Cinema must be spectacle, that's what the public wants. And for me the most beautiful spectacle is that of the myth.
1960s In the mid-1960s, historical epics fell out of favor with audiences, but Leone had shifted his attention to a subgenre which came to be known as the "
spaghetti Western", owing its origin to the American
Western. His film
A Fistful of Dollars (
Per un pugno di dollari, 1964) was based upon
Akira Kurosawa's
Edo-era
samurai adventure
Yojimbo (1961). Leone's film elicited a legal challenge from the Japanese director, though Kurosawa's film was, in turn, probably based on the 1929
Dashiell Hammett novel,
Red Harvest.
A Fistful of Dollars is also notable for establishing
Clint Eastwood as a star. Until that time, Eastwood had been an American television actor with few credited film roles. '' The look of
A Fistful of Dollars was established by its Spanish locations, which presented a violent and morally complex vision of the
American Old West. The film paid tribute to traditional American Western films, but significantly departed from them in storyline, plot, characterization, and mood. Leone gains credit for one great breakthrough in the Western genre still followed today; in traditional Western films, many heroes and villains looked alike as if they had just stepped out of a fashion magazine, with clearly drawn moral opposites, even down to the hero wearing a white hat and the villain wearing a black hat (except for the most successful of the "traditional western cowboys" –
Hopalong Cassidy, who wore a black outfit upon a pale horse). Leone's characters were, in contrast, more "realistic" and complex: usually lone wolves in their behavior; they rarely shaved, looked dirty, and sweated profusely, with a strong suggestion of criminal behavior. The characters were also morally ambiguous by appearing generously compassionate, or nakedly and brutally self-serving, as the situation demanded. Relationships revolved around power and retributions were emotion-driven rather than conscience-driven. Some critics have noted the irony of an Italian director who could not speak English, and had never even visited the United States, let alone the American Old West, almost single-handedly redefining the typical vision of the American
cowboy. According to
Christopher Frayling's book
Something to do with Death, Leone knew a great deal about the American Old West. It fascinated him as a child, which carried into his adulthood and his films. Leone's next two films,
For a Few Dollars More (
Per qualche dollaro in più, 1965) and
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (
Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo, 1966), completed what has come to be known as the
Man with No Name trilogy (or the
Dollars Trilogy), with each film being more financially successful and more technically accomplished than its predecessor. The films featured innovative music scores by
Ennio Morricone, who worked closely with Leone in devising the themes. Leone had a personal way of shooting scenes with Morricone's music ongoing. In addition, Clint Eastwood stayed with the film series, joined later by
Eli Wallach,
Lee van Cleef, and
Klaus Kinski. Based on the success of the Man with No Name trilogy, Leone was invited to the United States in 1967 to direct
Once Upon a Time in the West (''C'era una volta il West
) for Paramount Pictures. The film was shot mostly in Almería, Spain, and Cinecittà in Rome. It was also briefly shot in Monument Valley, Utah. The film starred Charles Bronson, Henry Fonda, Jason Robards, and Claudia Cardinale. Once Upon a Time in the West'' emerged as a long and violent dreamlike meditation upon the mythology of the American Old West, with many stylistic references to iconic Western films. Audience tension is maintained throughout this nearly three-hour film by concealing both the hero's identity and his unpredictable motivation until the final predictable shootout scene. The film's script was written by Leone and his longtime friend and collaborator
Sergio Donati, from a story by
Bernardo Bertolucci and
Dario Argento, both of whom went on to have significant careers as directors. Before its release, it was ruthlessly edited by Paramount, and achieved low box-office results in the United States. Nevertheless, it was a huge hit in Europe, grossing nearly three times its $5 million budget among French audiences, and highly praised among North American film students. It has come to be regarded by many as Leone's best film.
1970s After
Once Upon a Time in the West, Leone directed
Duck, You Sucker! (
Giù la testa, 1971). Leone was intending merely to produce the film, but due to artistic differences with then-director
Peter Bogdanovich, Leone was asked to direct the film, instead.
Duck, You Sucker! is a
Mexican Revolution action drama, starring
James Coburn as an
Irish revolutionary and
Rod Steiger as a Mexican bandit who is conned into becoming a revolutionary. Leone continued to produce, and on occasion, step in to reshoot scenes, in other films. One of these films was
My Name Is Nobody (1973) by
Tonino Valerii, a comedy Western film that poked fun at the spaghetti Western genre. It starred Henry Fonda as an old gunslinger facing a final confrontation after the death of his brother.
Terence Hill also starred in the film as the young stranger who helps Fonda leave the dying West with style. Leone's other productions included
A Genius, Two Partners and a Dupe (1975, another Western comedy starring Terence Hill);
The Cat (
Il Gatto; 1977, starring
Ugo Tognazzi), and
A Dangerous Toy (
Il Giocattolo; 1979, starring
Nino Manfredi). Leone also produced three comedies by actor/director
Carlo Verdone, which were
Fun Is Beautiful (
Un Sacco Bello, 1980),
Bianco, rosso e Verdone (
White, Red and Verdone – Verdone means "strong green" – a pun referring to the three colors of the Italian flag, the star and to director Verdone, 1981) and
Troppo Forte (
Great!, 1986). During this period, Leone also directed various award-winning TV commercials for European television. In 1978, he was a member of the jury at the
28th Berlin International Film Festival.
1980s Leone turned down the offer to direct
The Godfather, in favor of working on another gangster story he had conceived earlier. He devoted 10 years to this project, based on the novel
The Hoods by former mobster
Harry Grey, which focused on a quartet of New York City
Jewish gangsters of the 1920s and 1930s who had been friends since childhood. The finished four-hour film,
Once Upon a Time in America (1984), featured
Robert De Niro and
James Woods. It was a meditation on another aspect of popular American mythology, the role of greed and violence and their uneasy coexistence with the meaning of ethnicity and friendship. It received a raucous, record-breaking ovation of nearly 20 minutes at the
1984 Cannes Film Festival (reportedly heard by diners at restaurants across the street from the
Palais), at a time in Cannes's history before marathon applause became a regular occurrence. Despite such a fawning reception, Warner Brothers felt it was too long. The studio drastically recut it down to two hours for the American market, abandoning its flashback structure for a linear narrative. This version suffered heavy criticism and flopped. The original version, released in the rest of the world, achieved somewhat better box office returns and a mixed critical response. When the original version of the film was released on home video in the US, it gained major critical acclaim, with some critics hailing the film as a
magnum opus. According to biographer Sir
Christopher Frayling, Leone was deeply hurt by the studio-imposed editing and poor commercial reception of
Once Upon a Time in America in North America. It was his last film. In 1988, he was head of the jury at the
45th Venice International Film Festival. == Death and unrealized projects ==