I can't see America any other way than with a European's eyes. It fascinates me and terrifies me at the same time.

During his schooldays Leone was a classmate of his later musical collaborator Ennio Morricone for a time. He also worked as an assistant director on several large-scale international productions shot at the Cinecittà Studios in Rome notably Quo Vadis (1951) and Ben-Hur (1959) financially backed by the American studios. In addition Clint Eastwood stayed with the film series joined later by Eli Wallach Lee van Cleef and Klaus Kinski.

Sergio Leone (Italian: [ˈsɛrdʒo leˈoːne]; January 3 1929 – April 30 1989) was an Italian film director producer and screenwriter most associated with the "Spaghetti Western" genre. His movies include The Last Days of Pompeii The Colossus of Rhodes the Dollars Trilogy (A Fistful of Dollars For a Few Dollars More and The Good the Bad and the Ugly) Once Upon a Time in the West Duck You Sucker! and Once Upon a Time in America.