Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)

	Directed by: Sergio Leone	AKA C'era una Volta il West COUNTRY Italy/USA Genre Western NORWEGIAN TITLE Ondt blod i Vesten RUNNING TIME 166 minutes
	Produced by: Fulvio Morsella
	Written by: Sergio Leone Sergio Donati
	Based on a story by: Dario Argento Bernardo Bertolucci Sergio Leone

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Jill McBain	Claudia Cardinale
Frank	Henry Fonda
Cheyenne	Jason Robards	½
"Harmonica"	Charles Bronson
Mr. Morton	Gabriele Ferzetti
Sam, the Coachman	Paolo Stoppa	-
Sheriff of Flagstone	Keenan Wynn	-
Brett McBain	Frank Wolff	-
Knuckles	Jack Elam	-
Stony	Woody Strode	-

Review

The most elaborate of Leone’s so-called spaghetti westerns, in many ways an exorbitant culmination of everything he had perfected over the course of the Dollars Trilogy. From the lingering, atmospheric intro to the profound, cathartic ending, Leone dazzles with his compositions and pacing – his camera constantly examining the larger-than-life emotions on his characters’ furrowed faces. When the calmly observant Harmonica (Charles Bronson) wields his instrument and eventually lock eyes with the arrogant but wary villain Frank (Henry Fonda), it encapsulates just about everything the Western genre has always been about, and in an elegantly understated manner. Once Upon a Time in the West is more narratively ambitious than the Dollars Trilogy, it has more layers and more complex characters. What the films still have in common, apart from the theme and setting, is an aesthetic cleanliness. In Once Upon a Time, every image feels momentous, almost to the point of hyperbole. And still you feel the characters' plight and the weight of the land. A wonderful movie with delightful performances from its four principal stars and a fine score from Ennio Morricone, although admittedly not one of his best.