History Film / OnceUponATimeInHollywood

** When the Manson trio break into Rick's house, Cliff responds all smiles at first due to being slightly stoned, similar to how Pitt's stoner character Floyd responded to heavily armed guys entering in ''Film/TrueRomance'', written and co-produced by Tarantino.

** The characters also [[EverybodySmokes smoke a lot]]. It's even implied to be taking a toll on Rick's health, although his [[TheAlcoholic alcoholism]] isn't helping. The lack of acknowledgement involving secondhand smoke is telling too, as Rick smokes on the set of ''Lancer'' while his eight-year-old costar Trudi is sitting next to him. Worse, lots of people smoke around a visibly pregnant Sharon Tate. During his ''Bounty Law'' days, Rick even filmed a television commercial for Red Apple cigarettes. This last may be particularly jarring for American viewers who don't remember 1969, as Congress banned cigarette advertising on US TV in 1970. You can also clearly see cigarette vending machines in bars and restaurants.

* DestinationDefenestration: [[spoiler:When Cliff manages to send Sadie out into the pool]], she shatters the glass door, which alerts the until-then oblivious Rick to her presence.

** After Rick has his Italian cinema experience, acquiring a new wife and returning home, he tells Cliff that he can't really afford to keep him around full time anymore. They decide to have one last hurrah as best friends, go out drinking at their favorite restaurant, and hang out the rest of the night before parting ways. After the climax, though, it's left [[AmbiguousEnding undetermined how things will go on from there]], as [[spoiler:Cliff was injured and heads off to the hospital, while Rick is obviously concerned and promises to visit the next day]].

* ILetYouWin: Cliff stands perfectly still like a target against Lee's fancy side kick and then drops in a stilted way with the strike, all compared to the much natural way he fights all the rest of the challenge. It's somewhat implied he let Lee take the first round on order to make him drop his guard for the next, or maybe to let the star save face to an extent before kicking his ass.

** Booth, for his part, resembles Wrestling/GeneLeBell, a stuntman and martial artist that had a scuffle where he got the upper hand over Creator/BruceLee and was also involved in an unclear murder. He even beats Lee specifically with a judo throw, just like the real deal did. However, the death of Cliff Booth's wife Billie and the ambiguity surrounding it are also a reference to Creator/NatalieWood, as is Billie's sister being named Natalie.

* RecycledInSpace: The movie has a lot in common with ''Film/{{Targets}}'', which was actually made in 1968, one year before this movie is set. Both are AlternateHistory movies set in 1960s Los Angeles (though it was just the present in the earlier film's case) about an ageing actor who is experiencing TheEndOfAnAge. In ''Film/{{Targets}}'', it's the decline and eventual death of Franchise/UniversalHorror in the wake of the UsefulNotes/VietnamWar; in this movie, it's the end of TheWestern as a dominant form of American filmmaking (which has also been attributed to the Vietnam War and changing audience tastes) as Rick turns towards making a SpaghettiWestern. Both protagonists come into contact with a notorious killer from American history; whereas it's the Manson family here, it's a fictional killer closely based on Charles Whitman in the earlier film, and [[spoiler:both Byron and Rick make a heroic stand against him.]]

* ShirtlessScene: While repairing Rick's busted TV antenna, Cliff doffs his shirt, showing that despite his lifestyle, he's kept himself in peak condition.[[note]]Reportedly, the scene drew gasps and spontaneous applause from the audience at the Cannes film festival.[[/note]]

* ViewersAreGeniuses: If you go into the movie blind and know functionally nothing about the [[UsefulNotes/CharlesManson Manson murders]], the significance of the climax will make no sense because no context is given to it, coming across as an OutsideContextProblem. This includes the unusual focus on Sharon Tate and Cliff's little excursion at Spahn Ranch. [[spoiler:Especially since the movie is an AlternateHistory where Sharon Tate survives because Cliff and Rick end up distracting and curb stomping the would-be killers]].

* WhatIf: [[spoiler: The plot of the film, where Tarantino gives us another revision of real life events. What if the victims of the Manson Family had lived and the Mansonites were killed instead?]]

* ForWantOfANail: The ending plays on the idea of how history could have deviated if [[spoiler:a neighbor of Sharon Tate's caught the Manson Family before they could murder her]].

** A car can be seen in the driveway when Sharon steps out to greet Rick Dalton at the end. This is the car of Steven Parent, who in RealLife was visiting house caretaker William Garretson at exactly the wrong time and was killed in his car in the driveway.

