My wife couldn't stand Henry Fonda playing such a villain. She hated _Training Day_ for the same reason: Denzel Washington a bad guy??? I think it was more than the fact that they were villains. It was that they played those evil roles _sooo_ convincingly.
The fact that Leone opened this film with not just one, but TWO of the most unforgettable sequences in moviemaking is a testament to his vision. The finale is similarly amazing. His work with Clint Eastwood is great, but this film is just incredible.
Spent my childhood with my dad watching classic Westerns and classic movies with Henry Fonda. You can imagine my shock when he showed me this movie at age ten, seeing Henry Fonda gun down a family. Absolutely jaw dropping. I was ten then, I’m twenty three now. Still great.
A "contender" is Robert Mitchum's languid entrance on a donkey in Night of the Hunter (1954) as a hymn crooning fake preacher, too with pedocide no obstacle in his quest for wealth.
My parents were fans of Henry Fonda. But to my huge surprise they had never heard of this movie. I showed it to them - the look of horror on their faces when they saw this scene just proves again what a genius Sergio Leone was.
Yo había visto a Henry Fonda en Mi nombre es ninguno y El hombre de las pistolas de oro, cuando supe que Henry Fonda estaba en esta película pensé que sería un honesto granjero o alguien de los buenos, pero además de lo impactante que es la escena, ver a Henry Fonda, nuestro héroe convertido en un villano, genera una sensación de desesperanza
I know this is not a horror movie, but the first appearance of Frank's gang emerging from the desert like vengeful and cruel demons all from the perspective of the boy who just witnessed the murder of his family, is one of the most genuinely frightening and creepy things I've ever seen.
Randy White Eh, Norman wasn’t evil. He was twisted into an insane psychopath. Frank is pure evil and far from insane. It’s the fact that he’s so sane that makes him so terrifying.
+hm4steve When they were casting for this movie Fonda said to Leone "I can't play the bad guy because of my baby blue eyes," and Leone said "it's BECAUSE of your baby blues we want you to play the bad guy!" is there no end to the genius of Leone?
Sergio Leone was so great at character development. Rather than wasting 30 minutes trying to convince you that Henry Fonda or Lee Van Cleef was the bad guy. He'd just showed them murdering children in the first scene in the movie.
Henry Fonda, the traditional liberal good-guy in Hollywood for 30 years was obviously cast against type in this film, which might be the best western ever made. I've heard that audiences gasped when the first close up came and it was revealed that Fonda was Frank Booth. Once the movie got rolling, however, the novelty of the oddball casting was forgotten with Fonda's brilliant performance. This may be the best thing he ever did... and that's saying a lot. What a brilliant actor he was!
Tell me more... how controversial was the movie? Were some critics revolted? Were people horrified to see Henry Fonda, with his saintly onscreen image (leaving aside how he was perhaps a less than ideal father and husband, things that weren't publicly discussed at the time), play such an evil/amoral guy? Don't get me wrong, I LOVE this movie, it's my favorite western, but this scene is about as raw as it gets... I would have to think that the film must have really hit a lot of people right where they lived, so to speak.
773SleepyHollow Parliamo pur sempre di 46 anni fa...E il pubblico , così come la morale , cambia, si evolve , e spesso regredisce. Al giorno d'oggi si vede di peggio. Capisco che in America Henry fonda veniva visto nei film come il buon padre di famiglia , che incarnava i valori sani della società , ma il vero attore , così come lo era Fonda , deve saper fare di tutto . E in America è più difficile farlo perchè agli attori si danno dei clichè , cosa che in Europa avviene meno- non a caso leone era italiano...- . Comunque siamo d'accordo che parliamo di uno dei più grandi western della storia del cinema.
773SleepyHollow Violence of this type was almost unknown in mainstream movies of the time. Remember, this was a far more prudish time than it is today. For example, the sci-fi farce "Barbarella" (starring Henry's daughter Jane, btw) was considered so risqué it was given an X rating in certain theaters. Added to this was the fact that it was Henry Fonda, who was almost universally regarded as always playing noble and heroic characters. I think another factor was that people were expecting OUATITW to be similar to How the West Was Won, which was the other epic western movie of the sixties. However that movie revolved around the story of heroic pioneers settling the west. NO ONE was prepared for this gritty and violent vision that Leone was presenting. Prior to this film, he was mostly known as the guy who made those rather low-budgety Italian flicks that Clint Eastwood starred in.
773SleepyHollow When the movie had its television premier a few years later, the network censors cut this scene at the point where Frank starts to draw his gun out of his holster.
One of the best villain introductions of all time. The way the gang emerges from the dust is amazing and terrifying, and the soundtrack gives an ominous vibe to the scene.
When I first saw this movie, it was on TV with much poorer resolution than on dvd, so I didn't even spot them all immediately. They seemed to suddenly appear our of thin air, and before I knew it they were everywhere. It was terrifying. Reminds me of that one scene from Platoon, where Charlie Sheen wakes up in the night and looks into the dark jungle, when suddenly the trees start moving, revealing a camouflaged Vietnamese patrol who had been standing there all along.
What we gonna do with this one Frank?.......Frank hesitated and was almost smiling at the poor little kid just before that guy betrayed him by calling his name.Those few words triggered of the most sickening reaction in the whole drama
chakko007 don’t be so sure. Remember he spared Harmonica when he was a kid after leaving his brother on his shoulders until he couldn’t hold him anymore and he was finally hung. There’s a good possibility he would have spared him had his name not been said.
@Randy White no, Frank would’ve spared the kid. He wanted a witness to say “guys in dusters killed my family”, and he wanted a traumatized witness around so Jill McBain would’ve sold the farm to Morton and left Flagstone. Plus, Frank had spared Harmonica.
