In the mid-1960s an unknown Italian film director named Sergio Leone was given $200,000 and some leftover film stock, and he went to make a Western. With an American TV actor named Clint Eastwood and a script based on a samurai epic, Leone wound up creating "A Fistful of Dollars", the first in a trilogy of films (with "For a Few Dollars More" and "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly") that was violent, cynical, and visually stunning. Along with his later masterpiece, "Once Upon a Time in the West", these films came to define the Spaghetti Western

Covering every Italian Spaghetti Western--mainly the good but also the bad and the ugly--this is an authoritative, entertaining and comprehensive companion to the implausible international fusion of producers, directors, actors and composers who created the mythical Spaghetti West under the most improbable circumstances. Sergio Leone's Dollars Trilogy led the field but many more major Spaghetti Westerns were made by important directors, including Sergio Corbucci's Navajo Joe, Carlo Lizzani's The Hills Run Red, Duccio Tessari's A Pistol for Ringo. Combining analysis, information and lively anecdotes, this popular guide explores all of these films through the biographies and filmographies of key personnel, stories of each production, their locations and sets, sources, musical scores, detailed cast information and many illustrations, including original posters and stills.

Few directors are characterized by both extraordinary film craft and the ironic reputation for lowbrow films. Despite his many achievements as a child of the Italian Cinecitta studios, however, Sergio Leone has been judged severely by writers who find his films lacking in ideas and moralists who find his films unduly cynical. Nevertheless, Leone's greatest cinematic achievement, Once Upon a Time in the West, served to refute these criticisms while exposing the director's unique romanticism and artistic ambition. As Leone's fourth successful American western film, Once Upon a Time in the West earned him acclaim for liberating the western genre, restoring it to a place of antique American simplicity. The principal goal of this book is to sharpen an appreciation for Sergio Leone and his most famous American western. The first two chapters deal with the relationship between Once Upon a Time in the West and the western films that preceded it, particularly those of John Ford. Subsequent chapters concentrate on the central characters of Once Upon a Time in the West, with special attention to Jill, Leone's first female protagonist and a surprisingly successful character, central to the plot and accorded a kind of existential strength usually reserved for men in Westerns. The sixth, seventh and eighth chapters address Leone's visual style, which represents a unique fusion of Hollywood classicism and modernism, and reveals the influences of Italian Surrealism and the French New Wave. The final chapters explore the rhythm, romanticism, and musical character of Once Upon a Time in the West, espousing the theory that Leone's approach to film is, above all, musical.

The ideal popular guide to the key Spaghetti Westerns - mainly the good but also the bad and the ugly - this is an authoritative, entertaining and comprehensive companion to the films that created the mythical Spaghetti West in the most improbable circumstances. Sergio Leone's "Dollars" trilogy is covered, with many more major and minor Spaghetti Westerns, including Sergio Corbucci's "Navajo Joe", Carlo Lizzani's "The Hills Run Red" and Duccio Tessari's "A Pistol for Ringo". This popular guide explores the films through the biographies and filmographies of key personnel, stories of the films' making, their locations and sets, sources, musical scores, detailed cast information, box office fortunes internationally, with many illustrations, including original posters and stills.

"Once Upon a Time in the West was the movie that made me consider filmmaking."-Quentin Tarantino Sergio Leone's film Once Upon a Time in the Westset out to be the ultimate Western--a celebration of the power of classic Hollywood cinema, a meditation on the making of America and a lament for the decline of one of the most cherished film genres in the form of a "dance of death." With this film, Leone said a fond farewell to the noisy and flamboyant world of the Italian Western, which he had created with A Fistful of Dollars and sequels, and aimed for something much more ambitious--an exploration of the relationship between myth ("Once Upon a Time..."), history ("...in the West") and his own autobiography as an avid film-goer. This would be a horse opera in which the arias aren't sung, they are stared. Once Upon a Time has since inspired several generations of filmmakers worldwide. Its combination of "film about film" with an angry historical epic, told with great style, has resonated for half a century, and its reputation has steadily grown. This book, by the world-renowned authority on Sergio Leone, Christopher Frayling, includes revealing personal interviews with all the key players involved in the movie (in front of the camera and behind it) a wealth of never-before-published documents, designs and photographs, and the latest research into the making of a masterpiece, shot by shot. It is introduced with a foreword by Quentin Tarantino. This year is the 50th anniversary of Once Upon a Time in the West and this richly illustrated book is a suitably spectacular birthday tribute.

