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''Once Upon a Time in America'' ( it, C'era una volta in America) is a 1984 epic crime film co-written and directed by Italian filmmaker
Sergio Leone Sergio Leone (; 3 January 1929 – 30 April 1989) was an Italian film director, producer and screenwriter credited as the pioneer of the Spaghetti Western genre and widely regarded as one of the most influential directors in the history of cine ...
and starring Robert De Niro and
James Woods James Howard Woods (born April 18, 1947) is an American actor. He is known for his work in various film, stage, and television productions. He started his career in minor roles on and off-Broadway. In 1972, he appeared in '' The Trial of the ...
. The film is an Italian–American venture produced by The Ladd Company, Embassy International Pictures, PSO Enterprises, and Rafran Cinematografica, and distributed by
Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
Based on
Harry Grey Herschel Goldberg (November 2, 1901 – October 1, 1980), better known as Harry Grey, was a Russian Jewish-American writer. His first book, ''The Hoods'' (1952), was the model for the 1984 film ''Once Upon a Time in America'' by Sergio Leone, ...
's novel ''The Hoods'', it chronicles the lives of best friends
David "Noodles" Aaronson David "Noodles" Aaronson is a fictional character who is the protagonist of the 1952 novel ''The Hoods'' by Harry Grey, and of the book's 1984 film adaptation, ''Once Upon a Time in America'', where he was portrayed by Robert De Niro. Character f ...
and Maximilian "Max" Bercovicz as they lead a group of Jewish ghetto youths who rise to prominence as Jewish gangsters in New York City's world of organized crime. The film explores themes of childhood friendships, love, lust, greed, betrayal, loss, broken relationships, together with the rise of
mobster A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from '' mob'' and the suffix '' -ster''. Gangs provide a level of organization and ...
s in American society. It was the final film directed by Leone before his death five years later, and the first feature film he had directed in 13 years. It is also the third film of Leone's ''Once Upon a Time Trilogy'', which includes '' Once Upon a Time in the West'' (1968) and ''
Duck, You Sucker! ''Duck, You Sucker!'' ( it, Giù la testa, lit. "Duck Your Head", "Get Down"), also known as ''A Fistful of Dynamite'' and ''Once Upon a Time ... the Revolution'', is a 1971 epic Zapata Western film directed and co-written by Sergio Leone and ...
'' (1971). The cinematography was by
Tonino Delli Colli Tonino Delli Colli (20 November 1923 – 16 August 2005) was an Italian cinematographer. Biography Cousin of Franco Delli Colli, Antonio (Tonino) Delli Colli was born in Rome, and began work at Rome's Cinecittà studio in 1938, at the age of ...
, and the film score by Ennio Morricone. Leone originally envisaged two three-hour films, then a single 269-minute (4 hours and 29 minutes) version, but was convinced by distributors to shorten it to 229 minutes (3 hours and 49 minutes). The American distributors, The Ladd Company, further shortened it to 139 minutes (2 hours and 19 minutes), and rearranged the scenes into chronological order, without Leone's involvement. The shortened version was a critical and commercial flop in the United States, and critics who had seen both versions harshly condemned the changes that were made. The original "European cut" has remained a critical favorite and frequently appears in lists of the
greatest films of all time This is a list of films considered the best in national and international surveys of critics and the public. Some surveys focus on all films, while others focus on a particular genre or country. Voting systems differ, and some surveys suffe ...
, especially in the gangster genre.


