Once Upon a Time in Hollywood - My Review - things you never knew

[Jolly Blue Giant]

If you are like me, you watched the movie "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood", and thought it was "okay, but nothing compared to other Tarantino movies". Boy was I wrong. Probably everyone has seen it, but not everyone begins to see the hand of Quentin Tarantino's masterful touches. It is filled with brief scenes that are filled with meaning; hence, the reason movie aficionados consider the movie Tarantino's absolute masterpiece, an especially those who work in the movie business

The story is really about several things going on in 1969: an actor who is washed up...the dying film genre of western movies and the stars of those westerns...the Charles Manson ranch and group of girls...the power of Roman Polanski at the height of his film making...and of course, Sharon Tate's life and demise

Leonardo DiCaprio plays "Rick Dalton" (a washed-up actor trying to make a comeback in the dying western genre); Brad Pitt as Dalton's stunt double "Cliff Booth"; and Italian actress Lorenza Izzo who plays "Francessca", Dalton's wife. Margot Robbie plays the role of "Sharon Tate", worthy of an Academy Award, IMO

Tarantino did dozens and dozens of little things, that not only indicate his obsession with Hollywood and retelling the real history of film making and the stars "exactly as it happened", but also liked to use artifacts from his other movies as a tease to Tarantino fans

Here's a short list of some of the things in the film that he used to show actual history and tidbits from his previous movies:

Margot Robbie (playing Sharon Tate), worked hard at studying Tate's life by wearing Tate's original jewelry for the entire time the film was being made, as well as wearing Tate's perfume from a half full bottle left in Tate's bedroom taken from the house where she was murdered. Towards the end, Robbie is sitting in a restaurant El Coyote, the actual restaurant where Tate ate her last meal, and Robbie sat in the same booth in the same seat area as Tate on the night she was murdered (attention to detail by QT)



Dittos with the restaurant "Musso and Frank's Grill", where Dalton and producer Marvin Schwarz (Al Pacino) met. The restaurant closed because of COVID, but it was still open in 2019 when the film was made and the owner had kept everything in the restaurant in its original state since its opening in 1919. In the 60's, it was a main stay for movie stars to eat (more attention to detail by QT)

The cars used in the movie were the same used in previous movies by QT. Dalton's cream-colored Cadillac was driven by Mr. Blonde in "Reservoir Dogs". Booth's (Pitt) car was a blue Karmann Ghia that was also driven by Uma Thurman in "Kill Bill", and the 1950s MG TD driven by "Roman Polanski", was an exact replica of the car Polanski drove when he was married to Sharon Tate before her murder. Tarantino took a beautifully restored black 59 Ford, and turned it into a POS that was identical to Manson's beat up car. The museum offered the original Manson car to be used in the movie, but Tarantino thought it was too creepy to use anything that Manson had in real life


Charles Manson's original car


Fake car used in the movie - car was made exactly as Manson's car

The Playboy Mansion scene was actually shot at the real Playboy Mansion of Hugh Hefner and the Playboy bunnies were actual girls who lived at the mansion. Some interesting people at the party were Steve McQueen (Damian Lewis) sharing a joint with Michelle "Michy" Phillips (singer from the Mamas and Papas and "the purest soprano in pop music", according to Time magazine, portrayed by Rebecca Rittenhouse), and Jay Sebring (Hollywood hairdresser to the stars and fiancée of Sharon Tate before a last minute breakup so she could marry Roman Polanski, played by Emile Hirsch). Polanski and Tate show up to the party in his little hot rod, then Tate takes off with Michy Phillips and runs into "Mama Cass", Michy's female partner in Mamas and Papas. As they get their party on, McQueen is now with Connie Stevens (played by Dreama Walker) and he explains to her the relationship between 5'3" Polanski, 5'8" Tate, and 5'4" Sebring. Connie Stevens was an actress and songstress who sang a song written by George Gershwin his brother, Ira called, "About a Boy".

