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 cinema. Leone's film-making style includes juxtaposing extreme close-up shots with lengthy

long shot In photography, filmmaking and video production, a wide shot (sometimes referred to as a full shot or long shot) is a shot that typically shows the entire object or human figure and is usually intended to place it in some relation to its surro ...

s. His movies include the ''

Dollars Trilogy ''Dollars Trilogy'' ( it, link=no, Trilogia del dollaro), also known as the ''Man with No Name Trilogy'' ( it, link=no, Trilogia dell'Uomo senza nome) or the ''Blood Money Trilogy'', is an Italian film series consisting of three Spaghetti Weste ...

'' of Westerns featuring Clint Eastwood: ''

A Fistful of Dollars ''A Fistful of Dollars'' ( it, Per un pugno di dollari, lit=For a Fistful of Dollars titled on-screen as ''Fistful of Dollars'') is a 1964 Spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood in his first leading role, ...

'' (1964), '' For a Few Dollars More'' (1965), and ''

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly ''The Good, the Bad and the Ugly'' ( it, Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo, literally "The good, the ugly, the bad") is a 1966 Italian epic spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood as "the Good", Lee Van Clee ...

'' (1966); and the ''Once Upon a Time'' films: ''

Once Upon a Time in the West ''Once Upon a Time in the West'' ( , "Once upon a time (there was) the West") is a 1968 epic Spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Leone, who co-wrote it with Sergio Donati based on a story by Dario Argento, Bernardo Bertolucci, and Leone ...

'' (1968), ''

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), and ''

Once Upon a Time in America ''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 and starring Robert De Niro and James Woods. The film is an Italian–American venture prod ...

'' (1984).

Early life

Born on 3 January 1929 in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, Leone was the son of the cinema pioneer

Vincenzo Leone Vincenzo Leone (24 July 1879 – 10 January 1959), known professionally as Roberto Roberti, was an Italian actor, screenwriter and film director. He made over sixty films, mostly during the silent era. He was married to the actress Bice Valerian ...

(known as director Roberto Roberti or Leone Roberto Roberti) and

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized Sound recording and reproduction, recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) ...

actress

Edvige Valcarenghi Bice Valerian (born Edvige Maria Valcarenghi, 8 May 1886 – 1969) Birth name: Edvige Maria Valcarenghi. was an Italian film actress of the silent era. She was the wife of the actor and director Roberto Roberti and the mother of Sergio Leone. S ...

(Bice Valerian). During his schooldays, Leone was a classmate of his later musical collaborator Ennio Morricone for a time. After watching his father work on film sets, Leone began his own career in the

film industry The film industry or motion picture industry comprises the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking, i.e., film production companies, film studios, cinematography, animation, film production, screenwriting, pre-production, p ...

at the age of 18 after dropping out of law studies at the university. Working in

Italian cinema The cinema of Italy (, ) comprises the films made within Italy or by Italian directors. Since its beginning, Italian cinema has influenced film movements worldwide. Italy is one of the birthplaces of art cinema and the stylistic aspect of film ha ...

, he began as an assistant to

Vittorio De Sica Vittorio De Sica ( , ; 7 July 1901 – 13 November 1974) was an Italian film director and actor, a leading figure in the neorealist movement. Four of the films he directed won Academy Awards: ''Sciuscià'' and ''Bicycle Thieves'' (honorary) ...

during the production for the movie ''

Bicycle Thieves ''Bicycle Thieves'' ( it, Ladri di biciclette; sometimes known in the United States as ''The Bicycle Thief'') is a 1948 Italian neorealist drama film directed by Vittorio De Sica. It follows the story of a poor father searching in post- World ...

'' in 1948. Leone began writing screenplays during the 1950s, primarily for the '

sword and sandal Sword-and-sandal, also known as peplum (pepla plural), is a subgenre of largely Italian-made historical, mythological, or Biblical epics mostly set in the Greco-Roman antiquity or the Middle Ages. These films attempted to emulate the big-budge ...

