Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)

 Sergio Leone's "Once Upon a Time in the West"

After completing his 1966 masterwork "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly," Sergio Leone had intended to make no more Westerns. After all, how could you top that? Paramount, however, believed Leone could - which is why they offered him an enormous sum to direct another Western. This was not what won Leone over, however. It was their inclusion of Henry Fonda's contract - Leone's favorite actor - that sealed the deal. 

Leone put together a writing team, comprised of Bernardo Bertolucci and Dario Argento (who would go on to be filmmakers in their own right). The three of them spent much of 1967 doing nothing but watching American Westerns - "High Noon," "The Iron Horse," and "The Searchers" just to name a few. The story they came up with was entirely references to these classic and popular Westerns. This kept to the spirit of Leone's previous films, looking through the mythos of America through this quasi-fantastical lens of post-modernism. 

Once "Once Upon a Time in the West" was ready to shoot, Leone attempted to bring back Clint Eastwood - whom he collaborated with on his 'Dollars' trilogy. After Eastwood declined, Leone commissioned prominent American actor Charles Bronson to replace him. The resulting film was a box office success in the European market, while being a commercial failure in the U.S. market.

The film centers on Bronson's mysterious harmonica-playing drifter, who seems to be tracking down Henry Fonda's all-black Frank, a hired gun who 'cleans up messes' along the construction of a railroad. After learning that Frank murdered the McBain family (including all their small children), Harmonica protects Jill, the last surviving member of the family and heir to the small town being constructed along the railroad. 

While I found moments of the film to be thrilling and utterly engaging, I felt my attention waning at times. Some of the characters are less interesting to me than Leone's "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" characters. The desires and intentions of these characters also seemed less clear. Perhaps this was an intentional choice meant to derive mystery and complexity, but I felt disengaged the less I knew about not only what was happening, but why it was happening. 

It's difficult not to compare this to Leone's previous film. Perhaps I should have not watched the two of them so close together. "Once Upon a Time in America" obviously has merit in its own right, but compare it to "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" will do it nothing but disservices. One day I will return to the film and perhaps more will click for me. But, at the moment, it's hard for me to move it above its predecessor, despite it being a completely unique and singular experience in its own right.