 | Following the phenomenal success of his "Man With No Name" movies, director Sergio Leone drove the spaghetti western genre to unparalleled hights with this monumental epic (nearly 3 hours-long), which in stark contrast to the vast majority of other spaghetti westerns features a number of established US stars and was made on something approaching a Hollywood budget. It's arguably the best western movie ever made. The literal translation of the movie's Italian title C'era una volta il West is actually "There Was Once The West", which is perhaps a more fitting title given certain aspects of the plot.
Claudia Cardinale stars as Jill McBain, who arrives at her new husband's farm to find him and his children dead, brutally murdered by a gang of hired killers led by Frank, played by all round Hollywood hero Henry Fonda, in an extraordinary performance as one of the most vicious villains ever to appear in any western movie. Jill determines to discover the truth behind the killings and keep hold of her land, despite the best efforts of disabled railroad boss Morton (Gabrielle Ferzetti) who is paying Frank and his gang to try and drive Jill off the land.
Jill's only allies are the outlaw Cheyanne (Jason Robards) who has been framed for the McBain murders, and the mysterious gunfighter known only as Harmonica (Charles Bronson) who carries said instrument around in his pocket, and is haunted by memories of a younger Frank.
As with the "No Name" trilogy, the music is supplied by the wonderful Ennio Morricone, at his most operatic, giving each lead character their own "theme" music, and apparently actually playing the music on set during filming rather than adding it later!!
And of course Leone's direction shines. The closing sequence of the shot panning up over Harmonica and the now-dead Cheyanne to show the first passenger train finally reaching the burgeoning town of Sweetwater as Jill brings water out to the labourers is just unforgettable, encapsulating both joy at the arrival of the modern age, and a sense of nostalgia as the old west vanishes away. |
