Another fav line. “My booze don’t need no buddies “ By the way, The moccasins Cliff wear were introduced in 1969 and the company Minnetonka reissued them in concert with the film. Two Button Softsole Boot
I haven't seen much discussion of the Schwarz (Pacino) character. I kind of feel like he could have been cut and not much, if anything, would have been lost. Rick sums up all the information Schwarz has given him (and us) when he's standing outside waiting for the car with Cliff. Maybe I just expected Schwarz to somehow play a more pivotal part in the story later on.
Maybe he did and it was cut. It stands to reason the Italian sojourn was not originally conceived as just a five-minute summary, and that actual scenes were filmed of them in Italy. Perhaps he figures in some of that stuff.
I had to look up the Green Berets. I was curious if Cliff could have actually been one. Wikipedia says they began in 1952. IIRC, Rick says Cliff was his stunt man on the last two seasons of Bounty Law, which would be very early 60's. That means Cliff could have been in the service in the early days of the Green Berets. Might even have been to Vietnam post Dien Bien Phu - wasn't Eisenhower sending advisors in the late 50s? Fun details.
In case anybody would like to know more about some of the scenes that were cut from the original 4.5 hour version of the film, here's a link to a good-sized interview with editor Fred Raskin: ART OF THE CUT with Fred Raskin, ACE on editing "Once Upon a Time in...Hollywood" A couple of fascinating notes: the weird, creepy background music that plays on the TV speakers during the Spahn Ranch scene is Bernard Herrmann's discarded score from Alfred Hitchcock's Torn Curtain. And there were several more Lancer Western scenes we didn't see. Finally, there are a lot of editing and production "rules" that Tarantino broke on this film, and his explanation was: He’s pretty firm that there are no rules. Even though plenty of people would look at that and say, “What are you doing? You can’t do that.” Quentin will just say, “Eh… I did it.”
Interestingly (based on the Raskin interview Vidiot just posted above) the Pacino scene was originally much longer, like 28 minutes long. I don't think it should have been cut altogether like you do, but I sure can't imagine it running for 28 minutes. That's true of all the parts played by Dern and Russell also. I assume the cachet of being in a Tarantino film makes veteran actors willing to take minor parts.
That's the woman's version, the men's version costs more! I might have to get a pair. Two Button Hardsole Boot
At the table the 3 guys playing cards when Stacy comes into the saloon I looked close, the guy in the middle looked African-American and a bit chubby in the face. Could it be? btw here's a bunch of good stuff. The Quentin Tarantino Archives - Everything QT since 1999
Also of note; apparently the narrator popping (back) in during the last third was not a function of the cuts, it's just the way Tarantino wanted it:
That might help explain his 'erratic' working relationship with Neil Young?!? Neil was the Buffalo Springfield member enthralled by Manson's musical gifts.
That explains it. I thought it was an odd choice to have him, of all the characters, doing the narration.
(Spoiler Alert, except everybody must have seen the movie already): My Mum called the ending a "Happy Hollywood" ending, but as everyone knows what really happened, I felt more like it was a sick joke. And if three Manson followers really were violently prevented from committing their first murders, wouldn't other "Family" members have murdered a bunch of other people?
Biggest disappointment in the movie for me. I was excited to see Pacino in a big movie again, and was hoping for more from him. His performance was great but his part was completely unnecessary.
Tex was the main henchman, and the Family would have been freaked out if three of their own set out with a task and did not come back. Maybe that was their only car (but I suppose Kasabian took off back to the ranch with it).
This was kind of discussed elsewhere. If you think about it, Cliff knew the three were from Spahn Ranch. So authorities would probably go out there to investigate why the three were up at Cielo Drive in the first place armed with weapons. Manson knowing the murder attempts had failed would have probably have bailed from the ranch to avoid any investigation or interrogation. All the "Helter Skelter" stuff (like the LaBianca's for instance) would have been derailed and Manson, likely, arrested for something else. All hypothetical of course.
I would assume she took off for good. If she went back to the ranch, I am sure she would have been disciplined. I have to admit at this point in the film I was questioning my memory of what really happened that night, and trying to remember who went there and left before the murders.