Plot

In 1933, three thugs search for a man named "Noodles", torturing people for information. They enter a wayang theater, where the proprietors slip into a hidden opium den within the building and warn Noodles. He is apathetic, drugged and grasping a newspaper featuring the demise of
bootleggers Bootleg or bootlegging most often refers to: * Bootleg recording, an audio or video recording released unofficially * Rum-running, the illegal business of transporting and trading in alcoholic beverages, hence: ** Moonshine, or illicitly made an ...
Patrick Goldberg, Philip Stein and Maximilian Bercovicz. He recalls observing police removing their corpses, Max's burned beyond recognition. Noodles evades capture and leaves the city alone and penniless. In 1918,
David "Noodles" Aaronson David "Noodles" Aaronson is a fictional character who is the protagonist of the 1952 novel ''The Hoods'' by Harry Grey, and of the book's 1984 film adaptation, ''Once Upon a Time in America'', where he was portrayed by Robert De Niro. Character f ...
and his friends "Patsy" Goldberg, "Cockeye" Stein and Dominic struggle as street kids in Manhattan's Lower East Side, committing petty crimes for local boss Bugsy. Max foils one of their robberies but has the booty stolen from him by a corrupt police officer, Whitey. Later, they blackmail the officer, catching him having sex with Peggy, a prostitute, and the five youngsters start a gang with the same level of police protection as Bugsy. Max and Noodles become best friends. The group rises through the ranks after implementing Noodles' idea to hide bootleg liquor. They stash half their earnings in a railway station locker, giving the key to "Fat Moe", a friend not directly involved in their activities. Noodles is in love with Moe's sister, Deborah, who dreams of becoming a dancer and actress. Bugsy, now a rival, eventually ambushes the boys and shoots Dominic, who dies in Noodles' arms. In a fit of rage, Noodles kills Bugsy and injures a police officer, and is sentenced to prison. Noodles is released in 1930 and rejoins his friends, now prosperous bootleggers during Prohibition. His first job with them is a diamond heist using a jewelry employee and occasional prostitute named Carol as their informant. During the robbery, Carol goads Noodles into hitting her, after which he rapes her; she later goes on to become Max's moll. That the job had been commissioned by a Syndicate figure to eliminate the competition sits badly with Noodles who, unlike Max, dislikes hierarchy and lacks political ambition. The gang provides protection for
Teamsters' union The International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), also known as the Teamsters Union, is a labor union in the United States and Canada. Formed in 1903 by the merger of The Team Drivers International Union and The Teamsters National Union, the un ...
boss Jimmy O'Donnell, but Noodles later rejects Max's plan to deepen those ties. Seeking to form a genuine intimacy with Deborah, Noodles takes her on a lavish date, where she reveals her plans to pursue a career in Hollywood. On their drive back, a frustrated Noodles rapes her in the limousine. He is later met with Deborah's aloofness when he watches her board the train to California. The gang's success ends with the 1933 repeal of Prohibition. Max suggests a
New York Federal Reserve Bank The Federal Reserve Bank of New York is one of the 12 Federal Reserve Banks of the United States. It is responsible for the Second District of the Federal Reserve System, which encompasses the State of New York, the 12 northern counties of New ...
heist, which Noodles and Carol deem a suicide mission. Carol convinces Noodles to inform the police about a lesser offense, hoping brief incarceration will cool off Max's ambition. After Noodles calls the police, Max knocks him out during a seemingly impromptu argument. This leads to the events shown in the prologue: upon regaining consciousness and learning that Max, Patsy, and Cockeye have been killed by the police, a guilt-ridden Noodles hides in the opium den. He saves Moe but finds out that his new girlfriend Eve has been murdered and the railway locker money has disappeared. With his gang killed and himself hunted by Syndicate thugs, Noodles settles in Buffalo under an alias. In 1968, Noodles is belatedly informed that the Beth Israel Cemetery is being redeveloped, and asked to rebury any loved ones. Upon inquiry, the rabbi who had sent the letter informs him that the bodies of his three dead friends have since been relocated to Riverdale. Realizing that someone has deduced his identity, Noodles returns to Manhattan and stays with Moe. Inside the Riverdale mausoleum, Noodles finds a key to the railway locker. The caption on the
commemorative plaque A commemorative plaque, or simply plaque, or in other places referred to as a historical marker, historic marker, or historic plaque, is a plate of metal, ceramic, stone, wood, or other material, typically attached to a wall, stone, or other ...
falsely states that the mausoleum was erected by Noodles himself. The locker reveals a suitcase full of money, and a note stating this is a downpayment on his next job. Noodles watches news of an assassination attempt on controversial
U.S. Secretary of Commerce The United States secretary of commerce (SecCom) is the head of the United States Department of Commerce. The secretary serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all matters relating to commerce. The secretary r ...
Christopher Bailey. The report shows Jimmy O'Donnell, still a Teamsters boss, distancing himself from the Bailey corruption scandal. Noodles finds Carol in a retirement home run by the Bailey Foundation. She tells him that Max manipulated them into tipping him off to the police and opened fire first, wishing to die young rather than in an insane asylum like his father. After spotting her in the retirement home's dedication photo, Noodles tracks down Deborah, still an actress. He tells her about his invitation to a party at Bailey's mansion. Deborah admits to being Bailey's lover and begs Noodles to leave before he is confronted with hurtful revelations. Ignoring Deborah's advice, Noodles sees Bailey's son just outside, who evidently looks like a younger Max. At the party, Noodles meets Bailey, who reveals he is actually Max and that he faked his death with the help of the police and Syndicate, stole the gang's money and reinvented himself as a self-made, Teamsters-connected politician. He confirms that he made Deborah his mistress years earlier. Faced with ruin and the specter of a Teamster assassination, Max reveals the job he has for Noodles is to kill him. Noodles, obstinately referring to him by his Bailey identity, refuses, explaining that in his eyes, Max died with the gang. As Noodles leaves the estate, a garbage truck starts up and a man, presumably Max, walks from the entrance toward Noodles until the truck passes between them. Noodles sees the truck's
auger conveyor A screw conveyor or auger conveyor is a mechanism that uses a rotating helical screw blade, called a "''flighting''", usually within a tube, to move liquid or granular materials. They are used in many bulk handling industries. Screw conveyor ...
grinding garbage, but the man is nowhere to be seen. The epilogue returns to 1933 with Noodles entering the opium den after his friends' deaths, taking the drug and broadly grinning.


