Once Upon a Time in the West
Movie, 1968, The '60s, Set in Sweetwater
Once Upon a Time in the West is #13 of 34 in release order and #10 of 34 in chronological order in the Westerns.
The story
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.
Once Upon a Time in the West recap
Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) follows a widow whose land holds the only water a coming railroad needs, and the strangers who fight over it. Sergio Leone directs. A harmonica-playing gunman (Charles Bronson), known only as Harmonica, kills three men waiting for him at a station and goes looking for Frank (Henry Fonda), a hired killer. At Sweetwater, Frank and his men gun down Brett McBain and his children, leaving clues that frame the bandit Cheyenne (Jason Robards). Jill (Claudia Cardinale), a former New Orleans prostitute McBain married in secret, arrives to find the family dead. Frank works for Morton (Gabriele Ferzetti), a railroad baron crippled by bone tuberculosis who wants the land, and McBain had foreseen that a station would have to rise there. Harmonica and Cheyenne quietly protect Jill, and Harmonica turns Cheyenne in for a bounty to outbid Frank's men at a rigged auction. It is Leone's next Western after the Dollars Trilogy, with a score by Ennio Morricone.
Once Upon a Time in the West ending explained
Once Upon a Time in the West ends with Harmonica killing Frank in a duel and revealing why. As Frank dies, a flashback shows him as a younger man hanging Harmonica's brother from an arch while the boy held him up on his shoulders, with a harmonica jammed in his mouth. Morton is killed by Cheyenne's gang, but Cheyenne has been fatally shot. Harmonica rides away with his body as the railroad reaches Sweetwater, and Jill carries water out to the workers.
Post-credits scenes
No. There is no post-credits scene.
Where to watch Once Upon a Time in the West
Once Upon a Time in the West is streaming on Kanopy, MGM Plus, Fawesome, and Tubi in the US. You can rent or buy it on Amazon, Apple TV, and Google Play.
Ratings
IMDb 8.5/10, Rotten Tomatoes 96%
Where it fits
- Release order: after The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, before The Wild Bunch.
- Chronological order: after The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, before The Wild Bunch.
Cast
- Claudia Cardinale as Jill
- Henry Fonda as Frank
- Jason Robards as 'Cheyenne'
- Charles Bronson as 'Harmonica'
- Gabriele Ferzetti as Morton
- Paolo Stoppa as Sam
- Woody Strode as Frank's Gunman
- Jack Elam as Frank's Gunman
- Keenan Wynn as Sheriff
- Frank Wolff as Brett McBain
- Lionel Stander as Innkeeper
- Frank Braña as Frank's Gunman (uncredited)
Directed by Sergio Leone.