US Cinema - 'Once Upon a Time in America' - Part 1 Quiz

Answer: Ennio Morricone

With over 500 soundtrack credits to his name, Ennio Morricone is one of the most prolific providers of film music of all time. This was the last soundtrack that Morricone provided for a Sergio Leone film and it was, ironically, Leone's last film. Morricone can also be credited with providing the soundtracks to such epics as 'Once Upon a Time in the West', all three of the soundtracks to the 'Dollars Trilogy' and 'The Mission' amongst many, many others.

Answer: Jewish

Unusually for a gangster movie, the story is set within and around the Jewish community of Manhattan's Lower East Side. In contrast to the way that the area was depicted in this film as a poor or working class ghetto, the Lower East Side of Manhattan has, since the early years of the 21st Century, undergone considerable regeneration and now possesses a vibrant nightlife, a number of live music venues and a burgeoning arts scene.

Answer: Noodles

It is never revealed from where Aaronson's nickname came from. The other gang members monickers are more straightforward; the vicious, cool and merciless killer Patrick Goldberg's name 'Patsy' was just an informal version of Patrick, Philip 'Cockeye' Stein possessed a lazy eye and 'Max' was simply a contraction of his full name, Maximilian Bercowicz.

The youngest gang member, Dominic, was the only one who didn't possess a nickname. Dominic met his fate at a very young age, losing his life during an incident involving Bugsy, the leader of the gang that dominated criminal activity in the Lower East Side.

Answer: An opium den

The story begins with a team of mob assassins searching for Aaronson. They murder his girlfriend in the apartment that they shared before descending on the home of one of his best friends, severely beating him and extracting the information that he, Aaronson, is likely to be found in an opium den. Fortunately for Aaronson, the proprietor warns him of their arrival and he makes good his escape through a side exit to the building.

Answer: Buffalo

Aaronson's ticket to Buffalo costs $1.20, but it is never confirmed as to which of the numerous cities of that name that Aaronson will be travelling to. As he pays the vendor he turns around and his eye is caught by a wall carrying an advertisement for Coney Island, the scene of an recent incident involving himself and the love of his life.

The scene ends with Aaronson passing through a door in the wall, symbolically leaving his old life behind as he embarks on a new life away from his home. It was once believed that the ticket vendor was played by Sergio Leone in a rare cameo appearance however this has been proved to be false; this role was played by Joey Faye.

Answer: Actress

Aaronson and Deborah, played in her youth by Jennifer Connolly, care for each other very much, even if she does refer to Aaronson as a cockroach. As a young man, Aaronson often watched her practicing dancing and acting skills in the storeroom of her parent's restaurant.

In an adjoining restroom a small section of wall had been removed which allowed him to do this but Aaronson didn't know that Deborah was aware of his voyeurism. On one occasion she strips to change and almost causes Aaronson to fall from the toilet on which he is standing! Many years later, after returning to New York, Aaronson revisits the restroom in Moe's bar only to find that the opening is still there. Peering through for posterity, Aaronson is transported back to his teenage years and at this point the tale returns to a time where the events of his early life begin to unfold.

Answer: True

After following their potential victim out of the bar, they lay in wait down the street. Before he reaches them the local police officer, Officer Whitey, appears from inside the police station across the road and briefly watches them. Fortunately for their drunken target, he is rescued from the gang's clutches by a young man who is moving into the neighbourhood with his mother that very day.

The young man is Max Bercowicz, who then promptly robs the drunk of his pocket watch! This is the first time that Aaronson and Max meet each other.

Answer: Photographed 'in flagrante' with a minor

The character Peggy was played by actress Julie Cohen as a young woman and as an adult by Amy Ryder. Peggy is a teenager of dubious morals who will do anything for a Charlotte Russe with Cream! Officer Whitey is spotted meeting Peggy on the roof of her tenement where they engage in sexual intercourse. Max, Noodles and Patsy set up a camera and photograph the pair and whilst the photographic plate is rushed away for safekeeping by Patsy, Max and Aaronson make it clear that they expect the officer to turn a blind eye to their criminal activities from that point onward.

Answer: Salt

Valuable contraband coming in by boat would often be thrown overboard to prevent it from falling into the hands of the Coastguard. Unfortunately, this meant that the consignment was lost but Max and Noodles have an idea that will prevent this. The contraband is attached to a large bag of salt and a buoy.

After the cases are jettisoned over the side of a boat and had sunk, the salt dissolves and the cases of contraband, now much lighter, rise to the surface with the buoy. This prevents the loss of the consignment.

After the gang retrieves the contraband, they secrete their share of the proceeds in a locker at the railway station inside a brown leather suitcase.

Answer: False

This is false. Aaronson receives his prison sentence for the killing of neighbourhood gangster Bugsy, played by James Russo, and for the assault and stabbing of a police officer. After the youngest gang member Dominic, had been gunned down in the street and killed by Bugsy, Aaronson attacks and kills him with his flick-knife. During the fracas a police officer that had arrived to intervene also receives a number of stab wounds during Aaronson's frenzied attack.

Answer: Joe Pesci

Pesci had originally auditioned for the part of Max, but Sergio Leone was convinced that the role was not for him. Joe Pesci was born in Newark, New Jersey in February 1943. He is probably best known for the role for which he won the Academy Award for the Best Supporting Actor that of the menacing and truly frightening mafia psychopath Tommy DeVito in 'Goodfellas'. Pesci announced his retirement in 1999 but has, since 2006, appeared only occasionally in film.

Answer: Diamond agents

Max and the gang agree to carry out a raid on a diamond agent as a favour to Detroit mafia boss Frankie Manoldi. However, all was not what it seemed. At the delivery of the merchandise to Manoldi's henchmen, Patsy shoots and kills the thug inspecting the diamonds just moments before the remainder of the gang drive up and spray the car with machine gun fire killing those remaining inside. One of the Manoldi gang had already escaped death by leaping from the car but is chased down by Noodles and shot dead in a nearby factory unit.

Answer: True

This dreadfully violent act is committed by Aaronson. The victim, Carole, played by Tuesday Weld, is an insider; an employee at the agents who had tipped off the Manoldi's that a large consignment of diamonds was due to be shipped to Amsterdam within a few days.

In order to hide the fact that she was involved, she demands that the gang beat her up. However, Aaronson drags her into a back room where he proceeds to sexually assault her in a very brutal manner.

Answer: Trades union leader

Known as Jimmy 'Clean Hands' O'Donnell, he had refused absolutely to have anything to do with corruption and organised crime. The gang rescue Jimmy O'Donnell from a pair of mobsters who had strapped him to a table in an industrial unit and had doused him in gasoline in an attempt to get him to call of a strike.

Answer: They switch his baby son at a maternity hospital.

Played by Danny Aiello, the police chief has been desperate for a son after having had four daughters. Chief Aiello had broken a strike and had interfered in negotiations between the employers and their workforce by bringing in 'scab' labour and providing it with police protection; Fortunately, the gang keep a record of the babies that they had switched... Or did they?