The original version by the director was 166 minutes when it was first released on 21 December 1968. During production, Leone recruited Donati to rewrite the script due to concerns over time limitations. After Clint Eastwood turned down an offer to play the movie's protagonist, Bronson was offered the role. He recruited Bertolucci and Argento to devise the plot of the film in 1966, researching other Western films in the process. However, Leone accepted an offer from Paramount Pictures providing Henry Fonda and a budget to produce another Western. The widescreen cinematography was by Tonino Delli Colli and the acclaimed film score was by Ennio Morricone.Īfter directing The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Leone decided to retire from Westerns and aimed to produce his film based on the novel The Hoods, which eventually became Once Upon a Time in America. It stars Henry Fonda, cast against type as the villain, Charles Bronson as his nemesis, Jason Robards as a bandit and Claudia Cardinale as a newly widowed homesteader. Once Upon a Time in the West ( Italian: C'era una volta il West, 'Once upon a time (there was) the West') is a 1968 epic spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Leone, who co-wrote it with Sergio Donati based on a story by Dario Argento, Bernardo Bertolucci and Leone.