The AllStarCast also includes Creator/DakotaFanning as Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, Creator/DamianLewis as [[Creator/SteveMcQueenActor Steve McQueen]], Creator/DamonHerriman as UsefulNotes/CharlesManson, Creator/BruceDern as George Spahn, Creator/TimothyOlyphant as James Stacy, Creator/EmileHirsch as Jay Sebring, Creator/LukePerry as Wayne Maunder (his final role), Creator/MikeMoh as Creator/BruceLee, Creator/AlPacino as Marvin Schwarz, Creator/MargaretQualley as a Manson girl nicknamed "Pussycat", Creator/SydneySweeney and Creator/LenaDunham as other Manson girls, Creator/AustinButler as murderous Manson disciple Tex Watson, and Creator/DamianLewis as [[Creator/SteveMcQueenActor. Steve McQueen]].

In [[TheSixties 1969]] UsefulNotes/LosAngeles, television actor Rick Dalton (Creator/LeonardoDiCaprio) and his StuntDouble Cliff Booth (Creator/BradPitt) embark on an odyssey to rebuild their careers after the cancellation of the WesternSeries they were employed on, ''Bounty Law''. Rick's neighbor in Tinseltown happens to be Creator/SharonTate (Creator/MargotRobbie).

The cast also includes Creator/DakotaFanning as Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, Creator/DamianLewis as [[Creator/SteveMcQueenActor Steve McQueen]], Creator/DamonHerriman as UsefulNotes/CharlesManson, Creator/BruceDern as George Spahn, Creator/TimothyOlyphant as James Stacy, Creator/EmileHirsch as Jay Sebring, Creator/LukePerry as Wayne Maunder (his final role), Creator/MikeMoh as Creator/BruceLee, Creator/AlPacino as Marvin Schwarz, and Nicholas Hammond as Sam Wanamaker.

* SlouchOfVillainy: Rick does this when in character as [=LeCocteau=] the kidnapper, demanding $50K ransom on ''Lancer''.

* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: Rick laments that Steve [=McQueen=] beat him out for the role in ''Film/TheGreatEscape''. Meanwhile, [=McQueen=] laments that Roman Polanski beat him out for the love of Sharon Tate.

* ArtisticLicenseChemistry: It would be nearly impossible to get high from a cigarette laced with LSD. Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD) is an unstable organic compound that degrades rapidly at high temperatures. Setting it on fire while it's in a cigarette would destroy it pretty quickly. Lacing cigarettes with PCP or embalming fluid is much more common specifically because those molecules are more stable and can handle the heat. Also, not nearly enough time passes for him to have gotten high from the LSD even if it had worked.

** On the set of ''The Green Hornet'', which was filmed in 1966, Bruce Lee refers to Joe Lewis as "that white kickboxing asshole." First off, the term "UsefulNotes/{{Kickboxing}}" did not replace "full-contact karate" outside of Japan until a few years later.[[note]]Moreover, kickboxing competitions would not be host in American ground until 1970, when Lewis and Greg Baines debuted the format in their famous match, and back then it was still officially called full-contact karate due to its origins being in this martial art, not receiving the official "American kickboxing" tag until a few years later.[[/note]] Further, Lee had a cordial relationship with Lewis himself at this time.[[note]]It's suspected that the two did have a falling out around 1971, as evidenced by Lee recasting the role of Colt in ''Film/WayOfTheDragon'' that was originally intended for Lewis, but this happened at least four years after ''The Green Hornet''.[[/note]]

* ArtisticLicenseMartialArts: Movies about the real Bruce Lee tend to choregraph his fights with the style he used for his own films, with a lot of FunnyBruceLeeNoises and flying side kicks, and this is not an exception (although they do show a bit of research by having Lee fight with his right side forward, a very controversial stance he actually favored). In real life, however, Lee fought his sparring matches in completely different fashion, being eminently a fanatic of BoringButPractical techniques. For one, he would have never thrown goofy flying side kicks during a challenge match, as ending up crashed against a car would have been the least of his worries in that case.

** Most Mexican minor characters are heard speaking their native Spanish but otherwise understand English with no problem, and English speakers also understand them as well. This is TruthInTelevision, as Hollywood, like many other places in California, is home to large Mexican-American communities.

* SpellMyNameWithAnS: Marvin Schwarz insists that his last name be pronounced "Shwarzz", without the T.

** When the Manson trio break into Rick's house, Cliff's responds all smiles at first due to being slightly stoned, similar to how Pitt's stoner character Floyd responded to heavily armed guys entering in ''Film/TrueRomance'', written and co-produced by Tarantino.

