Like in hollywood with the bloated roadshow musical, the italian film industry faced a crisis of identity in the 60’s as their investment in huge historical epics drew in smaller and smaller crowds. Sergio Leone had the antidote. The son of a director, Leone worked his way up to that vaunted role and started making westerns that borrowed liberally not just from his favorite Ford or Hawks films, but also samurai films and new bloody, edgy horror films like those of Mario Bava. The resulting films were so fresh and exciting that they reinvigorated the italian box office, and when the Dollars trilogy released in the US over the course of 1967, they made Clint Eastwood a top movie star and made the hollywood studios come calling to Leone.

This week we talk about his hollywood western, Once Upon a Time in the West, and what we love about the meticulous production design, seeing Henry Fonda turn heel, and falling for the old gun-in-the-boot trick on a train.

Next week: Playtime (1967) by Jacques Tati

UnauthorizedPod.com for more. Hosted by Zachary Domes and J Brooks Young. Music by hetchy