What Happened to Joe Pesci in Once Upon a Time in America? 

A 12 hour "Once Upon A Time In America" would be binge worthy indeed.

My favorite film of all time. There’s allegedly a 9 hour cut of this film somewhere in the late Sergio Leone’s archives. I’ve always assumed Pesci’s character and storyline would’ve been fully developed in that 9 hour cut. The scene in which Max and Noodles talk about “going for a swim” is important b/c it explains why they go to Miami Beach with their women - and where Max lays out his plan to Noodles for robbing the Federal Reserve. Leone probably couldn’t cut Pesci out of the end of the scene without it coming off as terrible editing so he just kept it in as intrigue.

Raging Bull, Goodfellas, Casino, The Irishman, appearances in Once Upon a Time in America and A Bronx Tale. Pesci has been in some masterpieces.

It genuinely makes my heart hurt that we’ll never get to see the full 8-10 hour version of this film, I have the extended version on Blu Ray and even with it being close to 4 1/2 hours long it still feels like there’s so much missing that needs to be shown. I remember reading in an interview somewhere that in the original 8-10 hour version, Pesci’s character was built up as one of the main antagonists of the film, so that makes me believe that there is MUCH more to his second and final appearance on screen

There is an 8 hour un-edited version Sergio intended to release but it had to be cut halfway. The other 4 hours went into greater detail about the life of Frankie Minaldi, similar to the book this was based on "The Hoods." The 8 hour version of the film is said to be locked away in a safe somewhere in Sicily. If anybody knows where I can view the 8 hour version, please let me know.

imagine if leone was given the same freedom filmmakers are given today by streaming companies. to tell his story exactly the way he wanted to. 6 part miniseries of 90-minutes each? no problem! or 12 parts? you got it! how about 10 one-hour-long episodes? or 3 seasons full of 45-minute episodes, each exploring one era of their lives, childhood, hayday, old age….we really live in a good age of storytelling now. if only the stories themselves would be as good as back then.

Joe Pesci went to get his SHINE BOX to amuse Henry Hill and make him laugh

"Weeell, we had a problem; and we tried to do everything we could. Well, you know what I mean; he's gone, and we couldn't do nothing about it. He's gone."

Once Upon A Time in America is one of my absolute favorite films. I've never considered what happened to Pesci's character, although I've watched the film many times. I now need to watch it again with an eye toward the Pesci character. Thanks for bringing this to my/our attention.

Someone needs to find all the missing footage & re-make the whole thing as it was originally intended to create the even better masterpiece it surely would be. Sometimes the studio's don't know best & get it badly wrong. This is a classic example of that.

I can't thank you enough for this video. I always cherished the scene with Joe Pesci and Burt Young in the film and I always wished they were in the movie for much longer. Merry Christmas 🎄

I think you got the last part right. Max had already agreed with Sharky and Frankie about expanding. Max runs downstairs to follow after Noodles to make up with him, but it's only an act.

I think Pesci had a much bigger, more important role in the original edit. I believe he just got cut out for time. Quite unfortunate. I would love to see this movie, in Leone's original cut. We need a director's cut of Once Upon A Time In America! Another awesome video CineRanter!

It's all speculation until we get to see the original two 6 hour films; at least the 9 hour one that allegedly exists. You would think by now, 40 years later, it would be released - very frustrating.

This film should have just been a 10 part miniseries.

But there is an indirect reference to Pesci's character toward the end of the film. When Noodles first meets Pesci, there's an exotic-looking white sports car parked outside the restaurant, presumably driven by Pesci's character. The car, maybe an Alpha Romeo, stands out because of it's different color and style. That same white car shows up again near the end of the film, when we see Max's son having fun with some other young people in the driveway of Max's estate. Max's son seems especially close to one young woman, who appears to be driving the same white car. So the car symbolized Frankie's influence to me, and implied a long-term relationship between Max and Frankie, which had now transferred to their offspring. It seemed fitting that Max's son and Frankie's daughter or granddaughter would be coupled up, ensuring a long-term union between the two families. As least, that's how I read it. So that seems like a thread of continuity for Pesci's character.. And it definitely seems to me that the goon's looking for Noodle's were Frankie's men. The square-jawed, Luca Brasi-looking goon of Frankie's appears to be one of Frankie's three goons sitting in the dark corner of the restaurant during the first meeting.

Who could forget Pesci making his appearance at the end of A Bronx Tale! Out of nowhere!

I never considered it a dream sequence. To me his end credit smile was the opium getting rid of his rock bottom low from seeing his friend's bodies. I also believe he had an idea that Max wasn't amongst them.