Cast

* Robert De Niro as
Noodles Noodles are a type of food made from unleavened dough which is either rolled flat and cut, stretched, or extruded, into long strips or strings. Noodles are a staple food in many cultures (for example, Chinese noodles, Filipino noodles, Ind ...
** Scott Tiler as Young Noodles *
James Woods James Howard Woods (born April 18, 1947) is an American actor. He is known for his work in various film, stage, and television productions. He started his career in minor roles on and off-Broadway. In 1972, he appeared in '' The Trial of the ...
as Max **
Rusty Jacobs Rusty Jacobs (born July 10, 1967, in New York City) is an American former film actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre ...
as Young Max/David Bailey *
Elizabeth McGovern Elizabeth Lee McGovern (born July 18, 1961) is an American actress and musician. She has received many awards, including a Screen Actors Guild Award, three Golden Globe Award nominations, and one Academy Award nomination. Born in Evanston, Ill ...
as Deborah ** Jennifer Connelly as Young Deborah *
Joe Pesci Joseph Frank Pesci ( , ; born February 9, 1943) is an American actor and musician. He is known for portraying tough, volatile characters in a variety of genres and for his collaborations with Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese in the films ''Rag ...
as Frankie Monaldi * Burt Young as Joe *
Tuesday Weld Tuesday Weld (born Susan Ker Weld; August 27, 1943) is an American actress and model. She began acting as a child and progressed to mature roles in the late 1950s. She won a Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Female Newcomer in 1960. Over t ...
as Carol *
Treat Williams Richard Treat Williams (born December 1, 1951) is an American actor, writer and aviator who has appeared on film, stage and television in over 120 credits. He first became well known for his starring role in the 1979 musical film ''Hair'', and lat ...
as Jimmy O'Donnell * Danny Aiello as Police Chief Aiello * Richard Bright as Chicken Joe *
James Hayden James Hayden (November 25, 1953 – November 8, 1983) was an American actor from Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. Apart from starring on Broadway and in various movies, he is perhaps best known for playing Patrick "Patsy" Goldberg in the 1984 film ''Once Up ...
as Patsy **
Brian Bloom Brian Keith Bloom (born June 30, 1970) is an American actor and screenwriter. He co-wrote the screenplay and starred in ''The A-Team'', produced by brothers Tony and Ridley Scott. Bloom is the voice of Captain America in '' The Avengers: Earth ...
as Young Patsy * William Forsythe as Cockeye ** Adrian Curran as Young Cockeye *
Darlanne Fluegel Darlanne Fluegel (November 25, 1953 – December 15, 2017) was an American actress, fashion model, film producer and professor. She was one of the few American fashion models who successfully transitioned to a career as a serious actor. Fluegel ...
as Eve * Larry Rapp as Fat Moe ** Mike Monetti as Young Fat Moe *
Richard Foronjy Richard Foronjy (born August 3, 1937) is an American film and television actor. He is perhaps best known for playing the mobster Tony Darvo in the 1988 film ''Midnight Run''. Partial filmography *''Serpico'' (1973) - Corsaro *'' The Gambler ...
as Whitey * Robert Harper as Sharkey * Dutch Miller as Van Linden * Gerard Murphy as Crowning * Amy Ryder as Peggy ** Julie Cohen as Young Peggy *
Estelle Harris Estelle Harris (''née'' Nussbaum; April 22, 1928 – April 2, 2022) was an American actress and comedienne, known for her exaggerated shrill, grating voice. She was best known for her role as Estelle Costanza on ''Seinfeld''. Her other roles i ...
as Peggy's mother The cast also includes Noah Moazezi as Dominic,
James Russo James Vincent Russo (born April 23, 1953) is an American film and television actor. He has appeared in over 150 films in three decades. Early life Russo was born in New York City, New York, to an Italian father and German mother. A graduate of ...
as Bugsy, producer
Arnon Milchan Arnon Milchan ( he, ארנון מילצ'ן; December 6, 1944) is an Israeli businessman, film producer and spy. He has been involved in over 130 full-length motion pictures and is the founder of production company Regency Enterprises. Regency's f ...
as Noodles' chauffeur,
Marcia Jean Kurtz Marcia Jean Kurtz is an American film, stage, and television actress and director. She has appeared in such films as '' The Panic in Needle Park'', '' In Her Shoes'', and '' Big Fan'', appearing as Miriam Douglas in ''Dog Day Afternoon'' and ''I ...
as Max's mother,
Joey Faye Joey Faye (born Joseph Antony Palladino, July 12, 1909 or 1910 or 1902– April 26, 1997) was an American comedian and actor. Born in New York City, he gained fame as a comic in vaudeville and claimed that he created two of vaudeville's more reno ...
as an "Adorable Old Man", and
Olga Karlatos Olga Karlatos ( el, Όλγα Καρλάτου; born Olga Vlassopulos, April 20, 1945) is a retired Greek actress and Bermudian lawyer, known primarily for performing in Italian horror cinema. Career Between the end of the sixties and the e ...
as a wayang patron. Frank Gio, Ray Dittrich and Mario Brega (a regular supporting actor in Leone's '' Dollars Trilogy'') respectively appear as Beefy, Trigger and Mandy, a trio of gangsters who search for Noodles. Frequent De Niro collaborator Chuck Low and Leone's daughter Francesca respectively make uncredited appearances as Fat Moe and Deborah's father, and David Bailey's girlfriend. In the 2012 restoration, Louise Fletcher appears as the Cemetery Directress of Riverdale, where Noodles visits his friends' tomb in 1968.