' (a.k.a. 'peplum') historical epics, popular at the time. He also worked as an assistant director on several large-scale international productions shot 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 we ...

in Rome, notably ''

Quo Vadis ''Quō vādis?'' (, ) is a Latin phrase meaning "Where are you marching?". It is also commonly translated as "Where are you going?" or, poetically, "Whither goest thou?" The phrase originates from the Christian tradition regarding Saint Pete ...

'' (1951) and '' Ben-Hur'' (1959), financially backed by the American studios. When director

Mario Bonnard Mario Bonnard (24 December 1889 – 22 March 1965) was an Italian actor and film director. Bonnard was born and died in Rome. He began his cinematic career as an actor becoming a popular romantic lead in numerous silent films made before World ...

fell ill during the production of the 1959 Italian epic ''

The Last Days of Pompeii ''The Last Days of Pompeii'' is a novel written by Edward Bulwer-Lytton in 1834. The novel was inspired by the painting ''The Last Day of Pompeii'' by the Russian painter Karl Briullov, which Bulwer-Lytton had seen in Milan. It culminates in ...

'' (''Gli Ultimi Giorni di Pompei''), starring Steve Reeves, Leone was asked to step in and complete the film. As a result, when the time came to make his solo directorial debut with ''

The Colossus of Rhodes The Colossus of Rhodes ( grc, ὁ Κολοσσὸς Ῥόδιος, ho Kolossòs Rhódios gr, Κολοσσός της Ρόδου, Kolossós tes Rhódou) was a statue of the Greek sun-god Helios, erected in the city of Rhodes, on the Greek isla ...

'' (''Il Colosso di Rodi'', 1961), Leone was well equipped to produce low-budget films which looked like larger-budget Hollywood movies.

Career

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 Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

. His film ''

'' (''Per un pugno di dollari'', 1964) was based upon

Akira Kurosawa was a Japanese filmmaker and painter who directed thirty films in a career spanning over five decades. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema. Kurosawa displayed a bold, dyna ...

's Edo-era

samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...

adventure ''

Yojimbo is a 1961 Japanese Samurai cinema, samurai film co-written, produced, edited, and directed by Akira Kurosawa. The film stars Toshiro Mifune, Tatsuya Nakadai, Yoko Tsukasa, Isuzu Yamada, Daisuke Katō, Takashi Shimura, Kamatari Fujiwara, and Ats ...

'' (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 Samuel Dashiell Hammett (; May 27, 1894 – January 10, 1961) was an American writer of hard-boiled detective novels and short stories. He was also a screenwriter and political activist. Among the enduring characters he created are Sam Spade ('' ...

novel, ''

Red Harvest ''Red Harvest'' (1929) is a novel by Dashiell Hammett. The story is narrated by the Continental Op, a frequent character in Hammett's fiction, much of which is drawn from his own experiences as an operative of the Pinkerton Detective Agency (fic ...

''. ''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. Cera-una-volta-il-west

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, and there was 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 ''

'' (''Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo'', 1966), completed what has come to be known as the ''

Man with No Name The Man with No Name ( it, Uomo senza nome) is the antihero character portrayed by Clint Eastwood in Sergio Leone's "''Dollars Trilogy''" of Italian Spaghetti Western films: ''A Fistful of Dollars'' (1964), ''For a Few Dollars More'' (1965), ...

trilogy'' (or ''the

''), 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 Eli Herschel Wallach (; December 7, 1915 – June 24, 2014) was an American film, television, and stage actor from New York City. From his 1945 Broadway debut to his last film appearance, Wallach's entertainment career spanned 65 years. Origina ...

Lee van Cleef Clarence LeRoy Van Cleef Jr. (January 9, 1925 – December 16, 1989) was an American actor. He appeared in over 170 film and television roles in a career spanning nearly 40 years, but is best known as a star of Italian Spaghetti Westerns, parti ...

