Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)

Composed by Ennio Morricone

Once Upon a Time in the West was the fourth of Sergio Leone’s westerns, but was the first to separate from the Dollars Trilogy where Clint Eastwood achieved stardom as the Man With No Name. Once Upon a Time in the West shows how far Leone had come as a director. Indeed he seemed to get more ambitious with each subsequent Western and this film is a very different breed from his preceding repertoire. It still has its quirky moments, but the plot in general is more somber and optimistic at the same time. Jill McBain (Claudia Cardinale) arrives at a far western town to live with her new husband. It turns out he and his children were murdered, assumedly by a gang of bandits led by Cheyenne (Jason Robards). The matter is complicated by the involvement of the mysterious Man with a Harmonica (Charles Bronson) and an approaching railway which hires the services of Frank (Henry Fonda, who shocked many by playing against type as a cold-blooded villain). Jill and some of the other characters try to figure out why the McBains are murdered. Overall it’s a great movie and it might be my favorite spaghetti western (I’m still undecided).

Showing supreme confidence in regular collaborator Ennio Morricone, Leone actually had the composer write and conduct his score before filming began! This unusual order of production somehow worked off splendidly, perhaps because Leone would sometimes play recordings of the music as the actors performed. As for albums the only English-language release is still, for some reason the 40-minute transfer from the LP album (whose cover is featured in this post). The expanded score which I review is the expanded 2005 Italian edition. I have opted to use Google-translated titles so those who’ve seen the film can better connect the cues to their respective scenes.

As stated earlier, Once Upon a Time in the West is a different type of the film than the semi-comedic Dollars films. Nothing exemplifies this more than the first of the three major themes. It serves as a general theme for the expansion of civilization into the American West, but is referred to as Jill’s theme as it most often appears in conjunction with her. The theme is hopeful, optimistic, but also capable of expressing sadness for Jill’s loss. It’s usually performed on soft strings and/or with Edda Dell’Orso’s heavenly vocals, and in several tracks soft chimes give a dreamlike quality to the openings moments. “Once Upon a Time in the West” is a straightforward presentation of the theme to open the album. The actual first in-film appearance is “Jill’s America.” This beautiful rendition accompanies her as she takes a wagon train from a typical western town to an array of nice scenery. One of the sadder renditions comes in “A Bed Too Big” as she absorbs the massacre of what was supposed to be her new family. The theme serves its wider purpose in “Birth of a City” as Jill starts to assume control over a major railroad building site. The theme triumphally concludes the film two tracks later in “Finale.” For most of the track it’s a straightforward reprise, but towards the end Dell’Orso goes really hard on her vocals to finalize the arrival of proper civilization.

The second theme has a dual purpose and it’s hard to designate its name. It serves both Frank and Harmonica, suggesting a link between the two that the film takes a while to reveal. Morricone changes the instrumentation based on which character the theme is backing. For Harmonica, obviously, he uses the titular instrument. The use of the harmonica adds a distinctively dark edge and suggests the motivation of Bronson’s character. In fact Harmonica plays the theme in-film, so the character’s literally composed his own theme! The expanded album contains three full performances of Harmonica’s theme. “Harmonica” is from when he plays in the tavern and spooks out a bunch of people. “The Man with the Harmonica” is an extended performance. “Final Duel” takes it up a notch with a grand choir chiming in, and speaking of chimes, bells sound at the climax to symbolize a fatal moment.

This theme is the most well-known outside of the movie. It graced the end titles of on Sopranos episode for eerie effect and was practically referenced by Hans Zimmer in the third Pirates of the Caribbean movie. Without the harmonica the theme serves Frank’s character, first in “The Man.” If Frank’s scenes need a little extra power, Morricone plays the theme on electric guitar, such as in “The Great Massacre.”

The third and last of the major themes is a clip-copping piece for Cheyenne. Wooden percussion works with whistles and guitar to create a quirky mood. At points the theme will randomly pause, usually to call attention to a line from the character. I actually don’t think Cheyenne is a particularly quirky character, but the theme does alleviate his scenes once it’s revealed that while he’s not the most moral person he’s actually got something of a heart of gold. The one deviation is “The First Tavern,” where the first piece of the theme is interspersed with eerie piano flourishes. This variation only appears in his first scenes when he’s suspected to be the murderer of the McBains.

These three themes heavily dominate the score, but there are other pieces of note. “The Orchestra” is bouncy saloon-style music, a light-hearted piano piece with the constant use of a slide whistle. In the movie this piece is soon drowned out by the start of “Jill’s America.” Unfortunately, as with many Morricone western scores, there’s that one suspense piece which works great in the movie but is a chore to listen to separately. Here it’s “The Attack,” dark percussion with tinkling suspense flourishes. It goes on for almost five minutes. Finally there is “Morton.” This actually presents a fourth character theme for Morton, the head of the railroad who employs Frank. For a character who’s arguably a villain in his ow right it’s surprisingly sympathetic. In between the main mournful melody are peaceful, rolling flourishes that emulate the waves of the Pacific Ocean he’s so desperate to reach.

Overall, Once Upon a Time in the West is another winner for the Sergio-Morricone combination. It still maintains some of the flavor of the Dollars Trilogy while highlighting a gorgeous main theme.

Rating: 10/10

Tracklisting

1. Once Upon a Time in the West (3:43)
2. The Man (1:03)
3. The Great Massacre (2:40)
4. Arrival at the Station (0:55)
5. The Orchestra (2:25)
6. Jill in America (2:47)
7. Harmonica (2:27)
8. The First Tavern (1:39)
9. A Bed Too Big (1:32)
10. Jill (1:47)
11. Frank (1:52)
12. Cheyenne (1:16)
13. The Second Tavern (1:33)
14. The Third Tavern (1:19)
15. Epilogue (1:14)
16. The Train Roof (1:19)
17. The Man with a Harmonica (3:30)
18. A Dimly Lit Room (5:08)
19. The Attack (4:41)
20. Return to the Train (0:57)
21. Morton (1:36)
22. As a Judgment (3:08)
23. Final Duel (3:35)
24. Death Rattle (1:44)
25. Birth of a City (4:25)
26. Farwell Cheyenne (2:38)
27. Finale (4:08)