Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.PCS 1/10/84; site ahuta.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxr!mhuxb!mhuxn!mhuxm!mhuxj!houxm!ahuta!leeper From: leeper@ahuta.UUCP (leeper) Newsgroups: net.movies Subject: ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST Message-ID: <437@ahuta.UUCP> Date: Sat, 9-Feb-85 18:00:19 EST Article-I.D.: ahuta.437 Posted: Sat Feb 9 18:00:19 1985 Date-Received: Mon, 11-Feb-85 05:50:54 EST Organization: AT&T Information Systems Labs, Holmdel NJ Lines: 37 ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST A film review by Mark R. Leeper THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE, THE WILD BUNCH, THE PROFESSIONALS, THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN, LONELY ARE THE BRAVE--what do these films have in common? They all lament the passing of "the Old West" and its replacement by modern times. Sergio Leone's addition to this group is his ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST. This is a long film, particularly in its full 165-minute version. Frank Capra used to give his films pace and excitement by rehearsing his actors, then telling them that they had to go through a scene twice as fast. Leone does just the opposite. This film is full of long scenes where short ones would have advanced the plot as much. Leone uses the slow pacing to give the film texture: to show scenery, to build mood, to zero in on facial expressions, and to give the feeling that the West was a place of boredom punctuated by moments of terror. Charles Bronson is a reasonable stand-in in a part that was likely written with Clint Eastwood in mind. After all, this was Leone's follow-up to his "Man with No Name" series. He plays his role enigmatically with little more expression than a piece of wood. In a Leone western, as often as not, the hero is more image than character. Henry Fonda, perhaps tired of all the nice guy parts he has played over the years, plays a vicious and ambitious gunman. In a Leone western one expects to see Italians in all the bit parts, including in this film the part of a particularly ludicrous Irishman. This film even has Claudia Cardinal as a femme fatale from New Orleans. Jason Robards rounds out the list of lead actors as a mean hombre with a likable side. ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST has a good reputation for its mood, created in large part by Ennio Morricone's score, but its pacing leaves it time for little more plot than a cheap Saturday matinee western used to have. Still, it is above average for this sort of thing. Give it a +1 on a -4 to +4 scale. Mark R. Leeper ...ihnp4!ahuta!leeper