Once Upon A Time In The West: Epic Western Movie Review

What’s the conflict in Once Upon A Time In The West? The conflict is that there are three men all out for a kill, all out for one another. The conflict arises when a roving gang of thugs murders Brett McBain and his family. At the head of this murderous brigade is Frank (played by a formidable Henry Fonda), a dangerous man living with an old, merciless mindset in a world that is becoming more and more industrialized.

Frank's boss, Morton (Gabrielle Ferzetti), is a railroad baron who though brutal in his attempts to kill off landowners is really just pathetic and cowardly, an apt representation of what happened to many businessmen of the time who worked greedily at ushering in the age of industrialization. Frank and his gang, all of whom were hired by Morton because he wanted McBain’s land to lay down railroad tracks, killed McBain.

But it wouldn’t be that simple. Left with the deed to the property is none-other than the new widow, Jill McBain (Claudia Cardinale). She hires help from Cheyenne (Jason Robards in a humorous turn), local desperado and jailbird. Cheyenne and his the enemy-of-my-enemy Harmonica (Charles Bronson), a mysterious yet highly capable gunslinger, join forces to protect the widow while tracking down the Morton conglomerate.

Frank tries to be like his boss and mentor by thinking like a businessman with money, not bullets. He can still shoot with the best of them, but it is Frank’s greed and his fear that make him try to buy out those around him. When it doesn’t work, he just tries to kill them.

The other main conflict of the film, which doesn’t fully unearth itself until the final confrontation between Harmonica and Frank, is the former's quest for revenge. He is out to pay back Frank for what he did to his brother long ago. This passionate sub-conflict keeps Harmonica in the picture, but there isn’t too much exposure throughout the story until the end.

Another way to look at it all is the Old West trying to fight back against the New West. The times were changing, and there wasn’t going to be a place for Cheyenne, Frank, or Harmonica. Cowboys like them weren’t the dominant species out there anymore; it would be the businessmen who only need write a check to stop a fight, or a war. Despite this, the men will encounter each other until one-by-one they’re eliminated.

The basis for conflict was McBain’s land, but as you watch Once Upon A Time you discover that nothing is as it seems. Morton isn’t just a greedy man; he wants this land (all land, for that matter) because of a deep-rooted longing to see the Pacific Ocean. Morton thinks enlisting a man like Frank to do his dirty work will make this move a lot faster. Frank on the other hand is quite the opposite. He’s a dangerous person, simply consuming and destroying. He doesn’t understand the subtle motives of business but desperately wishes he did.

Cheyenne aches for stability in his life and knows it is what will set him straight, but he knows that he must live -- and die -- as a cowboy. Harmonica has a deep-seeded hatred within him for Frank, for people like Morton, and anyone else who dare get involved with such issues. The man who "plays the harmonica more than he speaks" is a thinker. I think it’s safe to say that he is the all-encompassing character of conflict: he deals with directs battles and standoffs while fighting off his personal demons.