Production


Development

During the mid-1960s, Sergio Leone had read the novel ''The Hoods'' by
Harry Grey Herschel Goldberg (November 2, 1901 – October 1, 1980), better known as Harry Grey, was a Russian Jewish-American writer. His first book, ''The Hoods'' (1952), was the model for the 1984 film ''Once Upon a Time in America'' by Sergio Leone, ...
, a pseudonym for the former gangster-turned-informant whose real name was Harry Goldberg. In 1968, after shooting '' Once Upon a Time in the West'', Leone made many efforts to talk to Grey. Having enjoyed Leone's ''Dollars Trilogy'', Grey finally responded and agreed to meet with Leone at a Manhattan bar. Following that initial meeting, Leone met with Grey several times throughout the remainder of the 1960s and 1970s, having discussions with him to understand America through Grey's point of view. Intent on making another trilogy about America consisting of ''Once Upon a Time in the West'', ''
Duck, You Sucker! ''Duck, You Sucker!'' ( it, Giù la testa, lit. "Duck Your Head", "Get Down"), also known as ''A Fistful of Dynamite'' and ''Once Upon a Time ... the Revolution'', is a 1971 epic Zapata Western film directed and co-written by Sergio Leone and ...
'' and ''Once Upon a Time in America'', Leone turned down an offer from Paramount Pictures to direct ''
The Godfather ''The Godfather'' is a 1972 American crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo, based on Puzo's best-selling 1969 The Godfather (novel), novel of the same title. The film stars Marlon Brando, Al ...
'' in order to pursue his pet project. Elements of
Norman Mailer Nachem Malech Mailer (January 31, 1923 – November 10, 2007), known by his pen name Norman Kingsley Mailer, was an American novelist, journalist, essayist, playwright, activist, filmmaker and actor. In a career spanning over six decades, Mailer ...
's first two drafts of a commissioned screenplay that was later drafted would appear in the film.