Not only the fact that it's a great visual and auditory transition, it's also a great thematic transition. An overarching theme of the movie is how violent men like Cheyenne, Frank and Harmonica help forge the society that will ultimately displace and destroy them. Cutting from the gun (violence, death) and the train (order, society, progress) showcases the basic connection between them. There are so many details in this movie, it's incredible.
I will always thank myself for going into this film COMPLETELY blind! The chills I got in this scene was indescribable! I don’t think any western will affect me more than this! Once Upon A Time In The West and The Good The Bad And The Ugly are the top standards of the western genre! :)
The way the camera pans round to his face! Fonda playing against type and was totally bad here! The music is brilliant and very dramatic when they all appear from the bushes.
And this is why Sergio Leone is one of the greatest directors of all time. How many other directors, past or present, have matched this excellence? Fewer than a dozen, surely.
many. just not very well known today. i can tell you some american directors (ignoring the directors from all the other countries out there) who equal Sergio Leone: Elias Kazan (see "the night and the city", seriously), anything John Ford did with John Wayne, Jules Dassin, King Vidor (see "the Crowd", a brilliant silent film), i would even say De Palma (see "Obsession"), Sidney Lumet, Michael Mann, Michael Powell (see "the red shoes", seriously), John Huston is cool too( see "the man who would be king" with Sean Connery and Michael Caine, its fucking awesome), and i suppose that for america the list just doesn't end, all the way to the silent era too there are fantastic films from directors with an incredible vision. Imagine what you might find in other countries too, its absurdly high the amount of directors of Sergio Leone's caliber.
Paulo H i think you’ve missed the point that Leone was a master. In the same way Kubrick created, Kurosawa told stories, and Coppola crafted, Leone made films that not only are appealing to the eye, but to the ear, and the heart. Also, John Ford made some fantastic westerns, but none that touch OUATITW. How much of that is owed to Morricone’s soundtrack is unquantifiable but certainly deserves recognition.
Dennis Murphy Thing is, though, it’s not only the music that is boundless in Once Upon a Time in the West, but the visuals r boundless as well. Watching it without sound is just as impressive as only listening to the music with no visuals. The two collide, and u get what I like to call the most perfect movie ever made. Every shot is geometrically perfect, but also musically. It’s what makes The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and (to an even bigger extent) Once Upon a Time in the West such perfect, timeless and stellar films.
@@Nicotine46 th-cam.com/video/cHI6Hl7FUqA/w-d-xo.html Basically, the idea behind the scene with the gunmen approaching was you knew these were sinister people, but nobody, NOBODY, could have predicted Henry Fonda to be standing there as the mastermind of the attack. It's important to recognize who Henry Fonda was at the time this movie was released. Up until now, he was typecast as the hero. The world had fallen in love with his roles as the protagonist in his films. Sergio Leone, the director of this movie, decided to flip that on its head by casting him as the villain and the big reveal is this very scene where the camera pans around the lead gunman and it's Henry g-dang Fonda. In his interview, Fonda stated he wanted to portray the character as brown-eyed with contacts and even had a mustache to boot. He thought Leone wanted something different than his beloved hero look. Leone took one look at him in this get-up and shouted, "OFF!" He knew that the moment the world saw their hero in all his babe-blue eyed, clean-shaven glory as the villain it would be one of the greatest character reveal moments in cinema history. If we're honest, the entire film is a masterpiece, but I think it's a masterpiece because Leone cared so much about the details. The casting, the music, the ambiance; it all had to be perfect. This film may very well be my favorite movie of all time.
@@velderak1458 I definitely can see your point. I seen the Movie several times and every time the opening scene culminating in the murder of the young boy gets the better of me. Because Frank's Name was mentioned. It hurts to know it surely happened in real life.
Such a great twist to see Henry Fonda, who was mostly recognized for playing the good guy and lead protagonists; actually play the VILLAIN, and one of the best in cinema history. Proves what a great actor he really was.
Henry Fonda is one of the best actors of all time, incredible performance, one of the best entries from a villain of the story, I remember better, the presence of Henry wow, amazing actor. This film is an absolute masterpiece
The only thing that holds this movie back imo is Charles Bronson. I couldn't stand his character because of him. If Clint Eastwood accepted the lead told then this movie would have been huge and complete. I love this movie so much but I hate Bronson as the main Character.
Agreed. This stellar cast is superb. Bronson is terrific! Robards as a cad with a sly grin an deadly gun. Fonda, against type as the most ruthless killer in western history. My God. It doesn't get better. And, is there ever a more beautiful woman than Claudia Cardinale? She plays her role with class and dignity. We begin to overlook her incredible beauty because she is so steadfast in her role.
It was a significant career move on his part, since he'd always played the good guy in westerns. Sergio sold him on the role by describing this scene to him to him in detail, concluding "Picture this: the camera shows a gunman from the waist down pulling his gun and shooting a running child. The camera tilts up to the gunman's face and...it's Henry Fonda."
My understanding is that in real life, Henry Fonda was either quite vicious or quite distant with his children. His family suffered quite a bit underneath him. I think he was far closer to Frank than anyone wanted to admit....
Henry Fonda long enjoyed a reputation as one of the most likeable actors in Hollywood, and Frank was the only bad guy he ever played in a career that spanned nearly 50 years. In this case, one was enough, because Fonda's performance is so chilling that Frank has been ranked as one of the 50 greatest screen villains of all time by the American Film Institute.
I have never seen the "good guy" films with Henry Fonda and I can´t be bothered. Frank is just perfect and Once upon a time is the bible of western movies. You may watch it frequently and it is still capturing.
One of the best intro of a character! But people who had seen Henry Fonda in westerns like Warlock or The Tin Star could have recognized him before seeing his face, just by his way of walking... Claudia Cardinale said that it was extraordinary to see, he was walking and moving like in slow motion.
This right here is one of the best, if not "the best" introduction to a movie villain I have ever seen! I love how the gunmen walks in from the desert like faceless silhouettes almost as if they're not even human but more like vengeful ghosts.
