Directed in 1968 by Sergio Leone and released in France on August 27, 1969, Once Upon a Time in the West is rated 4.5025 out of 5 stars by AlloCiné viewers of the decade 1960-1969. A classic among Western classics, it is one of his directorial best films.
Made after the “Dollars Trilogy” (One Fist for Dollars, and a Few More Dollars and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly), Once in the West is no longer an entirely Italian film, but an American production. , since MGM studio participates in financing.
The cast includes Charles Bronson, Jason Robards, Claudia Cardinale and Henry Fonda. The latter plays the role of a brutal killer for the first time, who shoots a child without any scruple to maintain anonymity. At that time, the public was shocked, it was more used to seeing his positive characters.
As in all of their collaborations, Ennio Morricone’s score blends perfectly with Leone’s imagery, to the point where we’re talking more operatic-western to celebrate their fruitful collaboration.
At the time of its release, this new western was a public triumph, drawing 14.75 million viewers in France alone in 1969, making it the filmmaker’s biggest success in France. On the other hand, box office in the US will be more mixed.
On the other steps of the podium we find the same Sergio Leone’s “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” (4.49 out of 5), Psychosis – Alfred Hitchcock (4.41 out of 5), Hara-Kiri – Masaki Kobayashi (4.37 out of 5) and Henri-Georges Clouseau’s Truth (4.35 out of 5).
Find all of Leone’s ‘Once Upon a Time’ movie fads:
Source: Allocine
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