Once Upon a Time in the West Plot Summary and Details

Plot

In Sergio Leone's epic Western, shot partly in Monument Valley, a revenge story becomes an epic contemplation of the Western past. To get his hands on prime railroad land in Sweetwater, crippled railroad baron Morton (Gabriele Ferzetti) hires killers, led by blue-eyed sadist Frank (Henry Fonda), who wipe out property owner Brett McBain (Frank Wolff) and his family. McBain's newly arrived bride, Jill (Claudia Cardinale), however, inherits it instead. Both outlaw Cheyenne (Jason Robards) and lethally mysterious Harmonica (Charles Bronson) take it upon themselves to look after Jill and thwart Frank's plans to seize her land. As alliances and betrayals mutate, it soon becomes clear that Harmonica wants to get Frank for another reason -- it has "something to do with death." As in his "Dollars" trilogy, Leone transforms the standard Western plot through the visual impact of widescreen landscapes and the figures therein. At its full length, Once Upon a Time in the West is Leone's operatic masterwork, worthy of its legend-making title.

MPAA Rating:

Genre(s):

Westerns

Run Time:

165min.

Theatrical Release Date:

07/24/1997

DVD Release Date:

11/18/2003

Director(s):

Sergio Leone

Starring:

Charles Bronson , Claudia Cardinale , Henry Fonda , Jason Robards, Jr. , Gabriele Ferzetti

Themes:

Love Triangles,Haunted By the Past,Woman In Jeopardy,Lone Wolves,Out For Revenge

Tone:

Stylized,Atmospheric,Tense,Elegiac,Sweeping

Keywords:

against-all-odds,assassination,family-member,flashback,frontier,gunfighter,harmonica,hired-gun [hit man],homestead,land,land-rights,outlaw [Western],railroad,revenge,showdown,sociopath,tragic-love

Country of Origin:

Italy (12-21-1968)

Language:

English