Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)

There are Westerns, and then there are Westerns that seem to reshape what the genre can do. Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West, released in 1968 as a co-production between Paramount Pictures, Rafran Cinematografica and San Marco, belongs firmly in the second category. Set against the sweeping, sun-scorched landscape of the Arizona desert, the film follows Jill (Claudia Cardinale), a woman who arrives in the frontier town of Flagstone hoping to build a new life, only to find herself caught between the merciless advance of the railroad and the violent interests of the men around her. It is a film about the dying of the old West and the brutal birth of something more modern, told with a pace and grandeur that few directors of any era would have attempted.

By the time Leone made this film, he had already established himself as the defining voice of the Spaghetti Western, having directed A Fistful of Dollars (1964) and For a Few Dollars More (1965) earlier in the decade. With this picture he pushed further still, stretching the runtime to a generous 166 minutes and leaning into operatic scale rather than lean, spare storytelling. The cast assembled around Cardinale is remarkable: Henry Fonda, cast against every expectation of his screen persona, plays the villain Frank with an unsettling, ice-cold menace; Jason Robards brings a roguish warmth to the outlaw Cheyenne; and Charles Bronson takes the central mysterious role known only as Harmonica, his weathered face doing considerable work throughout. Ennio Morricone's score was, unusually, composed and recorded before filming, allowing Leone to play it on set and let his actors respond to the music directly, a working method that gives the film much of its distinctive, almost ceremonial atmosphere.

The film was not an immediate commercial success in its truncated American release, though it has since been reassessed and is now widely considered one of the finest Westerns ever made. Leone would go on to direct Duck, You Sucker (1971) and, much later, Once Upon a Time in America (1984), but many critics regard this as the peak of his career. Cardinale herself continued to take on ambitious international projects, including Fitzcarraldo (1982), further cementing her reputation as one of the most versatile European actresses of her generation.

"Did you bring a horse for me?" "Looks like we're one short" "No... you've brought two too many" Cold... as... ice... Ennio Morricone score is absolutely wonderful. I'm not sure if I like Charles Bronson as much as Clint Eastwood as the lead but that's pretty much my only gripe. The rest of the elements of this film are fantastic. It's a true masterpiece. A must-see.

I said Bronson is pretty much my only real gripe, and I stand by that. There is something about the particular brand of cool Clint Eastwood brought to Leone's earlier films that Bronson, for all his presence, doesn't quite replicate. But when your only complaint about a 166-minute film is a mild preference for a different leading man, that tells you everything about the quality of everything else on screen. Fonda as a villain is worth the price of admission on its own, Morricone's score lodges itself in your head for days, and Leone orchestrates the whole thing with a confidence that is simply not in question. If you have somehow not seen this one yet, put it right.

Rating: ★★★★★  | Year: 1968  | Watched: 2025-04-13

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Related on Movies With Macca

More from Sergio Leone: Duck, You Sucker (1971) · Once Upon a Time in America (1984) · A Fistful of Dollars (1964) · For a Few Dollars More (1965)
More with Claude Cardinale: Fitzcarraldo (1982)
More from Italy: Nightmare City (1980) · Cemetery Man (1994) · One Way or Another (1975) · Chicken for Linda! (2023)
More from the 1960s: Viy (1967) · Persona (1966) · Carnival of Souls (1962) · Daisies (1966)
More drama: Viy (1967) · Wonder (2017) · A Better Tomorrow (1986) · Beautiful Boy (2018)
More western: The Ox-Bow Incident (1943) · Rio Bravo (1959) · Ride Lonesome (1959) · The Great Train Robbery (1903)