Sergio Leone is best known for creating the genre of Italian western films the so called Spaghetti Westerns despite the fact that most were filmed in Spain. These had a big impact on many later action films. His parents were both in film business and that gave him a passion for films and westerns. His first direction role was in the sword and sandles film The Colossus Of Rhodes, but as these were becoming less popular he moved to westerns with the classic Fistful Of Dollars. This was a remake of the Japanese film Yojimbo based on the Dashiell Heammett novel. How he filmed the shoot outs make this film different. He took the key elements of the western and drpped the other items giving a more minimalist view and so Clint Eastwood as the man with no name. What also sets this trilogy of Spaghetti Westerns apart is the integration of the sound track from Ennio Morricone. Ennio Moriconi had written the score before the scenes were shot. So in the grave yard scene the actors could hear the music and acted to the rythmn. It gives it an opera feel and the mix of the music and the increasingly close up close ups. In effect he reinvigorated the idea of the western that had been going out of fashion. Once Upon A Time is the film of his that has a strong female character. Once Upon A Time was his long time project to make an American ganster film.
