Jack Elam and the Fly in 'Once Upon a Time in the West'

The scene discussed:<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;youtu.be&#x2F;QML28YQBvyc" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;youtu.be&#x2F;QML28YQBvyc</a><p>And the excellent scene that follows (after the train stops without any passengers departing, or so the gang thinks):<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;youtu.be&#x2F;uhYLfK8GSr0" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;youtu.be&#x2F;uhYLfK8GSr0</a>

This is the beginning of a very good movie. It is on my top 10 all-time best movies. I watch it from time to time and see new things each time.<p>I don&#x27;t remember where I read the story, but it might have been in the DVD extras. Henry Fonda grew a goatee and dyed his hair black before he flew to Spain for the start of filming. When he got there and Leone saw him he screamed &quot;nooooo&quot; because he hired Fonda to be the baby-faced assassin.<p>Also, aside from the visuals, the music in this film is probably the best match between music and video ever. Ennio Morricone&#x27;s soundtrack is pure genius.

I always took that opening scene as establishing how tough and capable the 3 waiting gunmen are. How hard would it be to catch a fly inside a gun barrel?? But this guy does it first try. Seems to imply incredible reflexes.

Just adding another comment to say how brilliant this film is. So atmospheric, such great music, such a grand presentation of the wild west and it&#x27;s demise. It makes other westerns feel half-baked.

Related, the film was shot in what is now a pretty cool small theme park close to Almeria.<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;minihollywoodoasys.com&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;minihollywoodoasys.com&#x2F;</a>

One of my all-time favorite movies.

My read of the end of this is that the author of TFA replaces the &quot;elevated&quot; interpretations in the cited academic works with &quot;the fly scene&#x27;s purpose is the be awesome (Leonesque)&quot;--is that right?<p>Love this movie and the scene but definitely don&#x27;t relate much to more involved interpretations. That said, I&#x27;m the first to admit I&#x27;m no sophisticate and am interested in other takes.

The HDR on the 4k version of this movie is hideous.<p>I&#x27;d recommend watching the disc in SDR mode. It looked great that way.

Such a fabulous movie. I searched, it&#x27;s available on amazon prime in the us until Jan 1 it says(with limited interruptions...?).<p>I want to see movies this great again - you can, but only with streaming. No CGI here but maybe a little syrup on Jack Elam&#x27;s face ;-)

Friendly reminder to fans of the genre that you can visit the film set of the cemetery in The Good, The Bad and The Ugly near Burgos, Spain. It&#x27;s free and I the middle of nowhere. I went this summer and it was an amazing experience. Search for Sad Hill Cemetery.

Nowadays it would be shot on a stage in Houston. There is something very physical about movies before CGI.

&quot;People scare better when they&#x27;re dying.&quot; is one of the best movie lines.