Article: Once Upon a Time in America: Sergio Leone and the construction of myth.

Leone's use of genre conventions in Once Upon a Time in America (1984) seems to locate his film well within the confines of the American gangster film genre. The film bombards us with a string of cliches that we readily associate with American gangster films. These cliches are evident in, but are not limited to, patterns of speech in the film ("Hold it boys, don't shoot!"), patterns of nomenclature in the film (nicknames such as "Noodles", "Patsy", "Cockeye", etc.), patterns of dress in the film (handkerchiefs worn as masks in a hold-up scene.), props appearing in the film (tommy-guns, antique cars, etc.), and patterns of action in the film (hold-ups, drive-by shootings, ...

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