I saw a programme about Fonda, and he wanted to wear brown contact lenses for the character of Frank, as his eyes were so light and blue. The genius Sergio Leone said no.
I feel bad for Brett McBain, bearing hardships and other's laughs for years, his dream is finally coming true; he finds a way to provide a future for his children, and a hot new wife. Only to have him and his family killed just for kicks by Henry Fonda... damn you Henry Fonda.
Just saw this film for the first time, it truly is a masterpiece and I think Sergio and Ennio at their best, I love the way they come out of the bushes like wraiths and spectres, first, the scene is hazy then it suddenly clears as if evil comes from another world into this one, amazing.
One of my All Time Favorite Movies!!! Henry Fonda was the best villain. The whole intro was amazing. The birds flying away, the shots and how they came out of the brush!!! The trench coats walking side by side and Henry's smooth walk...THE GUITAR & HARMONICA!!!! Hard Core Scene!!!
I've come back to this scene from time to time over the years. I first saw this in the early 90's when i was a kid, probably no older than 10 years old. This scene shook me and I didn't even know who any of these actors were or the background story involving Henry Fonda's against type cast role. I used to think this scene left such an impression on me because I'd been so young when I first saw it. But no, this scene is truly jarring even as an adult. And that line, "Now that you've called me by name." Perfectly written for a narcissistic psychopath like Frank. If he would have otherwise felt any shred of remorse for killing the kid, he made sure to blame his henchman for "what he had to do." Brilliant scene all around. I've seen most of Leone's westerns and a few non-westerns and I think this is the best film he made. Even better than TGTBTU and OUATIA.
Greatest Western Scene ever filmed. When you find out the world is a trully evil place with Henry Fonda's incredible acting as the bad guy. For he is a bad guy like no other, with his INCREDIBLE less is more acting style.
My favourite scene in a movie of all time, the acting, the score, Fonda, it is simply magnificent, when the kid runs out and the guitar twangs as soon as he sees the scene, simply magnificent directing.
Thanks for this post, it is my favorite of the whole movie. It shows the genius of the director. They just don't make dramatic movies like this anymore.
Perfect scene in a perfect film. The way Leone builds tension, starting even before this sequence, is unmatched. Saying that, the Morricone's score lifts the sequence to an incredible high.
Henry Fonda the villain - genuinely the greatest intro of a character in movie history for me. I would love to go back and watch this in the cinemas in the late 60s just to take in the audience reaction.
It’s quite ironic but also logical that what made this movie “controversial” in the 60’s adds to its reputation (of excellence) today. Because nowadays we only care about the performance of Fonda as Frank and to today’s generation he is not connected to the good guy roles as he was back then. I guess for most of today’s generation this is even the role he is most connected to. By the way, the entire cast is great and this movie is a timeless masterpiece. Watched it for the first time about a year ago and can’t believe I missed it for almost 50 years..
I love how Frank's facial expression turns from a slight grin to disappointment when his colleague asks him what they're gonna do with the kid. He was gonna do the same thing he did to Harmonica, leave him there by himself with nothing but the memory of his family being murdered. However since he was called by name, he then had no choice but to dispose of the child and was somewhat disappointed.
There are many amazing things about this whole scene, but two things that jump out at me that I have to mention, because I never really considered them before: 1) Frank and his cronies talk about the boy, but they don't talk to him. Very chilling detail about how little Frank thinks of others' lives. 2) I take Frank's remark "Now that you've called me by name." to mean that he always killed those who knew who he was. I don't know if Harmonica was the lone individual to not be killed by Frank, but just think about out. In the limitless expanses of the American west in the mid-1800s, Harmonica found his brother's murderer, without knowing his name and after 30 years. All the more chilling Harmonica's determination.
Frank wanted this massacre to be pinned on Cheyenne which is why he murdered the kid, as he now knew the name of the real perpetrator because of that slip. Frank was probably going to spare him like young Harmonica because he likes inflicting trauma.
Yep, Henry is the man. His whole portrayal of Frank showed his incredible range. And i bet Leone didn't have to tell him what to do. Just give him an idea what he wanted from the scene and let Henry run with it. I have seen most of Henry's movies, and he is one of the best ever. Very few people can do well when cast so far against type, and Henry is beyond exceptional. I wonder if he channeled some inner demons?
In one interview Henry Fonda he told that in order to look more evil he had grown a mustache and got brown contact lenses because he thought his blue eyes looked too "good", he came like that to the set and Leone quickly told him to take out his contact lenses and shave because he wanted the audience to recognize him. He then tells that Leone imagined the audiences reaction to this scene, he imagined the camera turning around revealing Henry Fonda as the bad guy and the audience screaming "OMG IT'S HENRY FONDA" in horror!
¡¡Que exelente forma de introducir a un villano!!.... me encanta esta película, actores, la música. Una de las mejores películas westerns que he visto.
Evil rich guy: "I only told you to scare them!" Frank: "People scare better when they're dying" Hard to argue with that..... I LOVE Henry Fonda as a bad guy.
What makes this scene so amazing is not just the horror of its content, but the music. This same musical theme is played at the end when Harmonica kills Frank. The theme originally is played when evil triumphs only to have good triumph with the same melody at the end. Genius!
Sergio Leone wanted Henry Fonda so badly for this scene, that when Fonda initially said "no" on the phone to the part, Leone got on an airplane in Italy and flew to Hollywood to convince him.
Henry Fonda coldly staring and smiling at the little boy RIGHT after he murdered his entire family gives me the fucking creeps and sends shivers down my spine. Phenomenal acting and directing.
One of the most incredible and terrifying entrances in movie history.
And the most badass villain in any Western movie.
My wife couldn't stand Henry Fonda playing such a villain. She hated _Training Day_ for the same reason: Denzel Washington a bad guy???
