Treat Williams: Falling Asleep During Take

[LITTLE BIG MAN]

 http://ew.com/movies/2017/04/14/treat-williams-talks-falling-asleep-during-once-upon-a-time-in-america/

 

[LITTLE BIG MAN]

Yeah that scene was filmed in an old abattoir/slaughterhouse in Rome Chris - seemingly there was rats everywhere and Leone took great pleasure in telling the crew "that they were so big they were giving the cats heart attacks" 

[dave jenkins]

I liked the remark about Sergio being the quiet one on set: Tonino did all the screaming. 

[LITTLE BIG MAN]

Yeah that was great Chris - I think the only time Leone really lost it (according to Tonino Delli Colli) was up on the camera crane during the filming of the big 1920's crowd scene in Brooklyn - after lots of exhausting takes and just when it looked liked they had finally got it Sergio noticed one of the extras had looked up at the camera 😁

[cigar joe]

Thanks great watch 

[drinkanddestroy]

Thanks.

I like how he mentions that Leone would shoot take after take to tire the actor and get him to act naturally - because Frayling says the same thing, regarding how Leone directed Gian Maria Volonte. As Frayling says, Leone shot repeated takes to, I think Frayling's words were, "reduce the size of the performance."

[noodles_leone]

David Fincher uses the exact same trick. Except that digital is much cheaper to shoot with, so he often gets 30 to 70 takes.

[Novecento]

In the clip Treat also mentions that some exterior scenes were filmed in Canada...

That's actually pretty well-known and of course excludes the iconic DUMBO scene. I wonder what those areas of Montreal look like now.... I actually lived in Montreal for a while when I was a kid, but was too young to know really know about Sergio Leone and OUATIA then.

[drinkanddestroy]

That's actually pretty well-known and of course excludes the iconic DUMBO scene. I wonder what those areas of Montreal look like now.... I actually lived in Montreal for a while when I was a kid, but was too young to know really know about Sergio Leone and OUATIA then.

Also some scenes on the main street (outside Fat Moe's) were filmed in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. They recreated part of that street at Cinecitta so that they could film there as well and have it look like the same street. For example, the wide alley next to Fat Moe's is in Cinecitta; no such open wide alley is available in Brooklyn; real estate is too valuable 

[LITTLE BIG MAN]

Drink I think I remember reading in Fraylings Book that there was a street in Williamsburg next to Fat Moe's but it wasn't wide enough for Leone's  camera set ups, crews, lighting etc - the wider street was built alongside Fat Moe's bar at a De Paulis Studios on the outskirts of Rome (Prietralata)
It was used to great effect in the scene where the young Noodles/Max are beaten up by Bugsy and his gang

[drinkanddestroy]

Correct. The main street was in Williamsburg, but for shots of the alley they used the recreated set on Cinecitta

[LITTLE BIG MAN]

No they used two studios in Rome Cinecitta & Des Paulis
Cinecitta: Opium Den, Jewel Robbery, Peggy's Brothel, Reginald Marsh/Big Apple Mural), Hospital interior & Bailey's study.

De Paulis: Part reconstruction of 8th Street Brooklyn, Fat Moe's Speakeasy and diner, Gangs office and the room where young Deborah dances - the wider street/alleyway was part of the 8th Street Brooklyn/Fat Moe set and is where they filmed young Max and Noodles being beaten, 1930's Max/ Noodles/Max (hottest spot in town) and the 1930's scene where Noodles runs down the alley and enters Fat Moe's and presses lift button.

TBH Drink I had always assumed (until I read Fraylings Book) that they had just used one studio in Rome.

[dave jenkins]

Wow, I don't think De Paulis is even mentioned in the SL Encyclopedia. I'm waking up the editor and getting him to change that fast!

[LITTLE BIG MAN]

Two hundred metres of 8th Street South and surroundings were duplicated by production designer Carlo Simi and his team on the outskirts of Rome (near Prietralata) on the Via delle Messid'oro. According to Luca Morsella this location belonged to De Paulis Studios - producer Arnon Milchan purchased the land for the production. Simi who was in charge of customising the real life period streets in Brooklyn measured these buildings himself to be certain the duplicates in Italy would match.

[dave jenkins]

Two hundred metres of 8th Street South and surroundings were duplicated by production designer Carlo Simi and his team on the outskirts of Rome (near Prietralata) on the Via delle Messid'oro. According to Luca Morsella this location belonged to De Paulis Studios - producer Arnon Milchan purchased the land for the production. Simi who was in charge of customising the real life period streets in Brooklyn measured these buildings himself to be certain the duplicates in Italy would match.

If you do not object, you have just written an entry for the SL Encyclopedia.