Once Upon a Time in the West Once Upon a Time in 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. 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. The widescreen cinematography was by Tonino Delli Colli and the acclaimed film score was by Ennio Morricone. After 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. However, Leone accepted an offer from Paramount Pictures providing Henry Fonda and a budget to produce another Western. He recruited Bertolucci and Argento to devise the plot of the film in 1966, researching other Western films in the process. After Clint Eastwood turned down an offer to play the movie's protagonist, Bronson was offered the role. During production, Leone recruited Donati to rewrite the script due to concerns over time limitations. The Plot: A train arrives at the Old West town of "Flagstone". A man with a harmonica on a thong about his neck alights and faces three gunfighters who are waiting for him, killing all three. Their leader, an outlaw called Frank, is working as a hired gunman for the railroad tycoon Morton, who is trying to acquire land owned by Brett McBain's family. The dusters worn by the three outlaws lead Harmonica to believe that the men work for a rival outlaw, Cheyenne. Meanwhile, Frank and his henchmen kill McBain and his three children at their "Sweetwater" ranch and leave behind evidence to frame Cheyenne for the murders. https://odysee.com/@HostileTerritory:a/Once-Upon-a-Time-in-the-West:b