Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood

**In This Town It Can All Change... Like That**

Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood is a 2019 Film from China, the UK, and the USA. It was nominated for Best Picture at the 2020 Academy Awards. It was also nominated for Best Costume Design, Production Design, and Best Sound Editing/Mixing.

## Plot

In February 1969, veteran Hollywood actor Rick Dalton (DiCaprio), star of 1950s Western television series *Bounty Law*, fears his career is coming to an end. Casting agent Marvin Schwarz (Pacino) advises him to travel to Italy to make Spaghetti Westerns, which Dalton feels are beneath him. Dalton's best friend and stunt double, Cliff Booth (Pitt) – a war veteran skilled in hand-to-hand combat who lives in a tiny trailer with his pit bull, Brandy – drives Dalton around Los Angeles because Dalton's drinking has resulted in several DUI tickets. Booth struggles to find stunt work in Hollywood due to rumors that he murdered his wife. Actress Sharon Tate (Robbie) and her husband, director Roman Polanski (Zawierucha), have moved next door to Dalton, who dreams of befriending them as a means of reviving his declining acting career. That night, Tate and Polanski attend a celebrity-filled party at the Playboy Mansion.

The next day, while repairing Dalton's TV antenna, Booth reminisces about a sparring contest he had with Bruce Lee on the set of *The Green Hornet* which resulted in Booth being fired. Meanwhile, Charles Manson (Herriman) stops by the Polanski residence looking for music producer Terry Melcher, who used to live there, but is turned away by Jay Sebring (Hirsch). Tate goes for errands and stops at a movie theater to watch herself in the film *The Wrecking Crew*.

Dalton is cast to play the villain in the pilot of *Lancer*, and strikes up a conversation with his eight-year-old co-star, Trudi Fraser. Dalton struggles to remember his lines and later suffers a breakdown in his trailer. He subsequently delivers a performance that impresses Fraser and the director, Sam Wanamaker, bolstering his confidence.

While driving Dalton's car, Booth picks up a female hitchhiker named Pussycat, whom he takes to Spahn Ranch, where Booth once worked on the set of *Bounty Law.* He takes notice of the many hippies living there (the Manson Family). Suspecting they may be taking advantage of the ranch's owner, George Spahn (Dern), Booth insists on checking on him despite "Squeaky" Fromme's (Fanning) objections. Booth finally speaks with Spahn, who dismisses his concerns. Upon leaving, Booth discovers that Steve "Clem" Grogan has slashed a tire on Dalton's car; Booth beats him and forces him to change the tire. Tex Watson is summoned to deal with the situation but he arrives as Booth is driving away.

After watching Dalton's guest performance on an episode of *The F.B.I.*, Schwarz books him as the lead in Sergio Corbucci's next Spaghetti Western, *Nebraska Jim*. Dalton takes Booth with him for a six-month stint in Italy, during which he appears in two additional Westerns and a Eurospy comedy, and marries Italian starlet Francesca Capucci. With a new wife, Dalton informs Booth he can no longer afford his services.

On the evening of August 8, 1969, their first day back in Los Angeles, Dalton and Booth go out for drinks to commemorate their time working together and then return to Dalton's house. Tate and Sebring go out for dinner with friends and then return to Tate's house. Booth smokes an acid-laced cigarette given to him by Pussycat and takes Brandy for a walk while Dalton prepares drinks. Manson Family members Tex, Sadie, Flower Child, and Katie arrive outside in preparation to murder everyone in Tate's house. Dalton hears the car and orders them to get off his street. Changing their plans, the Manson Family members decide to instead kill Dalton after Sadie reasons that Hollywood has "taught them to murder." Flower Child deserts the group, speeding off with their car. They break into Dalton's house and confront Capucci and Booth, who recognizes them from his visit to Spahn Ranch. Booth orders Brandy to attack, and together they kill Katie and Tex and injure Sadie, though Booth is stabbed and knocked unconscious in the altercation. Sadie stumbles outside, alarming Dalton, who is in his pool listening to music on headphones, oblivious to the mayhem. Dalton retrieves a flamethrower that he had previously used in a movie and incinerates Sadie. After Booth is taken to the hospital to treat his injuries, Sebring engages Dalton in conversation outside and Dalton receives an invitation to have a drink with Tate and her friends at her house, which he accepts.

