrico Morsella, Tullio Palmieri (carpenter), Renato Pinciroli (1st auction bidder), Conrado San Martin [as Corrado Sammartin] (McBain neighbor at funeral), Enzo Santaniello (Timmy McBain), Simonetta Santaniello (Maureen McBain), Sandra Salvatori, Claudio Scarchilli (deputy ?, scenes cut), Ivan Giovanni Scratuglia [as Ivan Scratuglia], Fabio Testi (Frank's henchman, auction), Dino Zamboni (man with gun in waystation)
• Uncredited actors: Al Mulock (Knuckles, train station gunman), Luana Strode (Indian woman, train station), Ricardo Palacios (engineer), John Frederick (Jim, Frank's henchman, ranch), Michael Harvey (Frank's henchman, train), Antonio Molino Rojo (Frank's henchman, auction), Francisco Braña (Frank's henchman, auction), Don Galloway (Frank's henchman in flashback scene), Saturno Cerra (Frank's henchman, train), Lorenzo Robledo (Cheyenne henchman), Aldo Sambrell (Cheyenne henchman), Robert Spafford (railroad worker), Bill Crawley (railroad worker), Francesca Leone (girl at Flagstone station), Raffaella Leone (girl at Flagstone station), Regina Bissio (sleeping lady, waystation)

• Story: Dario Argento, Bernardo Bertolucci, Sergio Leone
• Screenplay: Sergio Leone, Sergio Donati
• Cinematography: Tonino Delli Colli (Technicolor, Techniscope 2,35:1)
• Music: Ennio Morricone
• Producer: Fulvio Morsella
• Executive producer: Bino Cicogna

Reviews

• Special/Review
• Film Review
• DVD Review (Deutsch)

Trivia

We lack information here, please contribute (learn more).

Awards:

• David di Donatello Awards 1969 (winner): Best production, Bino Cicogna (tie with The Girl with a Pistol)

Versions and runtimes

• Runtime: 164 min / 165 min (Paramount DVD) / 177 min (special long version, Italian DVD)
• Note: there are a myriad of different cuts of this movie, as distributors in many countries, as well as TV stations, laid hands on the material and shortened or lengthened it.
• International version vs. the slightly longer "extended cut" (both Paramount)
• Extensive discussion in the SWDb forums about the various cuts that exist
• Cuts comparison German Paramount DVD vs. Special Long Version at SB.com

Release Dates

• Premiere: December 20, 1968 (Rome, Italy)
• Theatrical December 21, 1968 (Italy), August 14, 1969 (West Germany), 2 July 1969 (USA, North Dakota), May 28, 1969 (USA, New York), July 4, 1969 (USA), August 4, 1969 (Sweden), August 10, 1969 (Brazil), August 14, 1969 (UK, London), August 27, 1969 (France), August 29, 1969 (Austria), August 31, 1969 (UK), September 24, 1969 (India), September 25, 2969 (Hong Kong), October 4, 1969 (Japan), October 16, 1969 (Netherlands), November 12, 1969 (Iran), November 24, 1969 (Spain, Barcelona), December 4, 1969 (Mexico), January 5, 1970 (Denmark), January 29, 1970 (Spain, Madrid), February 5, 19170 (South Korea), February 6, 1970 (Ireland), February 12, 1970 (Australia), March 31, 1970 (Portugal), April 17, 1970 (Finland), April 21, 1970 (Norway), October 16, 1970 (Uruguay), June 4, 1971 (Belgium, Gent), November 27, 1972 (Turkey), January 17, 1974 (Hungary), July 24, 1981 (East Germany)
• Re-releases: May 20, 1972 (Italy), May 17, 1975 (Japan), July 29, 1977 (Finland), August 7, 1980 (Netherlands), October 21, 1983 (Norway), April 14, 2000 (UK), July 24, 2009 (UK), July 21, 2010 (France), September 24, 2015 (Hungary), September 28, 2016 (France, restored version), November 3, 2016 (Netherlands), October 10, 2018 (France), Septembr 27 2019 (Japan)
• Festival screenings: October 1980 (USA, New York Film Festival), February 1, 1985 (Sweden, Goeteborg Film Festival), June 1995 (Italy, Festival dei Due Mondi), July 10, 2002 (Italy, Taormina Film Festival), March 2, 2003 (Australia, Adelaide International Film Festival), October 24, 2007 (Italy, Rome Film Festival), April 30, 2008 (USA, Tribeca), June 21, 2008 (Italy, Pesaro), October 18, 2008 (USA, Chicago International FF), April 2009 (San Francisco), August 2, 2012 (Germany, Cinestrange), June 26, 2018 (Italy, Il Cinema Ritrovato, restored version)
• TV premiere: January 11, 1986 (Spain), October 2, 1991 (Germany), Apri 12, 1998 (German, director's cut)

Filming locations

• Guadix: La Calahorra - cattle corner
• Tabernas: Sweet Water - the McBain house
• Guadix: La Calahorra - Flagstone
• Monument Valley: Utah - the Posada
• Guadix: Hernan Valle - the death of Morton

• 

  Cattle Corner

• 

  The McBain House

• 

  Flagstone

• 

  The Posada

• 

  The Death of Morton

Production and business

Budget: 5 million USD.
With over 13 million tickets sold, it is still the third most successful film in Germany by admission numbers. It sold even more tickets in France, and about 8 million in Italy alone. Due to the film's success, it played many years in some cities. Box office revenue in the US alone was higher than the film's budget.

Dubbing

In the English version, it is Claudia Cardinale's, Henry Fonda's, Jason Robards' and Charles Bronson's own voices.

External Links

• Official filmpage (German)
• Review by Son of Django
• Review by Por um punhado de euros (Portuguese)
• Review 800 SW (Spain)

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