Watching actors and directors walking the red carpets of the awards shows, drinking the finest champagne and laughing at the opening monologues of Ricky Gervais or whomever is hosting the show, can leave you feeling that they have the easiest job in the world.

However, being part of the movie industry requires painstaking determination, dedication, creativity, passion, and above all, a lot of patience. Even in the digital era, the process of making a movie can be quite exhausting, and creating a masterpiece can take its toll. Such is the case with the legendary director Sergio Leone, whose enigmatic gangster epic Once Upon a Time in America ruined his health and perhaps even contributed to his death.