Though he would still make one more Western before rounding out his career,Once Upon a Time in the Westwas essentiallySergio Leone’s swan song to the genre. The film was the epitome of a Spaghetti Western epic with solid performances, incredible production value, and loads of gunplay for all action lovers.
But what you may not already know about the 1968 classic is that, in many other ways, it was meant to be a departure from Leone’s previous Dollars trilogy that had ended only two years earlier withThe Good, the Bad and the Ugly. In fact, there was almost a scene where Leone killed off his three leading men from that picture, includingClint Eastwood.
Sergio Leone Wanted ‘Once Upon a Time in the West’ To Pay Homage to the Dollars Trilogy
You may not know this aboutOnce Upon a Time in the West, but there was a time when Sergio Leone wanted Clint Eastwoodfor the leading role of Harmonia. After the Dollars trilogy, it seems obvious why the director would gravitate toward the familiar, but Eastwood ended up passing on the part entirely. This was ultimately for the best, asCharles Bronsonwould come to embody the role with his weary eyes and leathery features. But even before Leone considered casting his longtime star, he originally had the novel idea to kill him off in the film’s opening.Wanting to bid a final farewell to his infamous Dollars trilogy, Leone decided that the most powerful way to open the film would be to hire Eastwood,Lee Van Cleef, andEli Wallachto play the three men in the opening sequence. These are the same goons who are so easily gunned down by Harmonica, setting the stage for what’s to come. It’s an incredible scene as is, though it would have arguably been far more compelling as a playful homage to Leone’s previous film.
Clint Eastwood Is a Western Icon, but No One Delivered an Old West One-Liner Better Than Charles Bronson Did in This Scene
The Man With No Name was outshined by another this time around!
In his bookOnce Upon a Time in Italy,Christopher Frayingasked Leone if he ever wanted to work with Eastwood again after the Dollars films. “I made him a proposal once, which in good humor he refused,” Leone replied. “I wanted to say farewell to thethree characters fromThe Good, the Bad and the Uglyand to do so in style. I wanted to say farewell to them and to the rules of the game, which I had imposed.” In the director’s mind, the three men who confront Bronson’s Harmonica early on — played by Jack Elam, Woody Strode, and Al Mulock in the finished feature — would have been the leading men from his previous Western.
In this way, the audience wouldn’t know what to expect fromOnce Upon a Time in the West.BetweenHenry Fondabeing cast in a villainous roleand Eastwood and company being killed off so early on, the idea was to completely subvert the audience’s expectations going straight into the picture. If Eastwood had agreed to take the part, it would’ve been quite the shock for viewers.
Clint Eastwood Didn’t Think Leone’s Idea Was Too Funny
Unsurprisingly, Clint Eastwood decided againstappearing inOnce Upon a Time in the Westin any capacity. “The other two agreed,” Leone revealed, “but Clint was the only one who didn’t want to do it.” For Eastwood, there was no point in doing the scene.He couldn’t quite understand the humor in Leone’s idea, and so he passed on not just the small part but the entire film. Of course, without Eastwood — “who just couldn’t see the funny side of it,” Leone explained — the director couldn’t justify bringing back Lee Van Cleef and Eli Wallach either. With the entire concept dashed mercilessly to pieces, Leone instead castJack Elam,Woody Strode, andAl Mulockin the parts of Snaky, Stony, and Knuckles, respectively. In the end, they worked just as well.
While the original plan to bury the Dollars trilogy withOnce Upon a Time in the Westwould have certainly made waves,that 10-minute opening sequenceremains one of the genre’s very best.Even without seeing Eastwood get blown away, the tension throughout Harmonica’s arrival at the train depot is electrifying. Indeed, the scene still plays exquisitely with Elam, Strode, and Mulock (all vastly familiar with the genre) in the parts of the three “pistoleri,” and even without Leone’s previous stars attached, it’s easy to see his vision here. Sure, we wish that we could’ve seen Bronson’s Harmonica square up against Eastwood, Van Cleef, and Wallach, butthe gunslinger holds his own quite well anyhow. It may not have happened the way Sergio Leone originally envisioned it, but there’s no doubt thatOnce Upon a Time in the Westhas been long remembered for its famous opening, and all without Eastwood’s involvement.