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 ''

'' (''C'era una volta il West'') for Paramount Pictures. The film was shot mostly in

Almería Almería (, , ) is a city and municipality of Spain, located in Andalusia. It is the capital of the province of the same name. It lies on southeastern Iberia on the Mediterranean Sea. Caliph Abd al-Rahman III founded the city in 955. The city g ...

, Spain and

Cinecittà 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 we ...

in Rome. It was also briefly shot in Monument Valley,

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

. The film starred Charles Bronson,

Henry Fonda Henry Jaynes Fonda (May 16, 1905 – August 12, 1982) was an American actor. He had a career that spanned five decades on Broadway and in Hollywood. He cultivated an everyman screen image in several films considered to be classics. Born and ra ...

Jason Robards Jason Nelson Robards Jr. (July 26, 1922 – December 26, 2000) was an American actor. Known as an interpreter of the works of playwright Eugene O'Neill, Robards received two Academy Awards, a Tony Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and the Cannes ...

and

Claudia Cardinale Claude Joséphine Rose "Claudia" Cardinale (; born 15 April 1938) is an Italian actress. She has starred in some of the most iconic European films of the 1960s and 1970s, acting in Italian, French, and English. Born and raised in La Goulette, a ...

. ''Once Upon a Time in the West'' emerged as a long, 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. Perhaps unsurpassed as a retribution drama, the film's script was written by Leone and his longtime friend and collaborator

Sergio Donati Sergio Donati (born 13 April 1933) is an Italian screenwriter. He has written for more than 70 films since 1952. He was born in Rome, Italy. He started as a writer and had some of his books optioned for film. He is well known for his collaborati ...

, from a story by

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 ...

and Dario Argento, both of whom went on to have significant careers as directors. Before its release, however, it was ruthlessly edited by Paramount, which perhaps contributed to its 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 amongst 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 ''

'' (''Giù la testa'', 1971). Leone was intending merely to produce the film, but due to artistic differences with then-director

Peter Bogdanovich Peter Bogdanovich (July 30, 1939 – January 6, 2022) was an American director, writer, actor, producer, critic, and film historian. One of the "New Hollywood" directors, Bogdanovich started as a film journalist until he was hired to work on R ...

, Leone was asked to direct the film instead. ''Duck, You Sucker!'' is a

Mexican Revolution The Mexican Revolution ( es, Revolución Mexicana) was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from approximately 1910 to 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history". It resulted in the destruction ...

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 ''My Name Is Nobody'' ( it, Il mio nome è Nessuno) is a 1973 Italian/French/German international co-production comedy Spaghetti Western starring Terence Hill and Henry Fonda. The film was directed by Tonino Valerii and based on an idea by Ser ...

'' (1973) by

Tonino Valerii Tonino Valerii (20 May 1934 – 13 October 2016) was an Italian film director, most known for his Spaghetti Westerns. Tonino (Antonio) Valerii started his film career as an assistant director on Sergio Leone's ''A Fistful of Dollars'', before mo ...

, 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 Terence Hill (born Mario Girotti; 29 March 1939) is an Italian actor, film director, screenwriter and producer. He began his career as a child actor and gained international fame for starring roles in action and comedy films, many with longtim ...

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 Ugo Tognazzi (23 March 1922 – 27 October 1990) was an Italian actor, director, and screenwriter. Early life Tognazzi was born in Cremona, in northern Italy but spent his youth in various localities as his father was a travelling clerk fo ...

), and ''

A Dangerous Toy ''A Dangerous Toy'' (originally titled ''Il giocattolo'') is a 1979 Italian crime drama film written and directed by Giuliano Montaldo. It was co-produced by Sergio Leone. The toy of the title is a gun. The film chronicles how a frustrated and sh ...