I think it was more than the fact that they were villains. It was that they played those evil roles _sooo_ convincingly.
@@Astrobrant2 yess
Henry Fonda was incredible in the movie.
Fuck yeah it is. The music, the cinematography, the creepy intro of Frank - pure genius
The fact that Leone opened this film with not just one, but TWO of the most unforgettable sequences in moviemaking is a testament to his vision. The finale is similarly amazing. His work with Clint Eastwood is great, but this film is just incredible.
you brought two too many👌🏾
now you just call me by name...
i.m F...less keymässtäiR ´vvRight -:- count sill änderssöngh ^^
F... # yörsälv€ ^ ^
F...less keymässtäiR -?-
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yör ´preiß ZimähRilLiöN ^^ understvnt and kätt like mühFiece like büttäiR ^F^ -:- ´$Läy öl cänn si jöhn c. >> ??
´jewell nheeD männi decäydess tv DeZyFäiRR.h ^ ^ ´nöne woulda beeleaF€D xD im. Leönie mätkä bäR€ -:-
The camera angles, music, swagger of Henry Fonda,magic, out of the universe
Spent my childhood with my dad watching classic Westerns and classic movies with Henry Fonda. You can imagine my shock when he showed me this movie at age ten, seeing Henry Fonda gun down a family. Absolutely jaw dropping. I was ten then, I’m twenty three now. Still great.
This is possibly the greatest introduction of a villain in film history
Maybe... .it's up there.
The Alien from 1979's Alien was a pretty great introduction too as it came out of the chest of William Hurt. ;)
@@d0nKsTaH
Not even close. Fonda's blood curdling entrance was horrifying on a much different...and deeper... level.
Naah! An OLD Hero gone BAD = Wonderful ♥
@@d0nKsTaH Huh? You do mean John, right?
A "contender" is Robert Mitchum's languid entrance on a donkey in Night of the Hunter (1954) as a hymn crooning fake preacher, too with pedocide no obstacle in his quest for wealth.
My parents were fans of Henry Fonda. But to my huge surprise they had never heard of this movie. I showed it to them - the look of horror on their faces when they saw this scene just proves again what a genius Sergio Leone was.
Fonda grew a thick beard and moustache for the part and Leone said: "No! I want them to say: 'My god! Is that Henry Fonda?!' "
Yo había visto a Henry Fonda en Mi nombre es ninguno y El hombre de las pistolas de oro, cuando supe que Henry Fonda estaba en esta película pensé que sería un honesto granjero o alguien de los buenos, pero además de lo impactante que es la escena, ver a Henry Fonda, nuestro héroe convertido en un villano, genera una sensación de desesperanza
I showed this to my boss I work with as well lol, he said right after... I can't believe Henry Fonda killed a kid! Lol
@@ninjavigilante5311 That's why every "typecast" actor should play the opposite part once in awhile. Tom Hanks needs to shoot a kid. In a movie.
Yeah, he wanted the American movie goers to say "holy shit, that's Henry Fonda!'
That shot of the gang emerging from the shrubs is one of the best things I've ever seen
the first time i saw it my brain came out
They look like angels of death
Ikr, they were there on plain sight but simply camouflaged into the background.
I've seen it 10x before I realized what they were doing. It's incredible.
Also, that twanging guitar when the little boy runs out...chilling!
I know this is not a horror movie, but the first appearance of Frank's gang emerging from the desert like vengeful and cruel demons all from the perspective of the boy who just witnessed the murder of his family, is one of the most genuinely frightening and creepy things I've ever seen.
wisdomcube316 Dario argento was involved for the movie and I bet the idea was his...
@@Ekphrasys lol
@@Ekphrasys So was Bernardo Bertolucci I bet I know which scene was his idea.
saw that exactly the same way..like ghosts from the dessert ..great scene
Henry Fonda’s son Peter Fonda played Mephisto in Ghost Rider better known as the Devil or Satan in Marvel Comics.
The introductions to Joker, Darth Vader, and Thanos don't even come close to this level of cruelty.
Thulsa Doom does!
Frank was evil!!!
Dusty Transitor Frank truly was the first great evil. He predates Darth Vader himself.
@@BloodyFlowerFilms That's right no one was evil before 1968
Randy White Eh, Norman wasn’t evil. He was twisted into an insane psychopath. Frank is pure evil and far from insane. It’s the fact that he’s so sane that makes him so terrifying.
How many of us are here to honor Ennio for his haunting themes?!
In this film Leone literally had the score before casting, the score was playing the part of the actors almost more than they were, a fabulous idea.
@@chunder27😊Christ!? Today's westerns are but a shadow. Of the mountain of cinematic, storytelling, musical score. The immense genius is immense😊😅
🥇
Dark scene, only Sergio Leone could take a classic good guy like Henry Fonda and turn him into evil incarnate. Thanks for the post.
Movies nowadays don't have the balls to make scenes like this. The music and cinematography are perfect!
hm4steve Henry's son Peter Fonda played the Devil in Ghost Rider a coincidence?
Ry Guy No, it's genius! Thanks for the sharp eye.
+hm4steve When they were casting for this movie Fonda said to Leone "I can't play the bad guy because of my baby blue eyes," and Leone said "it's BECAUSE of your baby blues we want you to play the bad guy!" is there no end to the genius of Leone?
+Steve Smith You're right 100%.
Sergio Leone was so great at character development. Rather than wasting 30 minutes trying to convince you that Henry Fonda or Lee Van Cleef was the bad guy. He'd just showed them murdering children in the first scene in the movie.
Wasting no time
Actions speak louder than words.
That's really not "character development"...
But it’s like 20min into the movie 😅
@@NotmyRealname847 it really is though lol. is he good or bad?
