First of all, Wiseguy, thanks alot/
mille grazie for your encouragements. I appreciate your posts a lot too, they're alws informative and clever, not "rambling mutterings" + (sorry I'm late) congrats on your rise in La Famiglia !
But gee, you aged sooooooooo fast I couldn't recognize you !
1) You're right abt Noodles's real name, I checked the scene you mentioned ("His name is David, just like yours") and I also thought abt another one, the cemetary scene. Then I've made some more research and here's what I've found :
From the book "SERGIO LEONE: SOMETHING TO DO WITH DEATH" By Chistopher FRAYLING
Chapter 11, Once Upon a Time In America, an outline for the shooting script as it existed in October 1981:
"1968. The same inscription from Isaiah 3.25, 'Your men will fall by the sword, your heroes in the fight,' is seen over the entrance to an elaborate marble mausoleum in Riversdale cemetery. As Noodles [Robert de Niro] enters, he hears 'music he hasn't heard in years' - Cockeye's flute, piped into the building from two loudspeakers. When he closes the door, it stops. It is the tomb of Maximilian Berkovicz 1908-1933, Patrick Goldberg 1909-1933 and Philip Stein 1909-1933, and the building has apparently been 'erected to their everlasting memory by their friend and brother David Aaronson - Noodles. 1967.' As Noodles reaches for a little key, hanging from the 'd' in Noodles - the woman director of Riversdale enters the tomb and tells him that Mr. Aaronson 'left the whole thing up to us,' sent a tape of the music, and paid through a foreign bank. She is upset that the gardener let Mr. Williams [the name under which Noodles is living in old age] into the mausoleum when he isn't a relative."
And yet my video cover says "Nathan AAronson" and so does the French book abt Pacino + DeNiro that I had mentioned in another thread. I'm confused because the two authors are what you can call "reliable"... Maybe they have the same video with the wrong name and didn't check before writing their analysis... :p
2) The real author's name of "The Hoods" : still searching. We need Sherlock Holmes here ! Could you ring him plz !
3) Yes, there's not much to be found on the web, even on Italian and Spanish sites. Most of the SL sites deal with his westerns and only briefly mention his other films.
It seems like I'm fulfilling that void with my Italian-Americana site !
4) The SL biography I mentioned does exist in English and is called : "Sergio Leone: The Great Italian Dream of Legendary America" by Oreste De Fornari.
5) Misc. : - read that Scorcese very loosely based his "Gangs of New York" upon OUATIA and consequently shot it in Cinecittà. First time I read that.
- PRESS RELEASE :
AMC Premieres "Once Upon A Time - Sergio Leone" on August 24. I created a
new thread to post the article.
6) my French video tape says 4h12, that's 252 minutes, so it's pretty close to the Italian version. And it cost me less than £10 a few years ago ! An offer I couldn't refuse !
HERE you can find full details abt the different versions.
End of my report for today guys ! More to come ! Truth will out !
Almammater