Filming

The filming of ''Once Upon a Time in America'' started in June 1982 and eventually ended in April the next year. The locations where the shooting took place were in and around US, Canada, Italy, and France, with a focal point in New York City. Interior scenes were mostly filmed at the
Cinecittà Studios Cinecittà Studios (; Italian for Cinema City Studios), is a large film studio in Rome, Italy. With an area of 400,000 square metres (99 acres), it is the largest film studio in Europe, and is considered the hub of Italian cinema. The studios w ...
in Rome. The beach scene, where Max unveils his plan to rob the Federal Reserve, was shot at
The Don CeSar The Don CeSar is a hotel located in St. Pete Beach, Florida. Developed by Thomas Rowe and opened in 1928, it gained renown as the Gulf playground for America's pampered rich at the height of the Jazz Age. The hotel was designed by Henry H. Dup ...
in
St. Pete Beach, Florida St. Pete Beach (formerly called St. Petersburg Beach) is a coastal city in Pinellas County, Florida. Known as a tourist destination, St. Pete Beach was formed from the towns of Pass-a-Grille, Belle Vista, St. Petersburg Beach and unincorporated P ...
. The New York's railway "Grand Central Station" scene in the thirties flashbacks was filmed in the Gare du Nord in Paris. The interiors of the lavish restaurant where Noodles takes Deborah on their date were shot in the in Venice, Italy.


Editing

By the end of filming, Leone had ten hours worth of footage. With his editor, Nino Baragli, Leone trimmed this to almost six hours, and he originally wanted to release the film in two parts. The producers refused, partly because of the commercial and critical failure of
Bernardo Bertolucci Bernardo Bertolucci (; 16 March 1941 – 26 November 2018) was an Italian film director and screenwriter with a career that spanned 50 years. Considered one of the greatest directors in Italian cinema, Bertolucci's work achieved international ...
's two-part ''
1900 As of March 1 ( O.S. February 17), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 13 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 15), 2 ...
'', and Leone was forced to further shorten it. The film was originally 269 minutes (4 hours and 29 minutes), but when the film premiered out of competition at the
1984 Cannes Film Festival The 37th Cannes Film Festival was held from 11 to 23 May 1984. The Palme d'Or went to the ''Paris, Texas'' by Wim Wenders. The festival opened with '' Fort Saganne'', directed by Alain Corneau and closed with '' The Bounty'', directed by Roger D ...
, Leone had cut it to 229 minutes (3 hours and 49 minutes) to appease the distributors, which was the version shown in European cinemas.