'' (''Il Giocattolo''; 1979, starring

Nino Manfredi Saturnino "Nino" Manfredi (22 March 1921 – 4 June 2004) was an Italian actor, voice actor, director, screenwriter, playwright, comedian, singer, author, radio personality and television presenter. He was one of the most prominent Italian a ...

). Leone also produced three comedies by actor/director

Carlo Verdone Carlo Gregorio Verdone (born 17 November 1950) is an Italian actor, screenwriter and film director. Verdone is best known for his comedic roles in Italian classics, which he also wrote and directed. His career was jumpstarted by his first thre ...

, 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 ''Troppo forte'' (also known as ''Great'', ''He's Too Much'' and ''Too Much'') is a 1986 Italian comedy film directed by Carlo Verdone. Plot Oscar Pettinari is a young hick from the suburbs of Rome, who gravitates around Cinecittà trying rather ...

'' (''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 ''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 novel of the same title. The film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caa ...

'', in favor of working on another gangster story he had conceived earlier. He devoted ten years to this project, based on the novel ''The Hoods'' by former mobster

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, ...

, 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, ''

'' (1984), featured 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 ...

. 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 A masterpiece, ''magnum opus'' (), or ''chef-d’œuvre'' (; ; ) in modern use is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, ...

. According to biographer Sir Christopher Frayling, Leone was deeply hurt by the studio-imposed editing and poor commercial reception of ''

'' in North America. It was his last film. In 1988, he was head of the jury at the 45th Venice International Film Festival.1988 Venice Film Festival
, at the Internet Movie Database

Death

Leone died on 30 April 1989 of a heart attack at the age of 60. He was buried in the cemetery of

Pratica di Mare Pomezia () is a municipality (''comune'') in the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital, Lazio, central Italy. In 2009 it had a population of about 60,000. History The town was built entirely new near the location of ancient Lavinium on land resulting ...

Unrealized projects

''A Place Only Mary Knows''

A treatment for an "Americanized" western was written by Leone, Luca Morsella, and Fabio Toncelli. It is speculated to have been Leone's last western and was to have starred

Mickey Rourke Philip Andre "Mickey" Rourke Jr. (; born September 16, 1952) is an American actor and former boxer who has appeared primarily as a leading man in drama, action, and thriller films. During the star of the 1980s, Rourke played supporting roles i ...

and

Richard Gere Richard Tiffany Gere ( ; born August 31, 1949) is an American actor. He began in films in the 1970s, playing a supporting role in '' Looking for Mr. Goodbar'' (1977) and a starring role in ''Days of Heaven'' (1978). He came to prominence with ...

as the two main leads. Set during the height of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, the story focused on a Union drafter, Mike Kutcher from

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, whose job is to enroll men into the

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...

. The other is Richard Burns, a Southern shady businessman transplanted to the

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

after a successful heist with his ex-lover and partner, Mary. They try searching for the buried treasure left behind in an unmarked grave outside

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

in "A Place Only Mary Knows". Joined by a

freed slave A freedman or freedwoman is a formerly enslaved person who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, enslaved people were freed by manumission (granted freedom by their captor-owners), emancipation (granted freedom a ...

and an Italian immigrant, Francesco, who arrives via the

Port of Boston The Port of Boston ( AMS Seaport Code: 0401, UN/LOCODE: US BOS) is a major seaport located in Boston Harbor and adjacent to the City of Boston. It is the largest port in Massachusetts and one of the principal ports on the East Coast of the Unite ...

, they try desperately to avoid the battles of the ongoing war between the states. The film was to have been a homage to classic writers from literature such as

Edgar Lee Masters Edgar Lee Masters (August 23, 1868 – March 5, 1950) was an American attorney, poet, biographer, and dramatist. He is the author of ''Spoon River Anthology'', ''The New Star Chamber and Other Essays'', ''Songs and Satires'', ''The Great V ...