** When Cliff realizes that George Spahn's ranch has been taken over by a hippie commune, he asks where George is, and everyone immediately becomes evasive and tense. They insist that Cliff can't see George because he's "napping." Their behavior (and the fact that ''we'' know this is the Manson Family) makes the whole scene incredibly suspicious. Cliff insists on entering the house, makes his way down a darkened hallway, and enters George's room to find [[spoiler:that everything is fine. George actually ''is'' napping. He's relatively healthy and has no complaints about anything that's happening. Though Cliff still seems uncomfortable, seeing that George doesn't seem to be being abused, he leaves]].

* ConvectionSchmonvection: Averted. It turns out that just because you're not on the receiving end of a flamethrower doesn't mean you're immune to the radiant heat.

** As is typical for a Tarantino film, there are a couple of lingering shots of women's bare feet, mainly Sharon Tate in the movie theater, Pussycat's on the windshield of Rick's car, Squeaky's while she's sitting in a recliner, and a surprising amount of ''men's'' bare feet. Justified in a few cases, as it's set in UsefulNotes/{{California}} in 1969, and many of the women are hippies who [[DoesNotLikeShoes don't wear shoes]].

* DoesNotLikeShoes: Yes, Tarantino's well-known [[AuthorAppeal foot fetish]] is on full play here. However, at least he has a justification in that many people in the '60s (especially hippie girls) did go barefoot. And according to [[https://uproxx.com/movies/margot-robbie-feet-once-upon-a-time-in-hollywood-quentin-tarantino/ this interview]] with Margot Robbie, Sharon Tate was also a RealLife example.

** On the set of ''The Green Hornet'', which was filmed in 1966, Bruce Lee refers to Joe Lewis as "that white kickboxing asshole." First off, the term "kickboxing" did not replace "full-contact karate" outside of Japan until a few years later.[[note]]Kickboxing competitions would not be host in American ground until 1970, when Lewis and Greg Baines debuted the format in their famous match, and back then it was still officially called full-contact karate due to its origins being in this martial art, not receiving the official "American kickboxing" tag until a few years later.[[/note]] Further, Lee had a cordial relationship with Lewis himself at this time. It's suspected that the two had a falling out around 1971, as evidenced by Lee recasting the role of Colt in ''Film/WayOfTheDragon'' that was originally intended for Lewis.

* ItOnlyWorksOnce: During their fight, Bruce Lee knocks down Cliff with a kick to the chest. Cliff invites him to try again, and [[spoiler:promptly slams him into a nearby car]].

** While praising the boxer Joe Louis, Bruce Lee clarifies that he's not talking about "that white kickboxer asshole." [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Lewis_(martial_artist) Joe Lewis]] and Lee knew and trained with each other before having a falling out, which prompted Lee to cast Chuck Norris in ''Film/WayOfTheDragon'' instead of Lewis.
** Bruce Lee really did get into sparring matches on his various film sets, sometimes delaying the shoot several weeks as he takes on challengers. The outcome of these fights and how cordial it would be would [[UnreliableNarrator vary depending on the person telling the story]]. ''Green Hornet'' in particular appears to be inspired by Lee's relationship with stuntman [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_LeBell Gene LaBell]].

** [[spoiler:The Manson killers are in fact hippies with no combat skill who owe their real-life infamy to attacking defenseless victims. They stand no chance against Cliff who was trained to kill by the military, has his own improvised weapons and owns an attack dog. Once the dog "disarms" Tex's gun, they're doomed.]]

** [[spoiler:The Manson killers are in fact hippies with no combat skill who owe their real-life infamy to attacking defenseless victims. They stand no chance against Cliff, who is heavily implied to have military training, his own improvised weapons and owns an attack dog. Once the dog "disarms" Tex's gun, they're doomed.]]

* HeterosexualLifePartners: Rick and Cliff behave equal parts like lifelong friends and an old married couple (as the narrator puts it, "more than a brother and a little less than a wife"). Cliff works both as Rick's stuntman and does whatever Rick needs done without complaint, including driving him everywhere (Rick having lost his license due to alcoholism), being his handy-man (like fixing his cable antenna), and providing emotional support (when Rick has an emotional breakdown over the idea of his career dying down). It is implied that Cliff's loyalty comes from Rick keeping him employed as a stuntman in spite of the rumors that he killed his wife, such as insisting on having Cliff be his stuntman when filming on ''The Green Hornet''.