During parts of the film in which Dalton is either practicing or playing his role in an old "Ranch Setting", it is the same setting used in his film, "Django"

A bus passes by with a big advertisement on the side of it promoting the "Big Kahuna Burger", a fictitious burger used in the movies, "Pulp Fiction" and "Reservoir Dogs". Also, plants a sidewalk seat with 93 KHJ "the Boss", a radio station that was king of Hollywood in 1969 (more attention to detail). Even the advertisements on the radio played in the background throughout the movie were taken from old recordings from '69



When Brad Pitt is cooking a crappy meal at home, you might notice a big blue coffee pot on the stove in his crappy apartment. It's the same coffee pot used in "The Hateful Eight", that was filled with poison and served to everyone in the building in a remote wilderness



When Tate (Margot Robbie) goes to a bookstore to pick up a book for her husband Polanski, she stops and admires and fondles a sculpture of a falcon. It just so happens that it is the exact falcon sculpture used in the movie, "The Maltese Falcon", which had been missing for close to 50 years as someone stole it from the set. It turned up at a flea market and Hollywood paid 300,000 dollars for it to get it back.

Also, the book that Tate had ordered was a classic 1891 Thomas Hardy novel that Tate loved because it was close to how she had grown up. The novel told the story of the harrowing and tragic life of the beautiful Tess, born into poverty and raped after being sent to live and work with what are believed to be wealthy relatives. The book was called "Tess of the d'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented". Polanski made a film based on the book, which he named "Tess". In the opening sequence of the film, Polanski dedicates the film to "Sharon". The film was nominated for six Academy Awards and winning three, including Best Picture



Charles Manson was introduced into the film as Booth (Pitt) sees a girl on the side of the street who is one of Manson's girls called Pussycat" (Margaret Qualley), while waiting at a red light and blasting "Hang on Sloopy" on the radio. Staying true to script, Qualley lets her arm pit hair grow in order to stay in character for Pussycat (more attention to detail by QT)

They meet up again later and Booth gets to know all the girls at Manson's ranch.
The real Manson girls


The film's Manson girls (which includes Sydney Sweeney and Dakata Fanning as "Squeaky Fromme" who later attempted to assassinate Pres. Gerald Ford


During one scene, the group of girls from Charles Manson's ranch are singing a song a capella, called "I'll Never Say Never, to Always"...a real song that was actually written by Charles Manson (a bit creepy if you ask me). The girls sang this in court as Manson was being tried.

In another scene we meet a guy named George Spahn (played by Bruce Dern), a real person who owned a ranch that he rented out to film production companies, and where the Manson family stayed at the time of the murders. He was blind and in his 80's around the time the Manson family moved in. Manson had offered Spahn sex with the women of his family in exchange for shelter. Booth is suspicious when he goes to visit Spahn and figures he might find him dead

Regardless, there are so many nuances to real history referenced in this movie, that it is almost impossible to truly get the gist of what Tarantino is trying to get across to the viewer. In short: the film is more of a tribute to those who work in Hollywood and know all the gory details of how Hollywood worked in the late 60s, as well as paying homage to his past movies by including cars, cooking pots, slogans on a bus, actors, etc., being inserted throughout the film. He has said it is his "last film" (we'll see) and he wanted it to be spectacular. In reality, it is...as long as you are a true history buff and are a fan of Tarantino's previous works
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Notes of interest: During the hippie movement of the 60's, the two hottest spots in the country were Haight Ashbury in San Francisco, and "Laurel Canyon" in LA. The song "Twelve Thirty" by the Mamas and Papas told of the love children moving to "the canyon". "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood", staying true to exacting history, Tarantino shot the entire movie at Laurel Canyon

Kurt Russell is a true historian and helped Tarantino get everything right about the movie He received a small role in the film. Tarantino grew up in LA, so he had his own take on what was going on in 1969, but he admitted that Russell was a savant of history in LA at that time. In one interview, Russell says he grew up in the "belly of the beast" at that time in his life in Laurel Canyon, so he knew a lot of what was going on

Sydney Sweeney of recent rise to fame (especially in that SNL skit as a Hooters girl - LMAO - and the recent movie "Anybody But You") plays a role in the movie as one of Manson's girls.

