He's whittlin' on a piece of wood. I've got a feeling when he stops whittlin'... Somethin's gonna happen.

Once Upon a Time in the West

(1968)

Much as I love all Sergi Leone's westerns, the presence of pig-eyed Chuck Bronson in this has always been a slight drawback for me. He has neither Eastwood's cool nor Coburn's charisma, but he just about gets by.

Fortunately, he's ably supported by Henry Fonda as stone-cold blue-eyed killer Frank and Jason Robards' outlaw with a heart of gold (he provides the comic beats, and has a lovely theme to accompany him). And Claudia Cardinale, looking utterly stunning.

And there's also the gorgeously shot vistas and Ennio Morricone's gorgeously composed score (so bursting with emotion it's untrue). Leone's set pieces, from the opening train station shoot-out (ten minutes of utterly entrancing build up, so effortlessly confident you know you're in the hands of a master from the off) to the Harmonica's showdown with Frank, are sheer perfection. The film is truly a thing of beauty (even then, my favourites of the director are The Good, the Bad & the Ugly and A Fistful of Dynamite).

*****

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Now In Full Color, with a Happier Ending

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