(''

Spoon River Anthology ''Spoon River Anthology'' (1915), by Edgar Lee Masters, is a collection of short free verse poems that collectively narrates the epitaphs of the residents of Spoon River, a fictional small town named after the Spoon River, which ran near Masters' ...

''),

Ambrose Bierce Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce (June 24, 1842 – ) was an American short story writer, journalist, poet, and American Civil War veteran. His book '' The Devil's Dictionary'' was named as one of "The 100 Greatest Masterpieces of American Literature" by ...

(''

An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" (1890) is a short story by the American writer and Civil War veteran Ambrose Bierce. Described as "one of the most famous and frequently anthologized stories in American literature","An Occurrence at Owl Creek ...

''),

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...

('' The Private History of a Campaign that Failed''),

Stephen Crane Stephen Crane (November 1, 1871 – June 5, 1900) was an American poet, novelist, and short story writer. Prolific throughout his short life, he wrote notable works in the Realist tradition as well as early examples of American Naturalism an ...

(''

The Red Badge of Courage ''The Red Badge of Courage'' is a war novel by American author Stephen Crane (1871–1900). Taking place during the American Civil War, the story is about a young private of the Union Army, Henry Fleming, who flees from the field of battle. Ove ...

''), and

Margaret Mitchell Margaret Munnerlyn Mitchell (November 8, 1900 – August 16, 1949) was an American novelist and journalist. Mitchell wrote only one novel, published during her lifetime, the American Civil War-era novel '' Gone with the Wind'', for which she wo ...

(''

Gone with the Wind Gone with the Wind most often refers to: * ''Gone with the Wind'' (novel), a 1936 novel by Margaret Mitchell * ''Gone with the Wind'' (film), the 1939 adaptation of the novel Gone with the Wind may also refer to: Music * ''Gone with the Wind'' ...

''), whose novel he had wanted to film a remake of. Although the written treatment never got turned into a full screenplay, Leone's son Andrea had it published in a June 2004 issue of the Italian cinema magazine ''

Ciak ''Ciak'' is a popular Italian film magazine published in Milan, Italy. It is the most popular film magazine in Italy. The title is the Italian word (also spelled ''ciac'', for a film clapperboard. History and profile ''Ciak'' was established in ...

''. It is not certain if the treatment's publication will ever lead to a full production in America or Italy.

''Leningrad: The 900 Days''

While finishing work on ''Once Upon a Time in America'' in 1982, Leone was impressed with

Harrison Salisbury Harrison Evans Salisbury (November 14, 1908 – July 5, 1993), was an American journalist and the first regular ''New York Times'' correspondent in Moscow after World War II. Biography Salisbury was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He gradu ...

's non-fiction book ''The 900 Days: The Siege of Leningrad'', and he planned on adapting the book as a war epic. Although no formal script had been completed or leaked, Leone came up with the opening scene and basic plot. According to the documentary ''Once Upon a Time, Sergio Leone'', the film opened ''

in medias res A narrative work beginning ''in medias res'' (, "into the middle of things") opens in the midst of the plot (cf. ''ab ovo'', ''ab initio''). Often, exposition is bypassed and filled in gradually, through dialogue, flashbacks or description of pa ...

'' as the camera goes from focusing on a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

hiding from the

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in N ...

' artillery fire to panning hundreds of feet away to show the German Army Panzer divisions approaching the walls of the city. The plot was to focus on an American photographer on assignment (whom Leone wanted to be played by Robert De Niro) becoming trapped in

Leningrad Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

as the German Luftwaffe begin to bombard the city. Throughout the course of the film, he becomes romantically involved with a Soviet woman, whom he later impregnates, as they attempt to survive the prolonged siege and the

secret police Secret police (or political police) are intelligence, security or police agencies that engage in covert operations against a government's political, religious, or social opponents and dissidents. Secret police organizations are characteristic of ...