The hospital scene seems clear enough. Noodles didn't want to work with Frankie, Max appeared to aquiesce, and they started working with the union instead. But as is shown, Max never cut the ties to the Italian mob and Frankie was part of the union deal the whole time . The scene underlines that Max is playing his own game and can't be trusted.

Unfortunately, no one knows if it was a dream sequence (not even James Wood himself). Only the director, Sergio Leone knew, but he sadly is not with us anymore. We can only rely on our own interpretation or others’ theories. I personally do not think it was a dream, as I do not believe that having your best friend betray you, steal the love of your life, and then mysteriously disappear/die in front of you is exactly the dream you would have from opium (not too optimistic you know). Not mentioning the fact that it would have been a very spot on interpretation of what the world would have looked like in the 60’s. If this was all a dream, then not only did he perfectly envision what fashion and architecture would look like in the future, but he also heard the famous Beatles song “Yesterday” years before it came out, as you can hear it playing multiple times during the movie. And although it’s just a movie and Leone wouldn’t have been able to do otherwise so that we’re not completely confused (if it was in fact a dream), I still don’t think he would have let that slip. But in the end, that’s just my point of view, and since no real answers have been given, the question remains open for interpretation.

The men who tried to kill noodles in the opium den, where the same men sitting nearby Frank during his meeting with noodles and the gang, so he sent them to kill noodles that night

My oversimplified interpretation; Frankie MONALDI😅 is the Big Mob Boss and Treat Williams’ character is the Union Boss. Once the Union boss is corrupted he WORKS for the Mob. In the scene before Treat gets his leg amputated Max is being pitched an idea on buying the trucks they run liquor in, so he can transition into “legitimate business” AKA the UNIONS. Max works for the Union, The Union works for the Mob. The Mob controls it all. Once Max and his flunkies leave Frankie can go upstairs to discuss the GRAND SCHEME. We never SEE👀 FRANKIE MONALDI in person again because we don’t NEED to! EVERYTHING the Crew does here forward is in step with the Mob’s wishes. Also, Frankie is an Embodiment of the Mob; puts a literal face to it, but they ultimately serve the MOB. When the “Senator/Max” is having legal issues and asks Noodles to kill him becuase THE MOB was going to kill him anyway to protect itself, think FRANKIE is THE MOB. 🤷🏾‍♂️ *How I’ve always made sense of it, but I’ve also watched the 3+ hour-cut more than I’d like to admit😅

The idea behind Joe Pesci part is to show us they were still up and coming and that the mob ultimately controlled them Noodles did not like this but Max did and that’s why Noodles had to disappear , hence his return and how he still worried they would kill him even after all those years away ? This is the greatest movie ever ld love to see the original movie no matter how long it is!

This is the always the fastest four hours of my life. I swear, I never get bored and I only notice more subtle details. I've seen the 2 hour version and it's a travesty. You can tell Leone was going for something epic but you're just not given enough time in each scene to get gripped. Plus that awful cornball ending makes no sense. Noodles leave Max's party, we follow him outside and suddenly BAM an off camera gun shot goes off, noodles turns towards the camera in "shock", freeze frame, roll credits, implying Noodles somehow heard Max kill himself inside the mansion despite being separated by hundreds of yards across the street from the mansion during a loud and crowded party. Ok, maybe he could have heard it but it's so abruptly edited that it sucks all the emotion and artistry right out of the film before the credits roll. The only things not entirely compromised by the shorter cut are the score and production design. The studios basically aborted their baby during the 3rd trimester on a whim and got confused when everyone hated THEM for it specifically instead of the artists who made the film

So when this film originally aired on television in Italy, they displayed it as a short series. So have in mind if the original film was aired, it was about 4 1/2 hours. now, when showing that on television, you have to also include commercials in that timeslot, which rounds it out to just about eight hours. And with the whole Pesci character have in mind also that it is anonymously Scorsese, who had helped re-edit the longer version so if he would’ve came upon more footage of Pesci, I’m sure he would have used it.

Interesting point, something I often wondered about myself after multiple viewing of this masterpiece. Someone should interview Pesci and DeNiro about this subject. I bet there was a lot more footage w. Pesci in the original cut.

Pesci and Deniro were roommates when they were struggling actors an have been friends ever since. Personally, I think Pesci is the far better actor.

And this is why people need to read opening credits, Pesci’s not just in the film, he’s given really high billing for a guy who’s in about five minutes of a four hour film.

Thanks you for highlighting this subject!! It's a topic that has long since bothered me. Good job

I believe his presence after the argument was meant to represent a grim reaper kind of foreboding. Remember, he represents a potential rift in their relationship as someone who betrayed his brother and made secret plans with max.. So after the two friends fight and quickly reconcile, agreeing to go swimming, he is a foreshadowing reminder that betrayal and corruption is on the horizon.