Michael Madsen is one of Tarantino's closest friends and has been instrumental in picking music scores for QT's movies and gets to play in cameo roles in all his movies (except Kill Bill 2, in which he had a significant role). In Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, he is Sheriff Hackett. Madsen always gets killed in Tarantino's films, but he gets to live in this one

Tarantino tends to write himself into cameos in his films in which he gets to play a role. Although he didn't in this film, if you look closely at the opening poster for the movie, he is depicted in a small scene running a camera

Roman Polanski worked closely with Harvey Weinstein, and the two were the most influential people in the movie business, and to get into movies, you had to get their attention. Polanski/Weinstein controlled the film industary, while Phil Spector controlled much of the music industry. They were three peas in the same pod...one, three rapists, and one who murdered a young woman for fun by making her pretend to give a bj to a handgun not knowing he would pull the trigger just to feel what it was like to kill someone

When Sharon Tate was murdered, she was 8½ months pregnant. Her husband Polanski was in London at the time. Her baby was cut out of her and also killed. Also killed in the mayhem, was Jay Sebring (Tate's previous fiancée) and Abigail Folger, heiress to Folgers Coffee, as well as a friend and her boyfriend, and a housekeeper


Original picture of Polanski and Sharon Tate

Roman Polanski has been on the run for decades after raping a 13-year-old girl. He has lived in France and Poland since 1978 to avoid extradition to the U.S. where he'd face 50+ years in prison. He is now 90 years old and still alive

[LennG]

You put a lot of effort into this post. Much appreciated. I also liked the movie very much but I wouldn't call it a masterpiece and far from his best work. Pulp Fiction is far and away a better movie and is always listed among the best movies ever made.
I really didn't notice most of the things you mentioned and when I do rewatch it, I will definitely look for them.

It's funny, when I did watch this movie, I thought to myself, WOW a Tarantino movie with any blood. I hadn't gotten to the ending when I was thinking that. Foolish me.

[Jolly Blue Giant]

You put a lot of effort into this post. Much appreciated. I also liked the movie very much but I wouldn't call it a masterpiece and far from his best work. Pulp Fiction is far and away a better movie and is always listed among the best movies ever made.
I really didn't notice most of the things you mentioned and when I do rewatch it, I will definitely look for them.

It's funny, when I did watch this movie, I thought to myself, WOW a Tarantino movie with any blood. I hadn't gotten to the ending when I was thinking that. Foolish me.

Slow day with nothing to do, so I put it together. That's going to change quickly as I have surgery next week and I have to take my mother to surgery a couple days later - both being done in different cities. It was a fun exercise that didn't take as long as you might think. I'm a huge fan of Tarantino, even though I don't go crazy over his movies. I appreciate his mindset and how he thinks...unique is an understatement. I am also a history buff and the last couple of years, enjoy studying pop culture...so the two crossed paths

In one of Tarantino's interviews, he said what he wanted to accomplish more than anything, was showing the world that Sharon Tate had a real life, and not just a name people remember for having been brutally murdered in one of the most horrendous ways imaginable. He was only a young kid when the murder happened and his father wouldn't tell him what happened even though it was all the news, and happened just a few miles from his home

My biggest criticism of the film is that it stopped short of the Tate murders, leaving everyone hanging. The other criticism of mine, is that they barely showed Manson. I think he was in one scene that lasted a few seconds. Apparently, a lot of the Manson stuff was cut from the film, but to me, it would have been better if it focused more on Manson, the family, and the life of Tate (apart from being a party girl with a sweet temperament). As it was, it was more about life in "'69 Hollywood", played out by DiCaprio and Pitt, about declining actors/stuntmen, with a side story about the Manson family and the life of Sharon Tate. I think a lot of Manson stuff was cut out for the sake of the family, and the whole mess of Manson's life was maybe too emotional for a lot of people. Bizarre, Satanic, ugly, horrendous...whatever adjective you want to give it - it was gruesome and beyond sane thinking by anyone. On the other hand, that's right in Tarantino's wheelhouse

The genre is basically "Historical Fiction", yet in some ways borderlines being a documentary. Even though it wasn't my favorite movie of his, it left more of an impression on me than most of his other stuff. There's a lot in "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" that I'll never forget, and also gives me a different perspective on how I saw the '60's

[Jolly Blue Giant]

Probably the best summary of the movie, the characters, and Tarantino, out of dozens of reviews. I like this one best. Gives people the gist of why the movie was so great, when many thought it was so-so, compared to his ultra-bloody, ultra-gory films of the past that were meant to shock the audience

[LennG]

Ric

As much as I would love to watch that last clip now, 1/2 hour is just a bit too long right now. I will do it at a letter time.

