This video is very interesting to see how time and nature have taken back the filming locations for the great railroad-theme movie "Once Upon A Time In The West" (filmed in Spain and the USA). The artist who filmed this video has quite a few other videos on YouTube that explore the locations of classic motion pictures:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAvRt6hy3kk

Perhaps some interesting concepts for "then and now" presentations dealing with railroad locations?

PC

My all time favorite movie. On the DVD version they do show many of the same areas in the '80s as well as Caludia Cardinale (she did not age gracefuly). This movie is supposedly Henry Fonda's darkest role.

Anybody know what happened to the rolling stock that was used in this movie?

Later!
Mr. Ed

I remember when Once Upon A Time In The West came out, the gasp from the audience when the camera swung around to reveal the sinister leader of the gang who had just murdered most of the McBain family was Henry Fonda. Then there were screams from the crowd when he pulled out the revolver and shot the little boy.

The movie itself is an unusual and memorable departure from most films of the time. The first credits do not appear till well into the film, the title is finally shown at the end, and Ennio Morricone's music for this movie is fabulous.

And finally, just a couple minutes from the end, after all the killing and greed surrounding the building of the railroad, you find out why Harmonica intervened to save Frank on several occasions: So he can be the person who gets to kill Frank to avenge the hanging of his brother.

Possibly the best railroad theme movie of all time, it is now increasingly rated as one of the best westerns ever.

PC

I recall reading that director Sergio Leone picked Henry Fonda for that scene in particular. As the camera swung around to show the faces of the killers, he wanted everyone in the audience to say, "Hey, that's Henry Fonda!" No one would have expected to see him in such a role.

Watching the gang clear the way for railroad construction gives new meaning to the phrase "to be railroaded."

Reactivating this thread from four years ago, here's "then and now" YouTube film of another Italian western, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93b5MelKGQE

Of particular interest to rail buffs is the then-crowded train station at which the bandit Tuco (Eli Wallach) was loaded onto a train (4:28), looking deserted today, and the scene in which he used a passing train to sever the chain holding him to his dead captor (5:03). The line has since been abandoned and is now a bare right-of-way.

And the first mentioned Youtube video is no longer there. Anyone have a lead on a second source?

This is my all-time favorite movie and is quite possibly the reason I chose to pursue a career in the Film/TV industry. To me it's truly flawless; brilliant direction, amazing performances (including one of cinema's darkest villains in of all people Henry Fonda!), haunting score, compelling story, gorgeous cinematography.


Having said that, the locations then and now video is still on youtube, albeit with a different URL:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwIJiSXgYjQ

And to those who do not own the DVD but have seen the movie (spoiler warning here), I also recommend this video about the film's depiction of the westward railroad boom in the Post Civil War years:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8_-YH0JJ1c