Twenty minutes into Sergio Leone's revisionist Western, a family of ranchers is ruthlessly slaughtered by a gang of hired killers. Only a small, tousle-haired, freckle-faced boy is left standing. As Ennio Morricone's eerie musical score is heard in the background, the leader of the gang rides up. It's...it's....it's Henry Fonda! "What do we do with this one, Frank?" asks one of the killers, gesturing to the boy. Fonda's eyes narrow; he spits on the ground. Slowly, he replies "Well, now that you called me by name" -- and with a slight smile, he shoots the kid right between the eyes! Believe it or not, this image-shattering scene is what sold Fonda on appearing in Once Upon a Time in the West. Now that the audience is thoroughly shocked and disoriented, the film settles into a traditional revenge tale. Claudia Cardinale plays Jill McBain, the prostitute who'd just married the slain rancher. Inheriting her late husband's estate McBain butts heads with railroad baron Morton (Gabrielle Ferzetti), who'd hired Frank to kill the family so that he could claim the land without paying for it. McBain is protected by roguish bandit Cheyenne (Jason Robards) and gunslinger the Man "Harmonica" (Charles Bronson). Cheyenne's motives are sexual; he'd like to get McBain in the sack. But "Harmonica's" grudge against Morton and Frank is deeper, and, until the end of the film, an utter mystery. Despite its wanton bloodshed, Once Upon a Time in the West unfolds at a slow, leisurely pace, leavened by moments of unexpected humor.