Music

The musical score was composed by Leone's longtime collaborator Ennio Morricone. "Deborah's Theme" was written for another film in the 1970s but was rejected. The score is also notable for Morricone's incorporation of the music of
Gheorghe Zamfir Gheorghe Zamfir (; born April 6, 1941) is a Romanian nai (pan flute) musician. Zamfir is known for playing an expanded version of normally 20-pipe nai, with 22, 25, 28 or even 30 pipes, to increase its range, and obtaining as many as eight ov ...
, who plays a
pan flute A pan flute (also known as panpipes or syrinx) is a musical instrument based on the principle of the closed tube, consisting of multiple pipes of gradually increasing length (and occasionally girth). Multiple varieties of pan flutes have been ...
. Zamfir's flute music was used to similar effect in Peter Weir's '' Picnic at Hanging Rock'' (1975). Morricone also collaborated with vocalist
Edda Dell'Orso Edda Dell'Orso (born Edda Sabatini; February 16, 1935) is an Italian singer known for her collaboration with composer Ennio Morricone, for whom she provided wordless vocals to a large number of his film scores. Dell'Orso also provided vocals to ...
on the score. Besides the original music, the film used source music, including: * "
God Bless America "God Bless America" is an American patriotic song written by Irving Berlin during World War I in 1918 and revised by him in the run up to World War II in 1938. The later version was notably recorded by Kate Smith, becoming her signature s ...
" (written by
Irving Berlin Irving Berlin (born Israel Beilin; yi, ישראל ביילין; May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989) was a Russian-American composer, songwriter and lyricist. His music forms a large part of the Great American Songbook. Born in Imperial Russi ...
, performed by Kate Smith – 1943) – Plays over the opening credits from a radio in Eve's bedroom and briefly at the film's ending. * " Yesterday" (written by
Lennon–McCartney Lennon–McCartney was the songwriting partnership between English musicians John Lennon (1940–1980) and Paul McCartney (born 1942) of the Beatles. It is the best-known and most successful musical collaboration ever by records sold, with the ...
– 1965) – A
Muzak Muzak is an American brand of background music played in retail stores and other public establishments. The name has been in use since 1934, and has been owned by a division or subsidiary of one or another company ever since. In 1981, Westingh ...
version of this piece plays when Noodles first returns to New York in 1968, examining himself in a train station mirror. An instrumental version of the song also plays briefly during the dialogue scene between Noodles and "Bailey" towards the end of the film. * " Summertime" (written by
George Gershwin George Gershwin (; born Jacob Gershwine; September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned popular, jazz and classical genres. Among his best-known works are the orchestral compositions ' ...
– 1935) An instrumental version of the
aria In music, an aria (Italian: ; plural: ''arie'' , or ''arias'' in common usage, diminutive form arietta , plural ariette, or in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompanime ...
from the opera ''
Porgy and Bess ''Porgy and Bess'' () is an English-language opera by American composer George Gershwin, with a libretto written by author DuBose Heyward and lyricist Ira Gershwin. It was adapted from Dorothy Heyward and DuBose Heyward's play '' Porgy'', i ...
'' is playing softly in the background as Noodles, just before leaving, explains to "Secretary Bailey" why he could never kill his friend. * " Amapola" (written by
Joseph Lacalle José María Lacalle García, known in Anglo America as Joseph M. Lacalle (November 17, 1859 – June 11, 1937) was a clarinetist, composer, conductor and music critic. He is best known for composing the song " Amapola". His surname is misspe ...
, American lyrics by Albert Gamse – 1923) – Originally an opera piece, several instrumental versions of this song were played during the film; a jazzy version, which was played on the gramophone danced to by young Deborah in 1918; a similar version played by Fat Moe's jazz band in the speakeasy in 1930; and a string version, during Noodles' date with Deborah. Both versions are available on the soundtrack. * Part of the third theme from the overture to ''
La gazza ladra ''La gazza ladra'' (, ''The Thieving Magpie'') is a '' melodramma'' or opera semiseria in two acts by Gioachino Rossini, with a libretto by Giovanni Gherardini based on ''La pie voleuse'' by Théodore Baudouin d'Aubigny and Louis-Charles Cai ...
'' (
Gioachino Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer who gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano pieces, and some sacred music. He set new standards f ...
– 1817) – Used during the baby-switching scene in the hospital. * " Night and Day" (written and sung by
Cole Porter Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway and in film. Born to ...
– 1932) – Played by a jazz band during the beach scene before the beachgoers receive word of Prohibition's repeal, and during the party at the house of "Secretary Bailey" in 1968. * " St. James Infirmary Blues" is used during the Prohibition "funeral" at the gang's speakeasy. A soundtrack album was released in 1984 by
Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it is ...
. This was followed by a special-edition release in 1995, featuring four additional tracks.


Release

''Once Upon a Time in America'' premiered at the 1984 Cannes Film Festival on May 20, 1984. It received a raucous, record-breaking ovation of nearly 20 minutes after the screening (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. In the United States, the film received a wide release in 894 theaters on 1 June 1984, and grossed $2.4 million during its opening weekend. It ended its box office run with a gross of just over $5.3 million on a $30 million budget, and became a
box office flop A box-office bomb, or box-office disaster, is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the production, marketing, and distribution costs combined exceed the revenue after ...
. Numerous women at the film's premiere reacted furiously, mostly due to the two rape sequences. One among them later confronted Robert De Niro in a press conference and made harsh comments to the film's depiction, describing it as "blatant, gratuitous violence." In general, the rape scenes specifically were controversial. Richard Godden defended Leone's representation of rape that it "articulates the dysfunction between bodies in images and bodies themselves." Elizabeth McGovern supported Godden's claim and said that Leone didn't intend to glamorize any "violent sex". In his book, Sergio Leone's scholar
Christopher Frayling Sir Christopher John Frayling (born 25 December 1946) is a British educationalist and writer, known for his study of popular culture. Early life and education Christopher Frayling was born in Hampton, a suburb of London, in affluent circumstance ...
argues that the movie's central gang are all emotionally stunted: "... like small boys obsessed with their equipment who have no idea how to relate to flesh-and-blood women."


Versions


U.S. version

The film was shown in limited release and for film critics in North America, where it was slightly trimmed to secure an "R" rating. Cuts were made to two rape scenes and some of the more graphic violence at the beginning. Noodles' meeting with Bailey in 1968 was also excised. The film gained a mediocre reception at several sneak premieres in North America. Because of this early audience reaction, the fear of its length, its graphic violence, and the inability of theaters to have multiple showings in one day, The Ladd Company cut entire scenes and removed approximately 90 minutes of the film, without the supervision of Sergio Leone. This American wide release (1984, 139 minutes) was drastically different from the European release, as the non-chronological story was rearranged into chronological order. Other major cuts involved many of the childhood sequences, making the adult 1933 sections more prominent. Noodles' 1968 meeting with Deborah was excised, and the scene with Bailey ends with him shooting himself (with the sound of a gunshot off screen) rather than the garbage truck conclusion of the 229-minute version. Sergio Leone's daughter, Raffaella Leone said that Leone had dismissed the US version as not his own movie.


