Frank, a ruthless assassin
working for the railroad, murders Jill McBain’s husband and family with the
ambition of taking her land and selling it for a fortune to the railroad. He
wants Jill for himself. However, a stranger with a harmonica and Cheyenne, a
notorious desperado, make an unlikely team hired by Jill to try and kill Frank.
The film is written and directed
by Sergio Leone
– the master of the spaghetti western. Leone made his reputation with the
brilliant The Man with No Name Trilogy (A Fistful of
Dollars, For
a Few Dollars More, and The Good, the Bad and
the Ugly). However, Once Upon a Time in the West is probably his greatest
achievement (his gangster film Once Upon a Time
in America is great too). Leone worked with frequent collaborators composer
Ennio Morricone
(whose score is absolutely phenomenal and iconic), cinematographer Tonino Delli Colli,
and art director Carlo
Simi.
Claudia Cardinale,
Henry Fonda, Jason Robards, and
Charles Bronson
star in the film, while Gabriele Ferzetti,
Woody Strode,
and Jack Elam
feature in support.
In terms of westerns, there may
not be a better film than Once Upon a Time in the West. For me, the genre’s
best include this film as well as things like: The Big
Country, The
Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, A Fistful of Dollars, Unforgiven, Open
Range (a personal favorite that is often overlooked), Deadwood,
The
Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, and True
Grit. The score alone makes this a worthwhile endeavor – or maybe its place
among the 100 Best Films of the 20th Century (number 24 on IMDb’s
Top 250) – but really, it is a must-see for fans of westerns.
Trailer: Here
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