Once Upon A Time In The West

I can't let this film go without comment. Although "Good, The Bad, and The Ugly" is nearest and dearest to my heart, this one screams cinematic feast. Three years after one masterpiece, Leone brought us a new story, a bit more nuanced (if the characters aren't quite as interesting in my opinion) they are still incredibly fleshed out. Story: Jill's fresh off the train from New Orleans to meet her new husband. Cheyenne is fresh from a prison break back to lead his gang. Frank is fresh off the kill, ready to do so again. Harmonica is fresh on the hunt to revenge his brother. There is other stuff going on, a railroad coming into town, a greedy money man, and all the tropes of Westerns we know and we love.

The why of this bizarre cinematic love quadrangle is the least of importance. The how is what holds you in your seat. The eery wail of a harmonica introduces us to Harmonica (Charles Bronson). A man who "Instead of talking, he plays. And when he better play, he talks." Harmonica can take it all in stride, he's single minded and patient. Set backs don't bug him and he knows exactly how he wants the revenge to occur and he won't stop before that happens, nor will he allow a hair on his nemesis' head to be harmed before he can do it himself.

Frank (Henry Fonda) is a cold blooded man. He doesn't think twice about killing a child. He does what is advantageous for him. Frank has delusions that he can be more than he is, a business man to replace the railroad baron. But Frank isn't more than a ruthless thug. He has scenes that will just down right creep you out.

Cheyenne (Jason Robards) by contrast is actually quite a decent fellow, for a career criminal. Able to measure a man or woman's character in an instant. Deadly when he has to be, something close to endearing when he wants to be. He speaks dialogue that tells you about the other characters and it never once seems forced. It never once seems false. Cheyenne likes to read people. He likes knowing exactly who he is dealing with.

Robards, Fonda even Bronson all send in performances that you can't forget, for me Robards shines above them all. Just watch and hell re-watch his scenes with Claudia Cardinale. Especially there first scene which ends with such a great reveal I can only quote the dialogue "You know, Jill, you remind me of my mother. She was the biggest whore in Alameda and the finest woman that ever lived. Whoever my father was, for an hour or for a month - he must have been a happy man." He's seen right through Jill. We know something about both of them now, something made more explicit later with Frank.

What else can I say about this movie? Did I mention the dialogue? So fantastically over the top. Just read the stuff I quoted here and in the previous review. Who talks like that? Who cares you revel in its absurdity. And the end, again it can't compete with the end of "The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly" for my money but that isn't to say it isn't utterly fantastic because it is. This is a what a western can be, this is what a western should be.