Once Upon a Time in the West

Continuity mistake: When Frank's henchmen wait for Harmonica at the train station it's very windy. For example, you see the wires of the telegraph machine moving, and a string that's dangling in the window behind it is swaying wildly. Only in two shots, when the station agent gets locked up, the wires and the string are absolutely still, to start moving as before in the next shot. Desert wind wouldn't stop completely just for a few seconds. (00:02:40)

NancyFelix

Continuity mistake: Jill's arrival by train is quite badly edited: When she gets off, two porters carry her luggage to the station building. She looks at the station clock which shows 7:55, then down at her watch wich shows 10:10. This may indicate how the time has passed, but it looks strange. In the last shot her luggage is back at the tracks, and the porters pick it up again. (00:26:15)

NancyFelix

Continuity mistake: After Jill's arrival at the train station she leaves by cart. The way the luggage is piled on back changes totally when they go through Monument Valley. There are reasons to believe that it's a different cart as also the horses seem to change (check the mane which changes colors and sometimes falls to the left, sometimes to the right). (00:29:00)

NancyFelix

Continuity mistake: On the way to Sweetwater the cart goes through Monument Valley. There, the very long shadows of the cart and the rocks don't match the time Jill has left the station (some time after 10). A bit later, when they pass the construction site, the shadows are short and more fitting for the time of the day again. (00:29:00)

NancyFelix

Continuity mistake: The whole scene in the post station takes about 12 minutes. During this time the bartender finishes his cigar almost completely, a task that takes at least 45 minutes if you smoke fast. In the very last shot the cigar is again much longer but half hidden in the hand, apparently to make it look shorter. (00:32:20 - 00:44:00)

NancyFelix

Continuity mistake: When Harmonica tells Cheyenne about the three men he killed at the train station, he is sipping from a cup. He is holding the cup in both hands with his fingertips touching, but in the last shot he is holding the cup by the handle. It's theoretically possible but looks wrong. (00:42:10)

NancyFelix

Continuity mistake: When Jill arrives at the McBain killing scene a close-up shows her looking in shock at the corpses. There are long, untidy strands of hair hanging down from both temples. When she gets off the cart, only the hair on the right side is loose. (00:45:20)

NancyFelix

Continuity mistake: When Jill attempts to leave Sweetwater for the first time her hair is combed out of her forehead, enhancing its striking beauty. When she opens the door, only to face Cheyenne and his men, the wind blows her hair even further back, but when the camera cuts to outside the wind is coming from behind, blowing her hair over her face. (00:57:50)

NancyFelix

Continuity mistake: In the scene where Cheyenne shoots a man through his boot the curtains at the top the window are happily moving in the wind, but when we see them from outside they are almost still. (01:28:50)

NancyFelix

Continuity mistake: Cheyenne shoots a man through the tip of his boot. When we see the boot next, that is a little later when he and Harmonica check the station construction site, both his boots are intact. (01:28:50 - 01:34:20)

NancyFelix

Continuity mistake: In the train shoot-out Cheyenne shoots a man through his boot. When the boot appears first in the window it has a round tip, but when the gun goes off the tip is flat, as if it were pressed against the glass, only that the window has no glass. (01:28:50)

NancyFelix

Continuity mistake: When Frank comes to the train to find all his men dead there's one of them in something like a kowtow position with his hands reaching back. When he is seen from the other side the hands are in front. (02:07:25)

NancyFelix

Continuity mistake: During the last flashback that reveals Harmonica's issue with Frank and the significance of the harmonica, the harmonica in the boy's mouth is sometimes dented, sometimes not. (02:22:00)

NancyFelix

Continuity mistake: At the end of the movie when Cheyenne is shaving, while Harmonica and Frank are having their shoot-out, he cuts himself at the sound of the gunshots. When Jill tells him that he is a handsome man the cut is gone. (02:22:25)

Continuity mistake: In the final shootout, Frank slumps to the ground and Harmonica approaches him. Harmonica has the instrument in his left breast pocket attached to a cord around his neck. He pulls the instrument from the cord quite forcibly causing the cord to whiplash back and lie on his left shoulder. The camera then switches to Frank having the instrument forced into his mouth and then Harmonica comes back into view. The cord is now missing.

Continuity mistake: During the last flashback that reveals Harmonica's issue with Frank and the significance of the harmonica, the harmonica in the boy's mouth is sometimes dented, sometimes not. (02:22:00)

NancyFelix

More mistakes in Once Upon a Time in the West

Cheyenne: Listen, Harmonica, a town built around a railroad - mm mm mm mmm - you could make a fortune, huh? Hundreds of thousands of dollars. Hey, more than that. Thousands of thousands.
Harmonica: They call them "millions."
Cheyenne: "Millions." Hm.

More quotes from Once Upon a Time in the West

Trivia: While Morton's private train plays a key role in the movie, and the train moves several times, the train's engineer and fireman are never shown, nor is any reference ever made to them.

More trivia for Once Upon a Time in the West

Question: There's a few things I didn't understand in this film: 1) What's the deal with Jill? Did she really love Mr. McBain or did she just marry for money etc? 2) After she sees the McBain's bodies, why does Jill search the house? Is she checking to see whether anything was stolen? 3) When Jill meets Harmonica in the barn, why does he rip her dress? 4) What's whole thing with Jill and Frank near the end? What exactly happens?

Answer: 1) Jill is a prostitute from New Orleans. She seeks out a new life out West. Love is irrelevant here. 2) She was promised a country living, a family, and wealth. That's why she is looking not only for money or gold but also for the reason her family was killed. 3) So Leone can show her beautiful body. 4) She's saving her life. She's a prostitute and I guess she knows how to fake it. Remember: "There's nothing that can't washed off by a hot bath".

Answer: "Leone fools us into thinking that Harmonica is a criminal and sexual predator in the scene in Jill's barn in which Harmonica rips off the white lace beneath the bodice of Jill's dress. This act, that seems to betoken sexual aggression and to anticipate rape, is actually one of protection. Harmonica represents no more of a sexual threat than Cheyenne does. What Harmonica realises, and Jill does not, is that Frank's sharpshooters wait for her in the hills above her house and that the white of her dress makes her an easy target. He might have explained this situation more carefully to her, of course, but Leone's characters seem to almost thrive on, or to court, ill opinion. Moreover, when Harmonica's shots ring out at the well and Jill realises he is actually intent on protecting rather than brutalizing her, the effect is all the more dramatic for his having given her no hint of his intentions. Leone's heroes do not like to wear their morality on their sleeves." (John Fawell).

More questions & answers from Once Upon a Time in the West

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