Line #9 YMMV/OnceUponATimeInTheWest


1	* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation:
2	** Frank is certainly nuanced for a sociopathic murderer; is Frank serious about his desire to transition into a genteel retirement? Does he finally understand that money is more powerful than guns? Does Frank genuinely respect Morton for his determination and business acumen or is only hiding his contempt for a man who is more powerful than him despite being weaker? When Morton is dying, Frank at the last moment chooses not to finish him with a bullet... is Frank taking delight at watching the man crawling like a worm or is Frank allowing him to reach a puddle, a stand in for his beloved Pacific ocean? Likewise in Frank's first scene when he kills the [=McBain=] family, when he sees the sole surviving child, one of the member asks him by saying Franks name out loud, what he is going to do about the child. Frank shoots the child but before hand he looked noticeably annoyed at the member and states he has to kill the kid since he knows his name now. Was Frank maybe going to spare the child but basically (by his own logic) forced to kill the kid? Frank did seemly spare [[spoiler: Harmonica years ago when he was a kid]]. Or was Frank only mad at the gang member recklessly saying his name out loud to someone that could have ID him if they informed the authorities? It seem like Frank was regardless of what was supposed to kill the entire [=McBain=] family so maybe it was the latter. The final conversation with Harmonica suggests that he'll never outgrow the bandito mentality: "Not a businessman, just a man."
3	*** Given that the gang wore dusters to frame Cheyenne for the killings, it's possible that the child was supposed to survive not because of any compassion on Frank's part, but specifically in order to ID the wrong people. Telling him Frank's real name ruins that plan, so he has to die (and they have to resort to the clumsy "leave a scrap of cloth" method of framing Cheyenne).
4	** Whether Harmonica is merely [[spoiler:avenging his brother's death, or is actually a ghost or supernatural avenger of some sorts]] has inspired many arguments among critics and fans of the movie.
5	** Did [[spoiler:Harmonica kill his brother by collapsing from exhaustion, or did his brother deliberately kick him away so he wouldn’t have to live with the guilt]]?
6	** Was Cheyenne in on the whole [[spoiler: using the reward to outbid Frank]] or did Harmonica just [[spoiler: march him into the auction house at gunpoint]] without truly explaining what was going on? While the former seems more likely, the latter wouldn't be ''too'' out of character for Harmonica.
7	* AwardSnub: The film received no UsefulNotes/AcademyAward nominations, yet is widely regarded as a masterpiece.
8	* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: It's Music/EnnioMorricone, so this might be a given, but [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6BQKFs3-VM "The Man With A Harmonica"]] has got to be one of the most badass film cues of all time; the [[https://youtu.be/i3Q8h-fDfEI main theme]] is almost tearjerkingly beautiful.
9	* CompleteMonster: [[AxCrazy Frank]] is a sadistically cruel former bandit and the man the protagonist "Harmonica" owes his namesake to. Encountering [[WouldHurtAChild a young boy]] in the past, Frank forced the boy's brother to stand on his shoulders with a noose tied around the brother's neck, before placing a harmonica between the panting boy's lips and telling him to "keep your lovin' brother happy." Frank watched with glee as the young boy subsequently collapsed and caused his brother to be hanged. Becoming an [[PsychoForHire enforcer]] for railroad tycoon Mr. Morton, Frank kills off the [=McBain=] family for their property, happily shooting Mr. [=McBain=]'s son just for knowing his name--despite being told by Morton to just scare them--and frames the bandit Cheyenne for the massacre. Ignoring Morton's peace offerings with widow Jill [=McBain=], Frank takes Jill hostage, [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil rapes her]] in exchange for sparing her life, and forces her to auction off her land, [[TheStarscream later trying to murder Morton himself]] to gain control over his railroad company.
10	* EvilIsCool: Frank is a devious badass, ProfessionalKiller, DeadpanSnarker and his suit practically makes him a cool villain even before taking into account that he's played by Creator/HenryFonda
11	* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: Though it was a flop in America and did middling business in Italy, the movie was memetically popular in France, running for years in Paris. French clothing designers even based a line of long coats off the movie's dusters.
12	* HarsherInHindsight: Jill being raped by Frank is this considering Creator/ClaudiaCardinale was raped when she was 19 (which is before this movie).
13	* JerkassWoobie: Morton's certainly a villain, but ultimately it's hard not to feel sorry for him. [[TheDeterminator He just wants to get his railroad built before dying]]... even if it requires Frank's help. His [[spoiler: [[AlasPoorVillain tragic death scene]]]] certainly helps.
14	* LoveToHate: Frank is admired for being amazingly evil, and in fact, the role of Creator/HenryFonda in this movie was meant to be shocking to the audience, as Fonda, before this, was a perennial "good guy". The sarcasm and cynicism of Frank provided by Fonda's great performance are memorable.
