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One sheet original theatrical one-sheet poster for Sergio Leone's 1968 masterpiece, Once Upon a Time in the West. Poster Details & Visuals The Artwork: The stunning central illustration features a dynamic shootout painting by famed Western artist Frank McCarthy.The Cast: Prominently displays portraits of the main stars: Henry Fonda, Claudia Cardinale, Jason Robards, and Charles Bronson.The Tagline: Includes the iconic quote, "There were three men in her life. One to take her... one to love her - and one to kill her."3 Fascinating Facts About the Film Fonda Played Against Type: Henry Fonda was famously known for playing honorable heroes. Sergio Leone shocked audiences by casting him as Frank, a cold-blooded child killer. Fonda initially tried to wear dark contact lenses to look more menacing, but Leone insisted on filming his natural piercing blue eyes to make the villainy even more unsettling.Music Written Before Filming: Legendary composer Ennio Morricone wrote the entire operatic score based purely on the script before cameras even rolled. Leone famously blasted the tracks on the film set during production to help the actors match the deliberate, rhythmic pacing of the music.Initial Box Office Flop turned Masterpiece: While it was an immediate commercial smash hit in Europe, Paramount Pictures heavily edited and cut over 20 minutes from the film for its United States release, causing it to flop financially in 1969. Today, the uncut version is widely preserved by the Library of Congress and considered one of the greatest movies ever made.
The artwork for this United States theatrical release poster was painted by the famous American Western illustrator Frank McCarthy. McCarthy was highly revered for his dynamic, action-packed paintings of the American Old West. He brought that same high-energy style to Hollywood, creating the iconic shootout illustration featured in the lower half of this poster. Beyond this film, he designed memorable poster art for other classic movies like The Dirty Dozen and The Great Escape. |
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