, because relationships with foreigners are forbidden. According to Leone, "In the end, the cameraman dies on the day of the liberation of the city, when he is currently filming the surrender of the Germans. And the girl is aware of his death by chance seeing a movie news: the camera sees it explode under a shell .... " By 1989, Leone set the film's budget at $100 million, and had secured half of that amount in financing from independent backers from the Soviet Union. He had convinced Ennio Morricone to compose the film score, and

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 ...

was tapped to be the cinematographer. Shooting was scheduled to begin sometime in 1990. The project was canceled when Leone died two days before he was to officially sign on for the film.

Alex Cox Alexander B. H. Cox (born 15 December 1954) is an English film director, screenwriter, actor, non-fiction author and broadcaster. Cox experienced success early in his career with '' Repo Man'' and ''Sid and Nancy'', but since the release and co ...

offered to replace Leone as director, but was unable to secure the remaining $50 million required to produce the film.

''Don Quixote''

According to Frayling's biography of Leone, ''Something to Do with Death'', he envisioned a contemporary adaptation of

Cervantes Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (; 29 September 1547 (assumed) – 22 April 1616 Old Style and New Style dates, NS) was an Early Modern Spanish writer widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world's pre-emin ...

' 17th century novel ''

Don Quixote is a Spanish epic novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts, in 1605 and 1615, its full title is ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'' or, in Spanish, (changing in Part 2 to ). A founding work of Wester ...

'' with Clint Eastwood in the title role and

Sancho Panza Sancho Panza () is a fictional character in the novel ''Don Quixote'' written by Spanish author Don Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra in 1605. Sancho acts as squire to Don Quixote and provides comments throughout the novel, known as ''sanchismos'', ...

. He had discussed doing the project throughout the 1960s–1970s, and he started seriously considering it towards the end of his life.

''Colt''

In 1987, Sergio Leone contacted his old collaborators Sergio Donati and Fulvio Morsella, pitching an idea for a TV miniseries about a

Colt revolver Colt's Manufacturing Company, LLC (CMC, formerly Colt's Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company) is an American firearms manufacturer, founded in 1855 by Samuel Colt and is now a subsidiary of Czech holding company Colt CZ Group. It is the succ ...

that passed from owner to owner throughout the Old West, similar to Anthony Mann's film ''

Winchester '73 ''Winchester '73'' is a 1950 American Western film directed by Anthony Mann and starring James Stewart, Shelley Winters, Dan Duryea and Stephen McNally. Written by Borden Chase and Robert L. Richards, the film is about the journey of a pr ...

'' (1950). Donati indicated that Leone was interested in a more revisionist take on the genre than his earlier works, wanting to show the Old West "like it really was." Leone abandoned this project in favor of ''A Place Only Mary Knows'', though Donati wrote a treatment and the project remained in gestation for years after Leone's death. An adaptation based on Leone's subject is currently in production. Appointed director is Italian film-maker

Stefano Sollima Stefano Sollima (born 4 May 1966) is an Italian director and screenwriter. He is best known for his gritty crime-drama films such as ''ACAB – All Cops Are Bastards'' (2012), ''Suburra'' (2015), and '' Sicario: Day of the Soldado'' (2018), as w ...

Other planned films

Leone was also an avid fan of

's novel ''

'' and the 1939 film adaptation. His relatives and close friends stated that he talked about filming a remake that was closer to the original novel, but it never advanced beyond discussions to any serious form of production. In 1969, Sergio Leone was contracted to direct ''

99 and 44/100% Dead ''99 and 44/100% Dead!'' is a 1974 American action comedy film directed by John Frankenheimer and starring Richard Harris. The title is a play on an advertising slogan for Ivory soap. Plot Harry Crown, a stylish professional hit man with a pai ...

'' with Marcello Mastroianni and Charles Bronson starring. He was replaced as director by

John Frankenheimer John Michael Frankenheimer (February 19, 1930 – July 6, 2002) was an American film and television director known for social dramas and action/suspense films. Among his credits were ''Birdman of Alcatraz'' (1962), '' The Manchurian Candidate'' ( ...