15	* MagnificentBastard: [[LovableRogue Cheyenne]] is a ''bandito'' framed for a massacre he didn't commit by the outlaw Frank and his employer Mr. Morton as part of a scheme to seize Sweetwater Ranch. Cheyenne refuses to play the part of pawn, gunning down a bevy of cops who attempt to stop him and subsequently walking into the movie by intimidating a man into shooting off his handcuffs. Ruthless but with a soft spot for women, proudly naming his prostitute mother the finest woman who ever lived, Cheyenne dedicates himself to protecting Sweetwater's legal owner Jill [=McBain=]. Cheyenne nimbly outwits a group of Morton's men on a train, shoots an aggressor dead through a trick gun obscured in his shoe, and teams up with the enigmatic Harmonica to outbid Frank and Morton's corrupt auction for Sweetwater. Cheyenne is mortally wounded in the end but does so having outwitted and totally defeated Morton, living long enough to ensure his remaining men beginning to make Sweetwater a reality and only requesting Harmonica not look when he dies.
16	* MoralEventHorizon: Frank has two candidates:
17	** He crosses it in his very first scene, murdering a whole family right down to their youngest child.
18	** [[spoiler:The way Frank killed Harmonica's brother -- Forcing a little boy to support his fully-grown brother so that he doesn't die by hanging]].
19	* NightmareFuel:
20	** Frank. He is the most depraved character in the whole movie, as well as the most terrifying.
21	** Frank's cold-blooded massacre of the [=McBain=] family, as father [=McBain=] sees his daughter gunned down from the distance and runs towards her in horror, only to be shot himself too while desperately trying to reach his gun. Then the eldest son is killed as well, and none of them don't even see where they're being shot at. Finally, Timmy, the youngest child, runs outside only to see his entire family massacred across the yard and five ominous-looking men emerging from the wilderness, with Frank proceeding to kill Timmy as well with a big smile on his face.
22	** The [[spoiler: rape scene]], in particular, can be very disturbing: the scene has almost romantic music, and Frank doesn't do the act with physical violence. However, his disturbing dialogue, combined with Jill being [[spoiler: forced into playing along so he won’t kill her. It is still NOT EVEN REMOTELY consensual]].
23	** What Frank did to [[spoiler: Harmonica's brother, forcing the then underage Harmonica to support him on his shoulders with a noose tied around his neck, with Frank smugly putting a harmonica on the panting boy's lips in order "to keep your loving brother happy". Just the blurry, gradually focusing shot of younger Frank coming towards the camera from the distance with the distinctive blue eyes and white smile is somehow really unnerving before the flashback is even shown in full due to there being a clear indication that this man did something really horrible to Harmonica years prior.]]
24	* OneSceneWonder:
25	** Brett [=McBain=] and his kids are killed after just a few minutes of screen time, but they make a powerful impression that makes their absence keenly felt for the rest of the movie.
26	** The three gunmen at the train station have barely any dialogue, but the tense buildup as they wait for Harmonica to arrive and the bits of personality they get throughout the sequence make them among the most iconic {{Mook}}s in Western fiction.
27	* SignatureScene:
28	** The opening sequence is iconic, when three of Frank's goons are waiting for Harmonica's arrival at the train station as they are being tormented by flies and the heat. With almost no dialogue spoken, each and every one of them gets a handful of recognizable character traits, a proof of Leone's brilliance as a director.
29	** The massacre of the McBain family, specifically Timmy running outside to see his entire family being murdered and the subsequent, shocking reveal of the BigBad being played by Henry Fonda.
30	** The final duel between Harmonica and Frank, with the flashback reveal of [[spoiler: Frank being the man who Harmonica owns his namesake to, as the man who murdered his brother.]]
31	* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: The train battle (the aftermath of which looks quite impressive) takes place entirely offscreen, so the audience never gets to see the whole Cheyenne Gang in action or Morton get his CorneredRattlesnake moment.
32	* VindicatedByHistory: The film received mixed and very mild reviews from critics when it was first screened, and, financially speaking, it only barely recovered its budget. This result was encouraged by the twenty-or-so minutes worth of footage (including the tavern scene between Harmonica and Cheyenne, and [[spoiler: Cheyenne's death]] sequence) cut from the film's original release. Today, it is regarded as one of the greatest Westerns ever made (in the category of ''Film/TheSearchers'' and ''Film/{{Stagecoach}}'', and Leone's earlier ''Film/TheGoodTheBadAndTheUgly'', itself an example of this trope), and it holds a 98% on its Website/RottenTomatoes profile.
33	* TheWoobie:
34	** Jill, when she becomes a widow and a woman alone in the West, and later when she's [[spoiler:raped by Frank]].
35	** Cheyenne crosses into this when we're revealed that he's [[spoiler:SecretlyDying]].
36	** Timmy, whose whole family is dead and he knows he's next and there's nothing he can do about it.

Context YMMV / OnceUponATimeInTheWest