Once Upon a Time in America
Crime, passion and lust for power.
Country
Production
Budget
$30 000 000
Box office
$5 323 287
Director
Actors
Scenario
Producer
Arnon Milchan, Claudio Mancini
Camera operator
Composer
Artist
Giovanni Natalucci
Audition
Cis Corman, Joy Todd
Editing
Short description
A former Prohibition-era Jewish gangster returns to the Lower East Side of Manhattan over thirty years later, where he once again must confront the ghosts and regrets of his old life.
What's left behind the scenes
- The film marked the cinematic debut of 14-year-old model Jennifer Connelly.
- "Once Upon a Time in America" is the only Sergio Leone film not shot in his preferred screen aspect ratio of 2.35:1.
- In the mid-70s, Gérard Depardieu was one of the main contenders for the role of 'Max' or 'Lapsha,' and he promised to develop an American accent if necessary. A total of over 200 actors were considered for the leading roles!
- One of the characters, known to everyone as the Squint, constantly plays a small pan flute. This is a reference to Charles Bronson's character in another Leone film, 'Once Upon a Time in the West' (1968), who also played constantly, but only on a harmonica.
- The hotel to which the newly wealthy Lapsha invited Deborah was filmed in Venice. However, the road they returned home on was on the other side of the ocean – on the coast of New Jersey. The role of the driver was played by the film's producer, Arnon Milchan.
- Claudia Cardinale unsuccessfully auditioned for the role of Carol.
- Sergio Leone was originally inspired by Harry Gray's autobiographical novella 'The Hoods' (it took the director years to acquire the rights to it), but as the scale of the project grew, he brought Norman Mailer and Stuart Kaminsky onto the screenwriting team.
- Robert De Niro suggested that the aging Max should have a dazzling smile of snow-white teeth to demonstrate his wealth and vanity. The producers refused to cover the associated costs, so De Niro paid for them himself.
- When Stuart Kaminsky began working, he was given a plot outline exceeding 400 pages. During the filming process, 10 hours of footage was cut down to 6. Initially, Sergio Leone wanted to release his film as two three-hour installments, but the studio did not support this idea. The film was reduced to its current length by a new editor, Zack Stenberg, who was specifically brought onto the team for this purpose.
- Leone was so outraged that the film was cut down to 139 minutes for release in the United States, with all the scenes remounted in chronological order by Alan Ladd’s company, which destroyed the director’s intent and dissipated the aura of uncertainty so important to the film, leading him to abandon filmmaking for the rest of his life. “The tragedy of the film is that it will be destroyed in the country for which it was primarily intended,” the director fumed in the summer of 1984. – “But you know distributors, and Ladd is not the worst of them. One distributor from the Middle East said he would buy the film if we cut out all the scenes with Jews!”
- Sergio Leone was initially inspired by Harry Gray's autobiographical novella 'The Hoods' (it took the director years to acquire the rights to it), but as the scale of his vision grew, he brought Norman Mailer and Stuart Kaminsky on board as screenwriters.
- Robert De Niro suggested that the aging Max have a dazzling smile with pearly white teeth – this was to demonstrate his wealth and vanity. The producers refused to pay for the associated costs, so De Niro covered them himself.
- When Stuart Kaminsky began work, he was handed a plot outline that exceeded 400 pages in length. During the production of the film, 10 hours of footage were cut down to 6 hours. Initially, Sergio Leone wanted to release his picture as two three-hour installments, but the studio did not appreciate the idea. The film was reduced to its current length by a new editor, Zach Staenberg, who was specifically hired for this purpose.
- The film is based on the novel 'The Hoods' (1952) by Harry Gray.
- "Once Upon a Time in America" is the only film by Sergio Leone not shot in his preferred 2.35:1 aspect ratio.
- Actress Claudia Cardinale unsuccessfully auditioned for the role of Carol.
- The scenes on the Miami Beach waterfront were filmed in St. Petersburg at Don Cesar Beach.
- One of the actors, James Hayden, passed away shortly before the premiere.
- One of the contenders for the role of Max was Robert De Niro's friend, Joe Pesci. After an unsuccessful audition, the director offered Joe any role in the film he liked—this is how Pesci ended up playing Frankie.
- One of the film’s characters, known to everyone as “Cousin,” constantly plays a small flute called a “Pano.” This is a reference to Charles Bronson’s character in Leone’s other film – “Once Upon a Time in the West” (1968), who also played constantly, but only on a harmonica.
- In the mid-70s, one of the main contenders for the role of 'Max' or 'Noodles' was Gérard Depardieu, who promised to develop an American accent if necessary. In total, over 200 actors were considered for the lead roles!
- In the scene where the elderly "Noodles" is watching television, an interview with a character named James Conway O'Donnell is shown. In the film "Goodfellas" (1990), Robert De Niro's character is also named James Conway.
- While preparing for the role of "Noodles," Robert De Niro requested a personal meeting with the famous crime boss Meyer Lansky, whose image he used as a reference. Unfortunately, this request was denied.
- The episodic role of a passerby in the scene where Lapsha leaves prison was played by the famous Soviet translator Boris Romanovich Izakov (author of translations of Ernest Hemingway, Somerset Maugham, Graham Greene, and others). He was visiting the United States and ended up on the film set through one of the crew members.
- This film was never fully released in US cinemas, as it was believed at the time that audiences would not go to such a long film (227 minutes). Therefore, Leone was forced to cut the film down to 139 minutes, also removing all the violence. However, later a full version of 229 minutes was released on DVD in the US.
- The film was released in Soviet cinemas in 1989 in three separate parts. The first part was seen by 27.6 million viewers, the second by 26.6 million, and the third by 23.1 million people.
- The film is based on Harry Grey’s novel “Once Upon a Time in America” (The Hoods, 1952).
- The hotel where the now-wealthy Noodles invited Deborah was filmed in Venice. Meanwhile, the road they traveled on their way home was on the other side of the ocean—on the coast of New Jersey. The role of the chauffeur was played by the film's producer, Arnon Milchan.
- While preparing for the role of “Noodles,” Robert De Niro requested a personal meeting with the famous crime boss Meyer Lansky, whose image he was basing his performance on. Unfortunately, he was denied this meeting.
- Filming began on June 14, 1982, and ended on April 22, 1983.
- This film was never shown in its entirety in US theaters, as it was believed at the time that audiences would not attend such a long movie (227 minutes). Consequently, Leone was forced to cut the version down to 139 minutes, while also removing all the violence. However, the full 229-minute version was later released on DVD in the US.
- Leone was so outraged that the film was cut to 139 minutes for its US release—with all scenes re-edited in chronological order by Alan Ladd's company, which killed the director's intent and dissipated the aura of uncertainty essential to the film—that he stepped away from filmmaking for the rest of his life. 'The tragedy of the film is that it will be destroyed in the very country for which it was primarily intended,' the director fumed in the summer of 1984. 'But you know distributors, and Ladd isn't the worst of them. One distributor from the Middle East said he was ready to buy the film on the condition that we cut all the scenes with Jews!'
- In the scene where an elderly "Noodles" is watching television, an interview is shown with a character named James Conway O'Donnell. In the film "Goodfellas" (1990), Robert De Niro's character is also named James Conway.
- Robert De Niro's friend, Joe Pesci, was one of the candidates for the role of Max. After an unsuccessful audition, the director offered him to choose any role in the film that he liked – and so Pesci played Frankie.
Similar movies
8.3/10
8.1/10
7.9/10
7.8/10
7.7/10
7.7/10
7.7/10
7.6/10
7.6/10
7.6/10
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