## Cast

* Leonardo DiCaprio as Rick Dalton (Nominated for Best Actor)
* Brad Pitt as Cliff Booth (Won Best Supporting Actor)
* Margot Robbie as Sharon Tate
* Emile Hirsch as Jay Sebring
* Margaret Qualley as "Pussycat"
* Timothy Olyphant as James Stacy
* Julia Butters as Trudi Fraser
* Austin Butler as "Tex"
* Dakota Fanning as "Squeaky"
* Bruce Dern as George Spahn
* Mike Moh as Bruce Lee
* Luke Perry as Wayne Maunder
* Damian Lewis as Steve McQueen
* Al Pacino as Marvin Schwarz
* Nicholas Hammond as Sam Wanamaker
* Samantha Robinson as Abigail Folger
* Rafał Zawierucha as Roman Polanski
* Lorenza Izzo as Francesca Capucci
* Costa Ronin as Wojciech Frykowski
* Damon Herriman as Charlie
* Lena Dunham as "Gypsy"
* Madisen Beaty as "Katie"
* Mikey Madison as "Sadie"
* James Landry Hébert as "Clem"
* Maya Hawke as "Flower Child"
* Victoria Pedretti as "Lulu"
* Sydney Sweeney as "Snake"
* Harley Quinn Smith as "Froggie"
* Dallas Jay Hunter as "Delilah"
* Kansas Bowling as "Blue"
* Parker Love Bowling as "Tadpole"
* Cassidy Vick Hice as "Sundance"
* Ruby Rose Skotchdopole as "Butterfly"
* Danielle Harris as "Angel"
* Josephine Valentina Clark as "Happy Cappy"
* Scoot McNairy as "Business" Bob Gilbert on *Lancer*
* Clifton Collins Jr. as Ernesto "The Mexican" Vaquero on *Lancer*
* Marco Rodríguez as the bartender on *Lancer*
* Ramón Franco as a Land Pirate on *Lancer* and Rubén, the Bruin Theater manager
* Raul Cardona as "Bad Guy" Delgado on *Lancer*
* Courtney Hoffman as Rebekka
* Dreama Walker as Connie Stevens
* Rachel Redleaf as Mama Cass
* Rebecca Rittenhouse as Michelle Phillips
* Rumer Willis as Joanna Pettet
* Spencer Garrett as Allen Kincade
* Clu Gulager as the Larry Edmunds Bookshop owner
* Martin Kove as a *Bounty Law* Sheriff
* Rebecca Gayheart as Billie Booth
* Kurt Russell as Randy Miller and the narrator
* Zoë Bell as Janet Miller
* Michael Madsen as Sheriff Hackett on *Bounty Law*
* Perla Haney-Jardine as a hippie drug dealer
* James Remar as "Ugly Owl" Hoot on *Bounty Law*
* Monica Staggs as Connie
* Omar Doom as Donnie
* Kate Berlant as the Bruin Theater ticket booth attendant
* Brenda Vaccaro as Mary Alice Schwarz
* Daniella Pick as Daphna Ben-Cobo
* Tom Hartig as Bill "Sweet William" Fritsch
* David Steen as Straight Satan David
* Corey Burton as the *Bounty Law* promo announcer
* Toni Basil as a dancer on the plane during the opening credits sequence
* Rage Stewart as Harvey "Humble Harve" Miller
* Quentin Tarantino as the offscreen director of the Red Apple cigarettes TV commercial. He can be heard announcing the title of *Bounty Law*.
* Maurice Compte, Vincent Laresca, Lew Temple, Craig Stark, JLouis Mills, Eddie Perez, Gilbert Saldivar, and Keith Jefferson as the other Land Pirates on *Lancer*.
* Sayuri as Brandy, Cliff Booth's pit bull
* James Marsden as Burt Reynolds (extended release)
* Walton Goggins as the voice of Old Chattanooga Beer (extended release)

## Critic Consensus

Thrillingly unrestrained yet solidly crafted, *Once Upon a Time in Hollywood* tempers Tarantino's provocative impulses with the clarity of a mature filmmaker's vision.