, while Mastroianni was recast with

Richard Harris Richard St John Francis Harris (1 October 1930 – 25 October 2002) was an Irish actor and singer. He appeared on stage and in many films, notably as Corrado Zeller in Michelangelo Antonioni's '' Red Desert'', Frank Machin in '' This Sporting ...

Leone was a fan of

Louis-Ferdinand Céline Louis Ferdinand Auguste Destouches (27 May 1894 – 1 July 1961), better known by the pen name Louis-Ferdinand Céline ( , ) was a French novelist, polemicist and physician. His first novel ''Journey to the End of the Night'' (1932) won the '' Pr ...

's novel ''

Journey to the End of the Night ''Journey to the End of the Night'' (french: Voyage au bout de la nuit, 1932) is the first novel by Louis-Ferdinand Céline. This semi-autobiographical work follows the adventures of Ferdinand Bardamu in the World War I, colonial Africa, the Un ...

'' and was considering a film adaptation in the late 1960s; he incorporated elements of the story into ''The Good, the Bad and the Ugly'' and ''Duck, You Sucker!'' but his idea of adapting the novel itself never got past the planning stages. Leone was an early choice to direct ''

Flash Gordon Flash Gordon is the protagonist of a space adventure comic strip created and originally drawn by Alex Raymond. First published January 7, 1934, the strip was inspired by, and created to compete with, the already established ''Buck Rogers'' adve ...

'' (1980). Leone was a fan of the original

Alex Raymond Alexander Gillespie Raymond Jr. (October 2, 1909 – September 6, 1956) was an American cartoonist who was best known for creating the ''Flash Gordon'' comic strip for King Features Syndicate in 1934. The strip was subsequently adapted into many ...

comic strip, but turned down the film because the script did not resemble Raymond's work.

Awards and honors

* David di Donatello ** 1972: ''

'' (Won) * British Academy of Film and Television Arts – Award for Best Direction ** 1984: ''

'' (''Nomination'') *

Golden Globe Award for Best Director The Golden Globe Award for Best Director – Motion Picture is a Golden Globe Award that has been presented annually by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, an organization composed of journalists who cover the United States film industry fo ...

** 1984: ''

'' (''Nomination'') He received the ''America Award'' from the Italy-USA Foundation posthumously in 2014.

Selected filmography

Critical reception to Leone's directorial features.

Recurring actors

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References

{{more citations needed, date=October 2011 {{Reflist

Bibliography

* {{cite book, last=Curti, first=Robert, title=Tonino Valerii: The Films, publisher=McFarland, year=2016, isbn=978-1476664682 * Frayling, Christopher: ''Sergio Leone: Something to Do with Death'' (London: Faber, 2000)

External links

{{Wikiquote, Sergio Leone {{Commons category, Sergio Leone {{Portal, Italy, Film, Biography * {{IMDb name, 1466 * {{Amg name, 99378
Sergio Leone: A Fistful-of-Leone!

Senses of Cinema film journal : Great Directors : Sergio Leone
(2002 review by Dan Edwards PhD)
A Fistful of Westerns
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060903041015/http://www.fistfulofwesterns.com/ , date=3 September 2006
The Spaghetti Western Database
* {{Find a Grave, 7856551 {{Sergio Leone {{David di Donatello Best Director {{Nastro d'Argento Best Director {{Venice Film Festival jury presidents {{Authority control {{DEFAULTSORT:Leone, Sergio 1929 births 1989 deaths People of Campanian descent Italian people of Lombard descent Spaghetti Western directors Italian film directors Male actors from Rome Italian male screenwriters Italian screenwriters Italian film producers Italian male film actors Ennio Morricone David di Donatello winners Nastro d'Argento winners 20th-century Italian male actors 20th-century composers 20th-century Italian screenwriters Postmodernist filmmakers