Once Upon a Time in the West (Italian title: C'Era una Volta il West) is a 1968 epic spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Leone. The film stars Henry Fonda as the villain Frank, Charles Bronson as his nemesis "Harmonica", Jason Robards as the bandit Cheyenne and Claudia Cardinale as Jill, a newly-widowed homesteader with a past as a prostitute. The screenplay was written by Leone and Sergio Donati, from a story devised by Leone, Bernardo Bertolucci, and Dario Argento. The widescreen cinematography was by Tonino Delli Colli, and Ennio Morricone provided the film score.
In Europe, the film was a substantial box office success, playing for multiple years in some cities. However, it was greeted with a mostly negative critical response upon its 1969 theatrical release in the United States and was a financial flop. The film is now generally acknowledged as a classic and one of the best western films ever made.
It is the first part of a loose trilogy of epics called Once Upon a Time Trilogy, followed by 1971's A Fistful of Dynamite (known alternatively as Once Upon a Time... the Revolution or Duck, You Sucker) and 1984's Once Upon a Time in America.