Once Upon a Time in America ***** (1984, Robert De Niro, James Woods, Elizabeth McGovern, Joe Pesci. Burt Young, Tuesday Weld, Treat Williams, Danny Aiello) – Classic Movie Review 139

In his final film, Sergio Leone’s great 1984 epic Once Upon a Time in America is a gargantuan gangster movie that follows the fortunes of a couple of friends who make a pact to share their lives all the way from the 1920s to the 1960s. Robert De Niro and James Woods star as David ‘Noodles’ Aaronson and Max Bercovicz, in this exhilarating marathon tale of two Jewish New York hoodlum buddies.

In the story, based on the novel The Hoods by Harry Grey, they meet again 35 years after their glory days in the years of Prohibition when one of them returns to Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Leone brings the operatic style of his Spaghetti Westerns to the gangster movie, and spins an elaborate personal fantasy that both celebrates and comments on it.

In the huge, flashily written star roles, De Niro and Woods have plenty of room to expand and develop their performances, so that they can be especially remarkable. It’s a bit of a shock, looking back, as they show what great actors they were in their prime. But there’s knockout acting all round. A choice cast of Elizabeth McGovern, Treat Williams, Tuesday Weld, Burt Young, Danny Aiello, William Forsythe and Joe Pesci all greatly impress.

Ennio Morricone’s score, Tonino Delli Colli’s cinematography, James Singellis’s art direction, Carlo Simi’s production designs and Gabriella Pescucci’s costume designs are all amazing pieces of work, providing a brilliantly authentic, realistic atmosphere and great movie texture. This is a movie that’s just a joy to look at and take in, in a relishable submersive experience.

With an incredibly lavish budget of $30 million, fortunes are spent everywhere, but particularly on re-creating the Prohibition-era New York Lower East Side. All this is richly enjoyable.

However, partly because of its vast length, this became a notoriously troubled film. Yet again, making a hugely long movie has led to terrible problems with distribution and getting it to the audience.

Connelly accompanied De Niro and Woods at the 65th annual Cannes Film Festival in 2012 for the Once Upon a Time premiere.

The pointlessly and foolishly hacked American version, cut by a whole hour and a half and running only 139 minutes, has no flow or clarity, which probably may help to account for the film’s failure in the US, where it took only $3 million back at the box office. After the film’s bad reception by American critics at the Cannes Film Festival, the studio hacked the film against Leone’s wishes and rearranged the material in chronological order, ironically making it less comprehensible.

American critics again attacked the new version on release in the US. It’s scary that critics can have the power to destroy a film’s reputation and chances, though, to be fair, they can also make a film’s reputation and chances.

Even the long English-language version suffers hefty cuts and has obvious narrative problems, with truncated roles and plotlines, but this version is still hugely impressive. However, there is a happy ending, as the film finally got its due respect. With the original Italian version running at a satisfactory 229 minutes, sense and brilliance are magnificently restored in the 2012 restored version (satisfyingly premiered at the Cannes Film Festival) at an astounding 259 minutes.

Seen as Leone intended, Once Upon a Time in America is very nearly in The Godfather class.

It is Jennifer Connelly’s début, as the girl Deborah (heroine Elizabeth McGovern’s younger self), aged 14. Connelly accompanied De Niro and Woods at Cannes in 2012.

Also in the cast are Scott Tiler, Rusty Jacobs, Brian Bloom, Adrian Curran, Mike Monezzi, Amy Ryder, Larry Rapp, James Hayden, Darlanne Fleugel, Jennifer Connelly, James Russo and T Scott Coffrey.

It was nominated for two Golden Globes: Best Director – Motion Picture and Best Original Score – Motion Picture. It won two BAFTA Film Awards, including Best Score and Best Costume Design (Gabriella Pescucci).

RIP Ennio Morricone, a six-time Oscar nominee, and finally winner for The Hateful Eight (2015). He won six BAFTAs, including Best Score for Once Upon a Time in America (1984). He died on 6 July 2020 in Rome, aged 91. His great scores include A Fistful of Dollars (1964), The Battle of Algiers (1966), The Mission (1986), The Untouchables (1987) and Cinema Paradiso (1988).

© Derek Winnert 2013 Classic Film Review 139 derekwinnert.com