Once Upon a Time in the West

"There were three men in her life. One to take her… one to love her —and one to kill her."

1968 2h 46m IT

🙌

8.3

BANGER

🔥

96%

CERTIFIED FRESH

💯

METACRITIC

⭐

8.5

IMDB

★8.3TMDB · 5,079🍅96%Rotten Tomatoes●82Metacritic★8.5IMDB · 383,734

DramaWestern

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

As the railroad builders advance unstoppably through the Arizona desert on their way to the sea, Jill arrives in the small town of Flagstone with the intention of starting a new life.

“There were three men in her life. One to take her… one to love her —and one to kill her.”

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Cast

Claudia Cardinale
Jill
Henry Fonda
Frank
Jason Robards
'Cheyenne'
Charles Bronson
'Harmonica'
Gabriele Ferzetti
Morton
Paolo Stoppa
Sam
Woody Strode
Frank's Gunman
Jack Elam
Frank's Gunman

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Sergio Leone
Writers: Sergio Leone, Bernardo Bertolucci, Dario Argento
Languages: English
Countries: Italy, United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Clocks in at 166 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

58 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: Italy, United States of America.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Sergio Leone, shot by Tonino Delli Colli. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Ennio Morricone. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Nino Baragli shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Claudia Cardinale and Henry Fonda and Jason Robards carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "There were three men in her life. One to take her… one to love her —and one to kill her.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Sergio Leone directs. Tonino Delli Colli behind the camera. Ennio Morricone scores. Nino Baragli cuts. A long sit — settle in. Profitable at the box office. Produced in Italy, United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Clocks in at 166 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.
258 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
3International production across 2 countries: Italy, United States of America.
4Directed by Sergio Leone, shot by Tonino Delli Colli. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Ennio Morricone. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Nino Baragli shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Claudia Cardinale and Henry Fonda and Jason Robards carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "There were three men in her life. One to take her… one to love her —and one to kill her.".
9IMDB entry: tt0064116 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 16 themes, including "small town", "loss of loved one", "harmonica", "wedding party".
11Released under 21 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Tonino Delli Colli
Original score: Ennio Morricone
Editing: Nino Baragli
Production design: Carlo Simi
Makeup / hair: Grazia De Rossi
Runtime: 166 min · 2h 46m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $5,000,000
Box office: $5,380,118
Return: 108% of budget
Original language: IT
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
Rotten Tomatoes: 96% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 82/100
IMDB rating: 8.5/10 · 383,734 votes
MPAA: PG-13

Awards

6 wins & 5 nominations total

Also by

Sergio Leone

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

Andres Gomez2012-10-28
★ 10/10
All what you can expect from a western.
Peter McGinn2020-04-04
★ 10/10
With apologies (not really) to fans who disagree, this is truly a classic western. I read a criticism that some scenes run long with agonizingly lengthy close-ups, but I found the cinematography intriguing. Those shots divulge nearly as much into the characters' personalities as a wad of dialogue from older traditional westerns. Sometimes in a spaghetti western I find myself thinking, aw, why did that innocent person have to die, but innocents did die in the old west, I imagine. I am sure there was a lot of senseless violence then, just as there is now. And Bronson seemed like an odd choice as hero to me, though who can question a director who had the instinct to make perennial good guy Henry Fonda the ultimate villain? He didn't suck in this role, did he? And at least we get some back story with the harmonica playing Bronson character, unlike with old Blondie from Leone's The Good The Bad and the Ugly. And if you like the soundtrack, check out a YouTube video by The Danish National Symphony Orchestra And watch how they recreated the various parts of the music. It is pretty neat and just eight minutes long. So yeah, I think Once Upon a Time in the West is a western classic, a Greek tragedy with spurs. So shoot me (at ten paces).
badelf2022-07-17
★ 9/10
I can't say that this script doesn't play on Clint Eastwood's "Man with No Name" (which Sergio Leone also directed), but it's not important. If you're a spaghetti western fan, this film is a step up. The idea of putting Fonda in a bad guy role, and casting Bronson as anti-hero was a little shocking at first. At the end, I see how it worked to film's advantage by making all the characters more complex, ambiguous and real. If you were a Clint Eastwood, you'll love this film.