Such a great film

Pull a LOTR... they need to release the entire footage as 3 Films

I always wondered about pesci Character, & thought did they dump him mid flim. Man I really want Leon's Orginal 12 hr Cut!!

Once upon a time in America….. now those were some tough Jews

I always took Pesci's last scene as this. The attorney offered the gang work in the union. They turned it down leaving O'Donald needing someone else. Frankie is the symbolism of the Mob who fills the void and takes the work. We know the connection with the Mob and labor unions. With Frankie going up to the room was the hint of the Mob moving in. There wasn't more that needed to be added to the Frankie/Mob story arch. It concluded the Union ties to the Mob.

Watched this film once so desperately need to revist. Just finished watching Boardwalk Empire. Its fantastic and surprised you haven’t done reviews on this as it's based on real-life characters and has many many plots. But I digress lol

Frankie Monaldi, not Frankie Mondali

I saw the 31/2hr version great work

I couldn’t stand this movie, am I crazy? What am I not seeing?

He wanted a 6 hour movie!? Mammamia!

He's a great actor

Frankie Minaldi was a minor but significant character. Also I don't know why people are shocked he was in it given Pesci and DeNiro's penchant for appearing in films together

Great video. My personal view was that Pesci aka Frankie was the third burnt corpse that was mistaken for Max. He had effectively taken the place of Noodles ... Max had managed to slip away in the final confrontation with police. There again, it could all be a dream 😁

Wow! Another gangster movie featuring Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, and James Woods.

I seen this whole movie and didn't realize Joe was even in the movie.

Change the battery in your smoke detector.

How strange I was thinking about this scene the other day. I had the unfortunate pleasue of someone talking and eating at the same time and it remided me of Burt Youngs character.

In the scene where Max is trying to get Noodles to kill him. Max tells Noodles, "That was a Syndicate hit" I think Max went downstairs to distract Noodles because he was already under the mob.

Never seen this one. Thanks for the tip!

Definitely not part of the opium dream as it does not fit the time line. Second theory is spot on.

I love your insight.

Telling the story in a linear way truly destroyed it.

The problem with the theory of Joe pesci's character giving Jane's woods the idea of robbing the federal reserve is James woods character said it was a dream of his since he was a young boy

I actually watch this movie for Joe and Burt young

I've always thought that the second time we see Franky, when Noodles and Max completely ignore him while coincidentally passing by him, we see him because their gang had simply reached that point of success. What I'm trying to say is that maybe Leone chose to include that scene in the 3h 49m cut only to convey the status and power Noodles, Max and the others had acquired for themselves, that they could easily walk by a former associate (former equal) who was left behind, without even noticing him.

Minaldi

I couldn't get past the irritating phone ringing at the beginning of the movie.... that rang for 30 minutes straight.

Main problem here is that Sergio Leone designed and filmed this as two 6 hours movies, then he had to mutilate it as 2 hours and 45 minutes one. Director's cut (almost 5 hours) is a more complete version, But I've heard that there some 8 hours movie rounding there, don't know if it's true or an urban legend.

"The four horsemen of the apocolype........

They say Joe Pesci didn’t want to be in this movie, and he done it only to make Robert De Niro his friend happy

Interesting parallel between Once Upon a Time in America and The Godfather in that Pesci in the former and Brando in the latter represent the turning of the mafia from a group of local Hoods to an international syndicate. In The Godfather, that transition is celebrated, and the main vestage of all that is right in the criminal underworld is spearheaded by the man who ushered in that change, Vito Corleone. In Once Upon a Time in America, Pesci's character, Frankie Monaldi, largely has the same aspirations as Vito. 'Organize, restructure, take out our enemies, and achieve prominence away from the streets'. It's that very tide of change that brings an ending to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse as Monaldi calls them.

Sound observation & theories

If the whole film is a hallucination of Noodles, who confuses the present and the future amidst the fumes of opium, then we can think that the character of Joe Pesci represents for Noodles the symbol of the breakdown of his friendship with Max: it is for him that the two argue for the first time and it is with his "presence" that the definitive break occurs between the two, who have too different ideas on what to do after the end of prohibition. If, however, as I believe, all the scenes are real, we can think that Monaldi went to the hospital to propose some kind of deal to Max's gang, similar to the one Sharkey talks about just before. It may even have been him who proposed to Max to fake his death and in the meantime also get rid of his old friends who no longer serve him. Whether real or not, either way, Monaldi only spells trouble for Noodles, hence the creepy music.

They should release all the footage and split it up in episodes like a tv show.