The Western is the quintessential American epic--a mythic story of nation building, triumphs, failures, and fantasies. This book accompanies the first major exhibition to examine the Western genre and its evolution from the mid-1800s in fine art, film, and popular culture, exploring gender roles, race relations, and gun violence--a story that is about more than cowboys and American Indians, pursuits and duels, or bandits and barroom brawls. From 19th-century landscape paintings by Albert Bierstadt and Frederic Remington to works by Andy Warhol, Ed Ruscha, and Kent Monkman; from the legends of "Buffalo Bill" Cody and Billy the Kid to John Ford's classic films and Sergio Leone's spaghetti Westerns and recent productions by Quentin Tarantino, Ang Lee, and Joel and Ethan Coen, The Western observes how the mythology of the West spread throughout the world and endures today.

**Winner of the 2016 Creative Child Magazine Book of the Year Award** **Winner of the 2015 Gelett Burgess Award for Best Multicultural Book** When wily animals, everyday people and magical beings come together in a collection of Japanese fairy tales, wonderful things are bound to happen! Each story is brilliantly illustrated by a different talented Japanese artist. The tales recounted here are among Japan's oldest and most beloved stories. Entertaining and filled with subtle folk wisdom, these retold stories have been shared countless times in Japanese homes and schools for generations. Like good stories from every time and place, they never grow old. Kids (and their parents!) will enjoy hearing these stories read aloud on the accompanying downloadable audio. The fairy tales and classic stories in this collection include: The Wife Who Never Eats--the story of a man who learns the hard way the evils of stinginess. The Mill of the Sea--the story of how a greedy man was responsible for the saltiness of seawater. The Monkey and the Crab--the crabs teach a tricky monkey a lesson in fairness and honesty. The Magical Hood--an act of kindness reaps great rewards. Sleepyhead Taro and the Children--a story about what can be accomplished at the right time, and with the right help and the right spirit. The Fox and the Otter--how a fox pays the price of deceit and selfishness. The Gratitude of the Crane--a story about the rewards of kindness and the danger of curiosity. The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter--a girl who starts life very tiny turns out to be big in many ways.

Quentin Tarantino’s long-awaited first work of fiction—at once hilarious, delicious and brutal—is the always surprising, sometimes shocking, novelization of his Academy Award winning film. RICK DALTON—Once he had his own TV series, but now Rick’s a washed-up villain-of-the week drowning his sorrows in whiskey sours. Will a phone call from Rome save his fate or seal it? CLIFF BOOTH—Rick’s stunt double, and the most infamous man on any movie set because he’s the only one there who might have got away with murder. . . . SHARON TATE—She left Texas to chase a movie-star dream, and found it. Sharon’s salad days are now spent on Cielo Drive, high in the Hollywood Hills. CHARLES MANSON—The ex-con’s got a bunch of zonked-out hippies thinking he’s their spiritual leader, but he’d trade it all to be a rock ‘n’ roll star.

Sixteen-year-old Regina is very different from the Regina known by fans of ABC's "Once Upon a Time." She seeks romance, adventure, and approval. Of course, getting approval from a mother like Cora is next to impossible. For Regina, friendships have always been a rare commodity. Could it be that Regina has finally found a true friend? Or is it too good to be true? As Regina struggles to find her own identity and create her own destiny, she discovers that her fate might just be to become everything she despises.

Henry and Violet finally have a chance to be alone. Granted, it's on a school field trip, but with some clever planning and strategic maneuvering, they can orchestrate their own adventure in New York City, a fairytale land in its own right. While they search for a treasured item that once belonged to Violet's father, they are met with obstacles they could never have predicted. What they thought would be a romantic getaway ends up being a true test of their relationship. The question remains: Are they destined for a happily ever after?