USSR

In the Soviet Union, the film was shown theatrically in the late 1980s, with other Hollywood blockbusters such as the two ''King Kong'' films. The story was rearranged in chronological order and the film was split in two, with the two parts shown as separate movies, one containing the childhood scenes and the other comprising the adulthood scenes. Despite the rearranging, no major scene deletions were made.


Restored original

In March 2011, it was announced that Leone's original 269-minute version was to be re-created by a film lab in Italy under the supervision of Leone's children, who had acquired the Italian distribution rights, and the film's original sound editor, Fausto Ancillai, for a premiere in 2012 at either the
Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films ...
or Venice Film Festival. The restored film premiered at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival, but because of unforeseen rights issues for the deleted scenes, the restoration had a runtime of only 251 minutes. However,
Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Scorsese emerged as one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era. He is the recipient of many major accolades, inclu ...
(whose Film Foundation helped with the restoration) stated that he was helping Leone's children gain the rights to the final 24 minutes of deleted scenes to create a complete restoration of Leone's envisaged 269-minute version. On 3 August 2012, it was reported that after the premiere at Cannes, the restored film was pulled from circulation, pending further restoration work.


Home media

In North America, a two-tape VHS was released by
Warner Home Video Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Inc. (formerly known as Warner Home Video and WCI Home Video and sometimes credited as Warner Home Entertainment) is the home video distribution division of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Vide ...
with a runtime of 226 minutes in February 1985 and 1991. The U.S. theatrical cut was also released at the same time in February 1985. A two-disc special edition was released on 10 June 2003, featuring the 229-minute version of the film. This special edition was re-released on 11 January 2011, on both DVD and Blu-ray. On 30 September 2014, Warner Bros. released a two-disc Blu-ray and DVD set of the 251-minute restoration shown at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival, dubbed the ''Extended Director's Cut''. This version was previously released in Italy, on 4 September 2012.


Critical reception

The initial critical response to ''Once Upon a Time in America'' was mixed, because of the different versions released worldwide. While internationally the film was well received in its original form, American critics were much more dissatisfied with the 139-minute version released in North America. This condensed version was a critical and financial disaster, and many American critics who knew of Leone's original cut attacked the short version. Some critics compared shortening the film to shortening Richard Wagner's operas, saying that works of art that are meant to be long should be given the respect they deserve. In his 1984 review,
Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
gave the uncut version four stars out of four and wrote that it was "an epic poem of violence and greed", but described the American theatrical version as a "travesty". Furthermore, he gave the American theatrical version one star out of four, calling it "an incomprehensible mess without texture, timing, mood, or sense." Ebert's television film critic partner
Gene Siskel Eugene Kal Siskel (January 26, 1946 – February 20, 1999) was an American film critic and journalist for the ''Chicago Tribune''. Along with colleague Roger Ebert, he hosted a series of movie review programs on television from 1975 until his d ...
considered the uncut version to be the best film of 1984 and the shortened, linear studio version to be the worst film of 1984.
Vincent Canby Vincent Canby (July 27, 1924 – October 15, 2000) was an American film and theatre critic who served as the chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1969 until the early 1990s, then its chief theatre critic from 1994 until his death in ...
of '' The New York Times'' criticized the nonlinear narrative that is structured throughout the film. It was only after Leone's death and the subsequent restoration of the original version that critics began to give it the kind of praise displayed at its original Cannes showing. The uncut original film is considered to be far superior to the edited version released in the U.S. in 1984. Ebert, in his review of
Brian De Palma Brian Russell De Palma (born September 11, 1940) is an American film director and screenwriter. With a career spanning over 50 years, he is best known for his work in the suspense, crime and psychological thriller genres. De Palma was a leading ...
's ''
The Untouchables Untouchables or The Untouchables may refer to: American history * Untouchables (law enforcement), a 1930s American law enforcement unit led by Eliot Ness * ''The Untouchables'' (book), an autobiography by Eliot Ness and Oscar Fraley * ''The Un ...
'', called the original uncut version of ''Once Upon a Time in America'' the best film depicting the Prohibition era.
James Woods James Howard Woods (born April 18, 1947) is an American actor. He is known for his work in various film, stage, and television productions. He started his career in minor roles on and off-Broadway. In 1972, he appeared in '' The Trial of the ...
, who considers it to be Leone's finest film, mentioned in the DVD documentary that one critic dubbed the film the worst of 1984, only to see the original cut years later and call it the best of the 1980s. Some were critical towards the movie's graphic violence and cruelty, with Donald Clarke of ''
The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...
'' condemning it as a "fistful of misogyny" and offensively " sexist". On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, ''Once Upon a Time in America'' has an approval rating of 87% based on 54 reviews, with an average score of 8.50/10. The website's critic consensus reads, "Sergio Leone's epic crime drama is visually stunning, stylistically bold, and emotionally haunting, and filled with great performances from the likes of Robert De Niro and James Woods." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 75 out of 100 based on reviews from 20 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". The film has since been ranked as one of the best films of the gangster genre. When '' Sight & Sound'' asked several UK critics in 2002 what their favorite films of the last 25 years were, ''Once Upon a Time in America'' placed at number 10. In 2015, the film was ranked at number nine on '' Time Out''s list of the 50 best gangster films of all time, while in 2021, '' The Guardian'' cited it as the fourth greatest mobster film ever made.