Henry Fonda, the traditional liberal good-guy in Hollywood for 30 years was obviously cast against type in this film, which might be the best western ever made. I've heard that audiences gasped when the first close up came and it was revealed that Fonda was Frank Booth. Once the movie got rolling, however, the novelty of the oddball casting was forgotten with Fonda's brilliant performance. This may be the best thing he ever did... and that's saying a lot. What a brilliant actor he was!
One of the best.....
Roger Wilco Tom Joad went bad.
Best villain in the history of cinema. Pure evil in his face.
“Frank Booth” wrong psychotic Frank
"oddball casting" 6+ years later do tell?
I remember watching this in the theater back in 1969. Some in the audience walked out.
Per un film? . E per la guerra in Vietnam non si scandalizzavano? Che ipocrisia....
Tell me more... how controversial was the movie? Were some critics revolted? Were people horrified to see Henry Fonda, with his saintly onscreen image (leaving aside how he was perhaps a less than ideal father and husband, things that weren't publicly discussed at the time), play such an evil/amoral guy?
Don't get me wrong, I LOVE this movie, it's my favorite western, but this scene is about as raw as it gets... I would have to think that the film must have really hit a lot of people right where they lived, so to speak.
773SleepyHollow Parliamo pur sempre di 46 anni fa...E il pubblico , così come la morale , cambia, si evolve , e spesso regredisce. Al giorno d'oggi si vede di peggio. Capisco che in America Henry fonda veniva visto nei film come il buon padre di famiglia , che incarnava i valori sani della società , ma il vero attore , così come lo era Fonda , deve saper fare di tutto . E in America è più difficile farlo perchè agli attori si danno dei clichè , cosa che in Europa avviene meno- non a caso leone era italiano...- . Comunque siamo d'accordo che parliamo di uno dei più grandi western della storia del cinema.
773SleepyHollow Violence of this type was almost unknown in mainstream movies of the time. Remember, this was a far more prudish time than it is today. For example, the sci-fi farce "Barbarella" (starring Henry's daughter Jane, btw) was considered so risqué it was given an X rating in certain theaters.
Added to this was the fact that it was Henry Fonda, who was almost universally regarded as always playing noble and heroic characters.
I think another factor was that people were expecting OUATITW to be similar to How the West Was Won, which was the other epic western movie of the sixties. However that movie revolved around the story of heroic pioneers settling the west. NO ONE was prepared for this gritty and violent vision that Leone was presenting. Prior to this film, he was mostly known as the guy who made those rather low-budgety Italian flicks that Clint Eastwood starred in.
773SleepyHollow When the movie had its television premier a few years later, the network censors cut this scene at the point where Frank starts to draw his gun out of his holster.
To understand how shocking it was for audiences back then to see Henry Fonda shoot a child, imagine if Tom Hanks played John Wayne Gacy.
well, i don't care about Tom Hanks.
well i do care about tom hanks his a national treasure, and yes that is actually quite shocking to imagine
hemipoweredbastard and here is an appearance from a Qanon freak
@@NPA1001 how the fuck is he a "Qanon freak", cant he dislike certain celebrities?! Your a dispicable member of society
Or Robin Williams in One Hour Photo lol
One of the best villain introductions of all time. The way the gang emerges from the dust is amazing and terrifying, and the soundtrack gives an ominous vibe to the scene.
When I first saw this movie, it was on TV with much poorer resolution than on dvd, so I didn't even spot them all immediately. They seemed to suddenly appear our of thin air, and before I knew it they were everywhere. It was terrifying. Reminds me of that one scene from Platoon, where Charlie Sheen wakes up in the night and looks into the dark jungle, when suddenly the trees start moving, revealing a camouflaged Vietnamese patrol who had been standing there all along.
The way the camera pans around from the back to the face of Henry Fonda is just epic!
ill täke se ´mähnidterr vHv
Once Upon a Time in West -
Starring Ennio Morricone as The Music
What we gonna do with this one Frank?.......Frank hesitated and was almost smiling at the poor little kid just before that guy betrayed him by calling his name.Those few words triggered of the most sickening reaction in the whole drama
@@danielirungu4007 To be fair, I'm sure he would have killed the kid anyway.
chakko007 don’t be so sure. Remember he spared Harmonica when he was a kid after leaving his brother on his shoulders until he couldn’t hold him anymore and he was finally hung. There’s a good possibility he would have spared him had his name not been said.
Rest in peace Maestro.
@Randy White no, Frank would’ve spared the kid. He wanted a witness to say “guys in dusters killed my family”, and he wanted a traumatized witness around so Jill McBain would’ve sold the farm to Morton and left Flagstone. Plus, Frank had spared Harmonica.
The match cut from the gun smoke to the train smoke is literally perfect. By far the greatest transition I have ever seen
Not only the fact that it's a great visual and auditory transition, it's also a great thematic transition. An overarching theme of the movie is how violent men like Cheyenne, Frank and Harmonica help forge the society that will ultimately displace and destroy them. Cutting from the gun (violence, death) and the train (order, society, progress) showcases the basic connection between them.
There are so many details in this movie, it's incredible.
Clearly second place to Vito Corleon'e moustache turning into a tree
Better than the iconic one in Lawrence of Arabia?
@@fede018 I'd say so
@@SquigPie The last of the Men.
I will always thank myself for going into this film COMPLETELY blind!
The chills I got in this scene was indescribable!
I don’t think any western will affect me more than this!
Once Upon A Time In The West and The Good The Bad And The Ugly are the top standards of the western genre! :)
agreed!
The reveal that Henry Fonda as the villain was one of the greatest reveals in cinema history. Because Fonda always plays the good guy.
Henry had always play the good guy ever since 1935 when he made his first film appearance
The way the camera pans round to his face! Fonda playing against type and was totally bad here! The music is brilliant and very dramatic when they all appear from the bushes.
It's like Mark Hamill playing William Afton
That little grin Fonda has before the dialogue begins, enjoying the moment and thinking about what the kid well tell people. Such an amazing scene.
