It’s the beginning of the film. Well, actually it’s about ten minutes in, but nothing much has happened. Three assassins are expecting our hero’s arrival at a shoddy train station. Finally, he arrives, and now hero and assassins are face to face.

Hero: And Frank?
Speaking Assassin: Frank sent us.
Hero: Did you bring a horse for me?
SA: Well… looks like we’re…
[Looks back at the three horses he and his friends rode in. Snickers a bit.]
SA: …looks like we’re shy one horse.
[Pause. Hero takes a look at the three horses.]
Hero: You brought two too many.

You can guess what happens next, right?

The hero in this case is, shockingly enough, Charles Bronson. The character he is playing has no name, but people will eventually start calling him Harmonica.

The film is Once Upon a Time in The West. It was directed by Sergio Leone, fresh of making The Good the Bad and the Ugly. The movie is very slow, but also very, very good. And it has tons of great quotes. Go here to get many of them. Some of my other favorites:

Frank: How can you trust a man who wears both a belt and suspenders? The man can’t even trust his own pants.
…
Harmonica: The reward for this man is 5000 dollars, is that right?
Cheyenne: Judas was content for 4970 dollars less.
Harmonica: There were no dollars in them days.
Cheyenne: But sons of bitches… yeah.
…
Cheyenne: You know, Jill, you remind me of my mother. She was the biggest whore in Alameda and the finest woman that ever lived. Whoever my father was, for an hour or for a month - he must have been a happy man.
…
Jill: But… but those were his men.
Harmonica: Yeah.
Jill: And they tried to kill him.
Harmonica: They must’ve found someone who pays better.
Jill: And you… You saved his life!
Harmonica: I didn’t let them kill him, and that’s not the same thing.
…
Cheyenne: You don’t understand, Jill. People like that have something inside… something to do with death.
…
Cheyenne: You deserve better.
Jill: The last man who told me that… is buried out there.
…
Frank: What do you want? Who are you?
Harmonica: Dave Jenkins.
Frank: Dave Jenkins is dead a long time ago.
Harmonica: Calder Benson.
Frank: What’s your name? Benson’s dead, too.
Harmonica: You should know, Frank, better than anyone. You killed them.