Without any real knowledge of what the clip says, and as to what you wrote about the missing Tate stuff--I tend to find Tarantino's movies just not what one would call 'Heavy'. Even though all his movies aren't comedies, they also aren't heavy drama, if you know what I mean. A movie like Pulp Fiction has many parts that you find humorous along with all the other stuff.
When the Kill Bill duo came out, I really didn't want to watch them as I heard there was massive amounts of blood. I am truly not what one might call a 'gore' enthusiast, but both my sons' said it may be bloody but it is all "Hollywood' blood and not gory at all. The blood is more like red paint and is used for effect rather than to scare people. And I can certainly agree with that. After my son's pleas, I watched both of the Kill Bill movies and I LOVED them with a capital LOVE. I have seen them maybe 5-6 times since and still if I see one on TV I will stop and rewatch certain scenes again and again. It sure won't win any wards but it was just great entertainment.
Reservoir Dogs is another. On paper, if you read the script you might think it would be a very "heavy' type movie and with all the blood, disgusting also, but it wasn't, and even though the true subject matter was high drama it wasn't played that way. It was sort of amusing in a sort of sick way.

[Jolly Blue Giant]

This movie is not gory...except the final scene, but it's not like his other movies. As Kurt Russell points out, it's a "love letter to LA", and literally takes you back to 1969 LA...the dying western genre, actors dealing with getting old and no longer A-listers, the hippie movement, lifestyle of actors and singers who lived in "The Canyon", etc. More nostalgia than mystery and deep plot. It just happens that it all took place when Hollywood was shaken to the core over the Manson murders. Walter Cronkite had a hard time on CBS telling of the murders and was visibly shaken and said that in his years of broadcasting, he had never had to bring a story of such inhumanity. The murders were just a couple weeks after Cronkite got to broadcast man taking his first steps on the moon, which was the highest point of his career. Anyway, it's a lot of nostalgia for a lost period of time in the center of entertainment

Interestingly, Sharon Tate was not a well known actress, unless you were part of the inner circle. She was close friends with Steve McQueen who did love her, but she never let it go anywhere. In fact, he was supposed to be at the house the night she was murdered, but he hooked up with a girl and spent the night with her rather than going over to Tate's house. It's highly possible he might have turned the tide on Manson, as he was an ex-marine, and a badass in real life. Guess we'll never know

Tarantino spent a lot of time with Sharon Tate's sister and Sharon's mother (who died a year after the movie came out), and out of respect, did not include her death in the movie and instead, created faux history by having some of Manson's people attack Pitt and DiCaprio's wife in which the Manson crew was killed. "Artistic Liberty", I guess. This was done as a softening to the Tate family when the movie hit the screen. Tarantino had great respect for Tate's family and didn't want to exploit their pain, but rather show what Sharon was really like

Sharon Tate had a part in "Valley of the Dolls", and of course "Wrecking Crew" where she starred alongside Dean Martin in a comedy. But her longest part of work was as Miss Hathaway's assistant at Mr. Drysdale's bank in the Beverly Hillbillies. She was Jethro Bodine's heart throb and vice versa; hence, Miss Hathaway tried to keep them apart because she herself was smitten with Jethro...LOL. In real life, she was a fun loving, happy go lucky woman who loved acting, but even more so, just wanted to have a family. She pleaded with Manson in real life of the night of the murder, to let her live, because she only wanted to have her baby and be a family. That of course, didn't stop him

[Jolly Blue Giant]

Sorry to bore some people with this subject, but I'm a bit obsessed with it lately. Anyway, the more you learn about Sharon Tate, the more you appreciate the role Margot Robbie's depiction of her in the film. Here's a short clip of Tarantino and Robbie discussing how they brought a light on Tate's life. Interestingly (a little side note), Tarantino starts rattling off in Hebrew for a couple seconds. He learned to speak Hebrew after marrying his Jewish wife and then moved to Israel. He keeps a home in LA, but his primary residence is in a suburb of Tel Aviv. They have two children, both born in Israel. It's also kind of funny to hear Margot talk with sophistication when she isn't in character, as she is so well known as the evil "Harley Quinn" (crazy whackjob girlfriend of the Joker in "Suicide Squad"), or "Barbie" in her recent movie of the same name

Another short clip on the making of Sharon Tate. I wasn't aware she was a tryout for Peticoat Junction, and also worked with Tina Louise from Gilligan's Island