Accolades

Unlike its modern critical success, the initial American release did not fare well with critics and received no
Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
nominations. The film's music was disqualified from Oscar consideration for a technicality, as the studio accidentally omitted the composer's name from the opening credits when trimming its running time for the American release.


Interpretations

As the film begins and ends in 1933, with Noodles hiding in an opium den from syndicate hitmen, and the last shot of the film is of Noodles in a smiling, opium-soaked high, the film can be interpreted as having been a drug-induced dream, with Noodles remembering his past and envisioning the future. In an interview by Noël Simsolo published in 1987, Leone confirms the validity of this interpretation, saying that the scenes set in the 1960s could be seen as an opium dream of Noodles'. In the DVD commentary for the film,
film historian The history of film chronicles the development of a visual art, visual art form created using history of film technology, film technologies that began in the late 19th century. The advent of film as an artistic medium is not clearly defined. ...
and critic Richard Schickel states that opium users often report vivid dreams, and that these visions have a tendency to explore the user's past and future. The ending in which Max appears as Noodles is leaving Bailey's mansion and then suddenly disappears behind a truck only for Noodles to see the blades of the truck spinning, was reportedly left ambiguous on purpose. James Woods, who played Max, stated that he does not know if Max jumped in the truck or just disappeared. Critic Carlo Affatigato described this twist as a "
paradox A paradox is a logically self-contradictory statement or a statement that runs contrary to one's expectation. It is a statement that, despite apparently valid reasoning from true premises, leads to a seemingly self-contradictory or a logically u ...
," postulating that the whole film is about how Noodles spends the second half of his life seeking out the truth of what happened, only to discover it, not accept it, and not investigate what happens to Max in the end. Noodles only wants to believe the reality he has created for himself, not an objective one. Affatigato also believes this could point to it all being the imagination of Noodles. Many people (including Schickel) assume that the 1968 Frisbee scene, which has an immediate cut and gives no further resolution, was part of a longer sequence. Ebert stated that the purpose of the flying disc scene was to establish the 1960s time frame and nothing more.


See also

* List of films cut over the director's opposition


Notes


References


Sources

* * * * *


External links

* * * * {{Authority control 1980s American films 1980s English-language films 1980s Italian films 1980s Italian-language films 1984 crime drama films 1984 films American crime drama films American epic films American gangster films American nonlinear narrative films English-language Italian films Films about Jewish-American organized crime Films about prohibition in the United States Films about rape Films based on American novels Films directed by Sergio Leone Films produced by Arnon Milchan Films scored by Ennio Morricone Films set in 1918 Films set in 1930 Films set in 1932 Films set in 1933 Films set in 1968 Films set in Brooklyn Films set in New York City Films shot at Cinecittà Studios Films shot in Florida Films shot in New Jersey Films shot in New York City Films shot in Venice Films with screenplays by Ernesto Gastaldi Films with screenplays by Sergio Leone Italian crime drama films Italian epic films Regency Enterprises films The Ladd Company films Warner Bros. films Yiddish-language films