History Film / OnceUponATimeInTheWest

Based on a story created by Leone, Creator/BernardoBertolucci and Creator/DarioArgento. Under Leone's direction, Music/EnnioMorricone composed the soundtrack before the actual filming started, and most of the narrative is built around the music[[note]][[https://youtu.be/JiQLHL10BYo?t=313 as demonstrated here]][[/note]], instead of the traditional way of fitting the soundtrack to the film.

!!''Once Upon a Time in the West'' provides examples of the following tropes:

** A man of few words appears in a train station, blows his harmonica and takes care of the three gunmen who were sent to greet him. He outdraws them while his gun was still in his baggage. A classic, mysterious gunslinger and drifter.

* QuickDraw: Harmonica has a very fast one. So does Frank. And Cheyenne.
** Slightly subverted in the first scene: Harmonica manages to draw his gun and to shoot three men who had already their guns in their hands in a row... and then one of them manages to shoot him back before collapsing.

* GunsOfFiction:
** Cheyenne, Frank and Harmonica wield Single Action Army revolvers, and Frank's is nickel-plated.
** Stoney uses a sawed down Winchester Model 1892 rifle, nicknamed "Mare's Leg" as his weapon of choice. The gun has a trigger pin attached to the lever for rapid fire, meaning he uses it more as a quick draw gun than for accuracy.

** In a DeletedScene, Frank gets a shave at a perfume shop. Creator/HenryFonda sits in the same position he did in ''Film/MyDarlingClementine''. At the end of the film, he wears a similar outfit to the one he wore in ''[[Film/Warlock1959 Warlock]]''. The latter film also contains a sequence in which Fonda's character kicks a crippled man off his crutches, as Frank does to Mr. Morton.

* CoolGuns:
** Cheyenne, Frank and Harmonica wield Single Action Army revolvers, and Frank's is nickel-plated.
** Stoney uses a sawed down Winchester Model 1892 rifle, nicknamed "Mare's Leg" as his weapon of choice. The gun has a trigger pin attached to the lever for rapid fire, meaning he uses it more as a quick draw gun than for accuracy.

-->'''Frank''': Morton once told me I could never be like him. Now I understand why. Wouldn't have bothered him, knowing you were around somewhere alive.
-->'''Harmonica''':So, you found out you're not a businessman after all.
-->'''Frank''':Just a man.

-->'''Mr. Morton''': There are many things you'll never understand. This is one of them. *holds a stack of dollars while looking at Frank's drawn gun* You see, Frank, there are many kinds of weapons. And the only one that can stop that is this. Now, shall we get back to our little problem?

-->'''Goon''': ''[After Morton deals out stacks of money to him and his men like cards]'' How do you, uh... how do you play this game, Mr. Morton?
-->'''Mr. Morton''':It's very simple. As long as you use your head, you never lose.

* SpiritualAntithesis: It's considerably less cynical than Film/TheDollarsTrilogy and feels more like a Classic Hollywood western than SpaghettiWestern. The depiction of the Wild West has gone from CrapsackWorld to on the verge of civilisation.

-->'''Harmonica''': So you found out you're not a businessman after all?
-->'''Frank''': Just a man.
-->'''Harmonica''': An ancient race. ''[looks to the approaching railroad]'' Other Mortons[[note]]Who's a businessman[[/note]] will be along and they'll kill it off.

-->You know, Jill, you remind me of my mother. She was the biggest whore in Alameda and the finest woman that ever lived. Whoever my father was - for an hour or for a month - he must have been a happy man.

* CuffsOffRubWrists: After Cheyenne cuts him loose aboard Morton's train, Harmonica's seen rubbing his wrists in the background.

'''Harmonica:''' I didn't let them ''kill'' him – and that's not the same thing.
* OffIntoTheDistanceEnding: The movie ends with Harmonica (and Cheyenne) ride off into the distance.

* UnproblematicProstitution: Unproblematic rape. Jill lets Cheyenne know that she is not intimidated by a looming gang rape as she would simply wash it off.

* NeverTrustATrailer: [[http://youtu.be/_T41xBHV01c The trailer]] makes it look like Harmonica is the villain, and a ruthless killing machine. Frank, meanwhile, almost looks like he's the hero.

** Frank and Harmonica have several opportunities to shoot the other sneakily, but they wait out their time for a proper duel instead. See HonorBeforeReason.

* YouRemindMeOfX: Cheyenne tells Jill that he reminds her of his mother.