One Upon a Time in America

1984: Sergio Leone, director; starring James A. Woods, Robert De Niro, Tuesday Weld, Danny Aiello, Joe Pesci. Leone, famous for his Clint Eastwood-starring spaghetti Western adventures (including Once Upon a Time in the West) produced this much-loved and much-discussed film that focuses on the Jewish side of the American Mafia in New York. Several versions exist, but critics agree the restored, 229-minute or the director’s 251-minute cuts are the best. A heavily edited and by all accounts confusing 139-minute version was originally released in American theaters. Among many changes, the edited version eliminates the flashbacks and flash-forwards central to the original, non-chronologically structured film. Critic Roger Ebert called the restored film the best on the Prohibition era.