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Director: Sergio Leone
Starring: Claudia Cardinale, Charles Bronson, Henry Fonda, Jason Robards, Gabriele Ferzetti, Frank Wollfe
Leone’s follow up to The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (The G, B and U), again used primarily American actors, unlike his earlier projects, but was not as strong as The G, B and U, however. Leone was a very patient director and was never one to rush a shot. This often worked to create absolutely magnificent scenes, like the final showdown in The G, B and U, and it works for some scenes in Once Upon A Time In The West, but he uses it too often, making the movie drag, despite a good story and good characters. It is still a pretty decent western, but far below the masterpiece that he was trying to follow up.
Charles Bronson takes Eastwood’s spot in this one as the man with no name, who has a mysterious purpose, an ever-present harmonica and a deadly gun hand. Claudia Cardinale looks great and performs well as Jill McBain, a spirited woman who travels out west to be with her new husband only to find him dead, but Henry Fonda steals the show as Frank, the coolest bad guy of any of Leone’s flicks. Jason Robards completes the conflict triangle that Leone loves so much as Cheyenne, another local outlaw. All of them are jockeying for position as the new railroad is built closer and closer to their area. The acting is excellent and the story is pretty clever for a duster, but moves slower than that railroad they are building.
If you love westerns, then this is one you should catch. It was one of the better ones of its day and you probably won’t be disappointed. Well, not too disappointed, anyway. Cardinale is drop-dead gorgeous, but that’s not why people are dying all around her. Bronson is cool and Fonda is deliciously sinister and makes this movie worth seeing on his own, so the rest is just a bonus. Might be better to rent it for two days though, because you will fall asleep on it the first night.