And then his frown after realizing he now has to kill the kid because his lackey used his first name..very subtle but brilliant acting! I love it.
@@crazycary17I think the kid's fate had already been decided
@@starwarsroo2448 I'm not really sure because he did leave Harmonica to live which came back to bite him
He smiles at the kid just like he smiles when they are hanging Harmonica's brother. Frank enjoys being a monster.
@@Saulgud23 Good call.
A perfect example of the importance of music in movie making
And this is why Sergio Leone is one of the greatest directors of all time. How many other directors, past or present, have matched this excellence? Fewer than a dozen, surely.
many. just not very well known today. i can tell you some american directors (ignoring the directors from all the other countries out there) who equal Sergio Leone: Elias Kazan (see "the night and the city", seriously), anything John Ford did with John Wayne, Jules Dassin, King Vidor (see "the Crowd", a brilliant silent film), i would even say De Palma (see "Obsession"), Sidney Lumet, Michael Mann, Michael Powell (see "the red shoes", seriously), John Huston is cool too( see "the man who would be king" with Sean Connery and Michael Caine, its fucking awesome), and i suppose that for america the list just doesn't end, all the way to the silent era too there are fantastic films from directors with an incredible vision. Imagine what you might find in other countries too, its absurdly high the amount of directors of Sergio Leone's caliber.
Paulo H i think you’ve missed the point that Leone was a master. In the same way Kubrick created, Kurosawa told stories, and Coppola crafted, Leone made films that not only are appealing to the eye, but to the ear, and the heart.
Also, John Ford made some fantastic westerns, but none that touch OUATITW. How much of that is owed to Morricone’s soundtrack is unquantifiable but certainly deserves recognition.
Dennis Murphy
Thing is, though, it’s not only the music that is boundless in Once Upon a Time in the West, but the visuals r boundless as well. Watching it without sound is just as impressive as only listening to the music with no visuals. The two collide, and u get what I like to call the most perfect movie ever made. Every shot is geometrically perfect, but also musically. It’s what makes The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and (to an even bigger extent) Once Upon a Time in the West such perfect, timeless and stellar films.
Really the best thing John Ford did was influence Sergio Leone.
The frightened eyes of the young boy and the cold blue's of Henry Fonda. Cinematography that stabs the heart.
And near the end, the boy's eyes shift slightly... to me it came across like he was resigned to what was about to happen.
@@773SleepyHollow Agreed. A tear is just beginning to fall from his eye. As if to say, my entire family is gone; I might as well be dead myself.
@@evmcelroy Agreed.
💯💚*🙏🏼
Fonda was going to use brown contacts but Leone wanted those cold baby blue eyes instead.
And what a gorgeous looking boy too. His eyes speak absorption & yet not comprehension. Like y just y?!
Jesus Christ it's HENRY FONDA! (I love that interview of his.)
I just watched that interview. Henry Fonda was one of the best actors ever.
@@nickkurtz512 What interview?
@@Nicotine46 th-cam.com/video/cHI6Hl7FUqA/w-d-xo.html
Basically, the idea behind the scene with the gunmen approaching was you knew these were sinister people, but nobody, NOBODY, could have predicted Henry Fonda to be standing there as the mastermind of the attack.
It's important to recognize who Henry Fonda was at the time this movie was released. Up until now, he was typecast as the hero. The world had fallen in love with his roles as the protagonist in his films. Sergio Leone, the director of this movie, decided to flip that on its head by casting him as the villain and the big reveal is this very scene where the camera pans around the lead gunman and it's Henry g-dang Fonda.
In his interview, Fonda stated he wanted to portray the character as brown-eyed with contacts and even had a mustache to boot. He thought Leone wanted something different than his beloved hero look. Leone took one look at him in this get-up and shouted, "OFF!" He knew that the moment the world saw their hero in all his babe-blue eyed, clean-shaven glory as the villain it would be one of the greatest character reveal moments in cinema history.
If we're honest, the entire film is a masterpiece, but I think it's a masterpiece because Leone cared so much about the details. The casting, the music, the ambiance; it all had to be perfect. This film may very well be my favorite movie of all time.
Dude!!! Such a Great Interview!!
@@velderak1458 I definitely can see your point. I seen the Movie several times and every time the opening scene culminating in the murder of the young boy gets the better of me. Because Frank's Name was mentioned. It hurts to know it surely happened in real life.
one of the most intense movie scene i have ever seen
watch another movie.
Blondie!!!!!
You probably regret refusing it
@@jakubbielak7273 now we just need to find Angel Eyes and Tuco, and put them in a cemetery together.
When he appeared in silhouette it's like Death itself walked
and handing the rifle over so we knew it was him..
Leone's masterpiece. Henry Fonda is AMAZING in this role. One of my top 5 favorite films.
Fonda the Greatest Western Bad Guy Acting Role in this Masterpiece Western !
cinema is an art because of scenes such as this one,
I like how each of the main characters has their own theme music to them.
Cheyenne is the best 1
This is by far one of the greatest scenes ever filmed ever
Everything about this is absolutely perfect
And it gets slept on!
Absolute perfection. Death, unseen and unanswerable, visited with indescribable simplicity and cruelty.
Such a great twist to see Henry Fonda, who was mostly recognized for playing the good guy and lead protagonists; actually play the VILLAIN, and one of the best in cinema history. Proves what a great actor he really was.
Henry Fonda played this brutal role perfectly.He was one hell of an actor.
And this huis only role as a villain
I love how perfectly Henry Fonda remembered and described this scene.
Can tell it really stuck with him.
Henry Fonda is one of the best actors of all time, incredible performance, one of the best entries from a villain of the story, I remember better, the presence of Henry wow, amazing actor.
This film is an absolute masterpiece
The only thing that holds this movie back imo is Charles Bronson. I couldn't stand his character because of him. If Clint Eastwood accepted the lead told then this movie would have been huge and complete. I love this movie so much but I hate Bronson as the main Character.
