the fly?

[The Well]

The prop man painted Jack Elam's face with either honey or marmalade (depending on who you ask) which attracted the fly.  Basically the released a whole jar of flies hoping that one would stick around.

But  fortunately instinctively behaving fly met intellectually prepared Jack Elams's face and both could open a genial inter play; looks like you play it each day on a hot summer day, but forget repeating this concert

[Cusser]

OK, and it was a magnetically-moved fly on the seat side before Elam captured it in his gun barrel; it was $%^&%#$^&# 1968 when film was made, no CGI then.  So who cares. 

One of the issues with DVDs and home re-watchings...

[drinkanddestroy]

if I recall correctly, I believe Frayling said somewhere that they spread molasses on Elam's face to get the fly to stick; and that there was only one shot where they had to use a fake fly. Not sure which shot that was. Maybe sometime I'll re-read the chapter on OUATITW in STDWD and refresh my memory. or just look at the index for Jack Elam's name

[Groggy]

Probably the fly crawling up the wall was fake. Looks like it's magnetized.

[The Well]

Probably the fly crawling up the wall was fake. Looks like it's magnetized.

Not probably, but for sure, the crawling fly was a fake; Cusser is right. Its confirmed by Tonino Colli, the director of photography, in his interview on the OUATITW bonus DVD. What is interesting for me is that magnetized fly had not crossed my mind how to resolve it despite I am magnetized by this masterpiece film. By the way, Tonino Colli mentioned, that they tried a fake fly for the shot in which there is the real fly now, but it did not work.

Anyway, there is another fly I have noticed. During the scene in the saloon, when Frank strives to pay back Harmonica 5k bucks, in one moment a fly appears on Frank's elbow; there are 3 versions of mine why the fly entered the history:

1. nobody noticed it
2. they noticed it, but the concrete shot was so highly appreciated that they sacrificed the fly
3. they noticed it, but did not pay attention considering it as a natural occurence

Be it as it may, I think that that unfamous fly was just a natural part of the environment where the shooting took place