Once Upon A Time In America (6-Hour-Long Print of 1984 Sergio Leone Film)

Once Upon A Time In America was Itallian Director, Sergio Leone's ultimately final film, Starring Robert DeNiro and Joe Pesci, this gangster epic from 1984 was critically panned at the time of its release and has gone on to be praised as one of the greatest films ever made. Leone's original final cut was 4 hours and 29 minutes, a length that made most film distributors not want to touch it. Upon release in America and several other countries, the film was cut down to as short as an hour and a half. The American release slapped Leone in the face even more by editing the movie in sequential order, which took away its effectiveness.

The buthering left Leone heartbroken to the point where he almost vowed to never make another film. He would pass away 5 years later from a heart attack caused by his obesity, never to see his masterpiece release in the way he intended to a worldwide audience. DVD releases would attempt to restore Leone's vision to the fullest extent that censorship laws would allow. Many versions remove a controversial rape scene that was absolutely vital to the plot. In 2012, a version was screened at the Cannes Film Festival that was as identical to the original version that surviving footage would allow. Even that print has been removed from circulation due to more footage that has been discovered.

What many people have not realized, though, is that Leone actually originally intended a 6-hour running time for the film. If records or to be believed, this version of the film was actually edited and put together into that long of a cut. This has left fans of the film saddened, as Leone apparently had to substantially shorten the film in order to get distributors interested. Unfortunately, even the shortened cut would not be good enough for most distributors. To this day, the 6 hour cut has never surfaced. It is likely that Leone saved a copy, but its wherabouts are unknown.