Agreed. This stellar cast is superb. Bronson is terrific! Robards as a cad with a sly grin an deadly gun. Fonda, against type as the most ruthless killer in western history. My God. It doesn't get better. And, is there ever a more beautiful woman than Claudia Cardinale? She plays her role with class and dignity. We begin to overlook her incredible beauty because she is so steadfast in her role.
This is my favorite Western movie of all time.
Roger Wilco I'd like to add two words. Ennio. Morricone. 👌
StewieGriffin charles bronson is the reason the mivie is a masterpiece
One of the most incredible introductions to a film ever them walking out of the bushes with that music just so badass
Jesus, that slow-stretching smile of his, i get shivers when i see it. Souless eyes. Great acting.
It's kind of ironic that today, if we think of Fonda, we probably think of this movie first, not his older "good guy" roles.
CaiusCassiusLonginus i like him in 12 Angry Mem
Because Frank is an awesome character, and Once Upon a Time In The West is the best western of all time.
It was a significant career move on his part, since he'd always played the good guy in westerns. Sergio sold him on the role by describing this scene to him to him in detail, concluding
"Picture this: the camera shows a gunman from the waist down pulling his gun and shooting a running child. The camera tilts up to the gunman's face and...it's Henry Fonda."
@@CzarsSalad I love OUaTitW, but yeah, I think Fonda is at least as identified with 12 Angry Men today as he is with this...
My understanding is that in real life, Henry Fonda was either quite vicious or quite distant with his children. His family suffered quite a bit underneath him. I think he was far closer to Frank than anyone wanted to admit....
Seriously, 1:30 onwards has to be one of the greatest scenes in movie history and it really does owe it all to the great Ennio Morricone.
Rest easy Ennio, without your thrilling scores the western genre as a whole wouldn’t be the same.
I think this scene is the greatest introduction for a villain ever.
The take when Henry Fonda appears, with that moving of camera, is perfect...
Henry Fonda long enjoyed a reputation as one of the most likeable actors in Hollywood, and Frank was the only bad guy he ever played in a career that spanned nearly 50 years. In this case, one was enough, because Fonda's performance is so chilling that Frank has been ranked as one of the 50 greatest screen villains of all time by the American Film Institute.
I have never seen the "good guy" films with Henry Fonda and I can´t be bothered. Frank is just perfect and Once upon a time is the bible of western movies. You may watch it frequently and it is still capturing.
Esben Solgaard
12 angry men is a must watch movie. You must!
@@dremeler I'd also single out "The Best Man" and "Fail Safe."
If Esben "can't be bothered," he can't be a serious film fan.
One of the best intro of a character!
But people who had seen Henry Fonda in westerns like Warlock or The Tin Star could have recognized him before seeing his face, just by his way of walking... Claudia Cardinale said that it was extraordinary to see, he was walking and moving like in slow motion.
I'm getting goosebumps when the music starts every time. This is just incredible!
The last movie I saw before the lockdowns, this is my bookmark for life
Probably the most terrifying scene in a non horror movie
What about hospital scene from "Threads"?
This right here is one of the best, if not "the best" introduction to a movie villain I have ever seen! I love how the gunmen walks in from the desert like faceless silhouettes almost as if they're not even human but more like vengeful ghosts.
I love the electric guitar in that score along with the perfect match up with the scene is so well executed, Leone is in a league all his own!
STILL gets me after first seeing it like 30 years ago.
That soundtrack just amps up the foreboding atmosphere.
i get goosebumps every time the track starts, bloody hell what a composser Morricone is!
I saw a programme about Fonda, and he wanted to wear brown contact lenses for the character of Frank, as his eyes were so light and blue.
The genius Sergio Leone said no.
Iconic Score for an Iconic Movie . Morricone at his absolute Best .
I feel bad for Brett McBain, bearing hardships and other's laughs for years, his dream is finally coming true; he finds a way to provide a future for his children, and a hot new wife. Only to have him and his family killed just for kicks by Henry Fonda... damn you Henry Fonda.
Not 'just for kicks'. For a lot of money.
Hands down, the best introduction of a villain in film.
Just saw this film for the first time, it truly is a masterpiece and I think Sergio and Ennio at their best, I love the way they come out of the bushes like wraiths and spectres, first, the scene is hazy then it suddenly clears as if evil comes from another world into this one, amazing.
@@accidentcellar6307 I'm guessing you haven't seen it haha
@@accidentcellar6307 because the kid is Harmonica lol
One of my All Time Favorite Movies!!! Henry Fonda was the best villain. The whole intro was amazing. The birds flying away, the shots and how they came out of the brush!!! The trench coats walking side by side and Henry's smooth walk...THE GUITAR & HARMONICA!!!! Hard Core Scene!!!
It's fascinating that Henry Fonda was already 63 years old in this movie
Whoa, seriously!? I would never have guessed that.
He still looked damn good at that age!
I've come back to this scene from time to time over the years. I first saw this in the early 90's when i was a kid, probably no older than 10 years old. This scene shook me and I didn't even know who any of these actors were or the background story involving Henry Fonda's against type cast role. I used to think this scene left such an impression on me because I'd been so young when I first saw it. But no, this scene is truly jarring even as an adult. And that line, "Now that you've called me by name." Perfectly written for a narcissistic psychopath like Frank. If he would have otherwise felt any shred of remorse for killing the kid, he made sure to blame his henchman for "what he had to do." Brilliant scene all around. I've seen most of Leone's westerns and a few non-westerns and I think this is the best film he made. Even better than TGTBTU and OUATIA.
"Now that you've called me by my name" For real! That guy pretty much sealed the boy's fate when he said that.
Frank was so perfunctory about it too.
Greatest Western Scene ever filmed. When you find out the world is a trully evil place with Henry Fonda's incredible acting as the bad guy. For he is a bad guy like no other, with his INCREDIBLE less is more acting style.