I would love to see a version of the Godfather films along with Once Upon a Time in America with all filmed scenes, the worst parts of these films is knowing that stuff was cut out of them.

I'll be honest the first time I watched this movie l didn't enjoy it. Then about 10 years later l watched it again and thought it was brilliant. It absolutely bombed at the box office and the studio lost a lot of money. But today this epic movie, Once upon a time in America is regarded as a gangster classic. And rightly so.

The greatest movie ever…

It's not clear Frankie saw Max and Noodles leave. I always thought he was going to give them a new assignment. It was a way of showing they were still working for him.

One day I really hope they find more footage to release

the 3:49 version is widely available

The movie is loosely based off of the books Hoods

One of a kind!! Roji

I don’t believe Joe and Frank were actually brothers in the familial sense.

7 minutes in man, are you seriously going to take an entire 11 minutes of this video to tell me that it was probably cut, like the absolute most basic fact about this movie is that it had HOURS of cut content? Please tell me there's more than that. I feel ripped off like this video could have been called a different name, even 20 different names based on various missing plot lines and have the exact same content.

Too many plot holes in this film......

I like your last theory about the goons being his I always wondered what happened to the goons in the first scene too

The character is Frankie Minaldi. He was like Luciano setting up his boss

The Detroit Godfather, wasn't Frankie's brother, but just a "friend". He reffered to him as "brother" metaphorically, you know "we're brothers, I loved him like a brother in law"!!!

I feel that he was still cooperating and linked to Max behind the scenes. The men who shoot Noodle’s girlfriend on the bed before they torture the red headed friend and go to the opium den are likely a part of this syndicate which is taking organised crime to a much higher and more sophisticated level.

It was never about robbing the Federal Reserve, it was about ripping Max off for his share of the money and using the funds to go the rout the lawyer recommended while also faking his death, why he wanted Noodles to tip the cops, Frankie was probably pushing Max to do that, why that sinister scene is shown.

Then again Scorsese isn't directing this

This movie is free on Tubi rn

Too bad a series wasn’t a thing then

Also the beginning of the movie where they kill the woman and are looking for Noodles isn't really explained or revisited by the end of the movie

The Irishman never comes up in conversation about pesci. Just had to say that lol

I read the Book....The Hoods, great Book, I also liked the Movie, but to me the Book was better. From Glasgow. 😎

I'd seen the movie that was 3 hours and 47 minutes this is a mood point.

An epic film. Period!!

None knew about Joe Pesci no more after he visited a corn field with his brother and some dudes.

'Franki Mandali is as big as they come. He's got the combination in the palm of his hand.' This line from Max hints that a shady organisation called The Combination is involved in Max's crew and that the shipments of booze they import connect to Frankie. I thought maybe Max's move into politics - and away from bootlegging - was displeasing to their bigshot partner Frankie. I can't remember, what does the DVD commentary say in the scene where Frankie appears?

Why do people think Frank and Joe are brothers?? 😂😂 "I dont need to tell you who Joe is, or how far he's going, he's LIKE a Brother." Did you forget? Frank had the combination in the palm of his hand.. its more likely that he WAS the DON in Brooklyn and he went to the hospital to finally meet, JIMMY CLEAN HANDS.

What a cast what a film

There are several things in Noodles’ betrayal that don’t make sense. He calls the Police to rat out Max’s plan (not the Feds). But it’s the Feds who are at the scene with the gangs burned bodies. So, who killed the gang? The Feds or the Police? And who were the assassins who killed Carol and followed Noodles to death he Chinese theatres? And poke the girl in the nipple (?!?!).

Hmm..I see the this movie , have a very good message behind the story ..

Every time I watch this movie I’m obsessed with it and wanting more and now I know why I heard there was 6 hours in total but 12 jeezus

I tried watching this movie a few times. And i just can't get in to it.

My opinion? I think Joe Pesci's "disappearance" in this convoluted film can be attributed to a bit of capriciousness on Leone's part...

ok but WTF is Leeeon

I thought he was going to be presented as an antagonist that tears the group apart. In a movie as weird as this, I should of known I couldn't predict the outcome. But wtf? Bert Young was his brother?1 I didnt even realize that. Thats even crazier. I wish I could of seen 12 hours of this movie.

it is Frank Monaldi and he is not blood brother of Joe, it is more a "bro" anyway I read "In the Hoods" book and althought the book differs from the plot of the movie, Noodles and Max gang are affiliate to a bigger Italian Mafia syndicate bossed by a Frank, I should read the book again to refresh some events. Anyway great Movie, the best movie ever in my opinion! Would love to see Leone original development. Rest in Peace Maestro! 30-4-1989