20 Things You Didn't Know About The Good, The Bad And The Ugly

3. Sergio Leone Wanted The 3 Leads For The Opening To Once Upon A Time In The West

Once Upon A Time In The West Opening
Paramount Pictures

Once Upon A Time In The West has an iconic and impossibly tense opening scene - where 3 unnamed gunmen wait in silence at a train station for the arrival of protagonist Harmonica. Though ultimately played by Woody Strode, Jack Elam and Al Mulock, Leone had originally wanted to reunite The Good, The Bad And The Ugly's 3 leads to play the ill-fated outlaws.

This plan fell through when Eastwood was unavailable, and Leone cast Strode, Elam and Mulock instead. The scene is undoubtedly stronger for it as well, as having such an iconic trio appear in an ostensibly unrelated capacity would have served as a distraction and an obnoxious in-joke.

One of cinema's greatest opening scenes narrowly avoided being a total disaster.

Contributor

A self-taught video editor with nearly 25 years of experience, Joe worked in freelance videography for many years before joining WhatCulture in 2018. During that time, he has expanded his work to include both writing and presenting, and has been at the forefront of several new channel launches including WhatCulture Horror and WhatCulture Star Wars, largely defining their visual identity through the design and curation of their bespoke assets. As a dedicated WhatCulture Gaming staff member, he has spearheaded numerous new content strategies and formats, and has taken the lead on various charitable projects that have raised large sums of money for charities close to his heart. Bluesky and Instagram: @jjpinwheel