That, even today is a hard scene.
The use of music is in this sense is about as good as it gets for me. R.I.P. Ennio.
I love that Frank was totally willing to let the kid go, but then his henchman just had to call him by name.
2:32 the way their dusters float in the air, like an evil Justice League
What a great movie! I can see it again and again!
My favourite scene in a movie of all time, the acting, the score, Fonda, it is simply magnificent, when the kid runs out and the guitar twangs as soon as he sees the scene, simply magnificent directing.
Thanks for this post, it is my favorite of the whole movie. It shows the genius of the director. They just don't make dramatic movies like this anymore.
Perfect scene in a perfect film. The way Leone builds tension, starting even before this sequence, is unmatched. Saying that, the Morricone's score lifts the sequence to an incredible high.
This is how you fucking start a movie
2:51 only a genius director can capture a face from that angle
Might be the best face close up I ve ever seen
Watching it now !!! One of the best westerns ever!!!
Harmonica and Frank's presentations could be easily independient shorts of the wild west and still be great masterpieces
Henry Fonda the villain - genuinely the greatest intro of a character in movie history for me. I would love to go back and watch this in the cinemas in the late 60s just to take in the audience reaction.
Absolutely one of the best scenes in cinema of all time
What stuck with me was the evil smirk before pulling the trigger, a classic introduction of a ruthless villain.
Huh? That's how I smile nowadays :-/
It’s quite ironic but also logical that what made this movie “controversial” in the 60’s adds to its reputation (of excellence) today.
Because nowadays we only care about the performance of Fonda as Frank and to today’s generation he is not connected to the good guy roles as he was back then. I guess for most of today’s generation this is even the role he is most connected to.
By the way, the entire cast is great and this movie is a timeless masterpiece.
Watched it for the first time about a year ago and can’t believe I missed it for almost 50 years..
As soon as that music kicks in on the close up of the child, goosebumps every time.
This absolutely blew me away the first time I saw it and still does. Awesome!
It's the loving smile and glinting gleam in Frank's eyes that really make the scene.
And he was the rifle shooter as we see him give his gun to one henchman
I love how Frank's facial expression turns from a slight grin to disappointment when his colleague asks him what they're gonna do with the kid. He was gonna do the same thing he did to Harmonica, leave him there by himself with nothing but the memory of his family being murdered. However since he was called by name, he then had no choice but to dispose of the child and was somewhat disappointed.
There are many amazing things about this whole scene, but two things that jump out at me that I have to mention, because I never really considered them before:
1) Frank and his cronies talk about the boy, but they don't talk to him. Very chilling detail about how little Frank thinks of others' lives.
2) I take Frank's remark "Now that you've called me by name." to mean that he always killed those who knew who he was. I don't know if Harmonica was the lone individual to not be killed by Frank, but just think about out. In the limitless expanses of the American west in the mid-1800s, Harmonica found his brother's murderer, without knowing his name and after 30 years. All the more chilling Harmonica's determination.
Frank wanted this massacre to be pinned on Cheyenne which is why he murdered the kid, as he now knew the name of the real perpetrator because of that slip.
Frank was probably going to spare him like young Harmonica because he likes inflicting trauma.
One of the biggest cinematographic achievements ever. Leone was a poet, a troubadour.
This film is brilliant. I keep watching still. The way Frank and team enter is aura power.
Hearing the water drops when everything goes silent was brilliant suspense.The sound effects in this film is amazing, as is everything else.
That's why good soundtracks in movies and videogames make alone the 50% of the epicness
Yep, Henry is the man. His whole portrayal of Frank showed his incredible range. And i bet Leone didn't have to tell him what to do. Just give him an idea what he wanted from the scene and let Henry run with it. I have seen most of Henry's movies, and he is one of the best ever. Very few people can do well when cast so far against type, and Henry is beyond exceptional. I wonder if he channeled some inner demons?
In one interview Henry Fonda he told that in order to look more evil he had grown a mustache and got brown contact lenses because he thought his blue eyes looked too "good", he came like that to the set and Leone quickly told him to take out his contact lenses and shave because he wanted the audience to recognize him. He then tells that Leone imagined the audiences reaction to this scene, he imagined the camera turning around revealing Henry Fonda as the bad guy and the audience screaming "OMG IT'S HENRY FONDA" in horror!
Incredible Acting by Henry Fonda as the Bad Guy !
¡¡Que exelente forma de introducir a un villano!!.... me encanta esta película, actores, la música. Una de las mejores películas westerns que he visto.
The irony of the boys view point of the tables filled with generous amounts of food for a family party, now with bodies laying dead. Brilliant.
Evil rich guy: "I only told you to scare them!"
Frank: "People scare better when they're dying"
Hard to argue with that..... I LOVE Henry Fonda as a bad guy.
His name is Morton
This scene just OOZES style and masterclass.
Epic scene! Henry Fonda was a amazing actor!
What makes this scene so amazing is not just the horror of its content, but the music. This same musical theme is played at the end when Harmonica kills Frank. The theme originally is played when evil triumphs only to have good triumph with the same melody at the end. Genius!
Sergio Leone wanted Henry Fonda so badly for this scene, that when Fonda initially said "no" on the phone to the part, Leone got on an airplane in Italy and flew to Hollywood to convince him.
When the gunslingers emerged from the scenary my brain melted.
What a powerfull and chilling scene.
One of the greatest scenes in film for a whole lot of reasons.
Watching Henry Fonda with those cold eyes and smile, just gave me goosebumps. Have to admit, that was an amazing acting.
As a father it's hard to watch this scene now. But it's still undeniably one of the greatest introductions of a villain ever in cinema.
Henry Fonda coldly staring and smiling at the little boy RIGHT after he murdered his entire family gives me the fucking creeps and sends shivers down my spine. Phenomenal acting and directing.