You could argue that the hallmarks of a successful film aren’t the shocks and surprises or the moments where the audience is reduced to a puddle of tears or raucous laughter. Instead, the true test of how great a film lies in how badly an audience wants to spend time in the world presented on the screen. And in the case of “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” the world of Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt), as created by Quentin Tarantino, seems to have captured the imagination of millions.
So, when you have a new interview with Tarantino (via The Wrap), where he goes off on a tangent about what the future of Rick Dalton might have looked like after the events of ‘Once Upon a Time,’ fans are going to savor every word and play out the scenarios in their minds, just to enjoy the world once more.
For those that have seen the film, we all know that Dalton and Booth prove to be heroes by the end, dispatching Charles Manson’s followers before they’re able to commit the infamous murders. In perhaps the most cheer-worthy scene, Dalton pulls out an old flamethrower used on the set of a film to kill one of the intruders. In this alternate reality, Tarantino explained why the use of the flamethrower is the real underlying reason for Dalton’s career resurgence. (Note, the full answer is shown below because to try to paraphrase someone like Tarantino when he goes into one of these rants is futile. Credit, once again, to The Wrap for this interview.)
Tarantino said:
“The whole incident with the flamethrower and the hippies got a lot of play. No one quite knows what a big deal that was, but it was still a big deal. And it’s a big deal that he killed ‘em with the flamethrower, with the prop from one of his most popular movies. So he starts becoming in demand again. I mean, not in demand like Michael Sarrazin at that time was in demand, but he’s got some publicity and now all of a sudden ‘The 14 Fists of McCluskey’ is playing more on Channel 5 during Combat Week and stuff. And so he gets offered a couple of features — low-budget ones, but studio ones.
But the thing is, on the episodic-TV circuit, he’s a bigger name now. He’s not quite Darren McGavin, all right? Darren McGavin would get paid the highest you could get paid as a guest star back in that time. But Rick’s about where John Saxon was, maybe just a little bit higher. So he’s getting good money and doing the best shows. And the episodes are all built around him.
So as opposed to doing ‘Land of the Giants’ and ‘Bingo Martin,’ now he’s the bad guy on ‘Mission: Impossible,’ and it’s his episode.
Oh, and he does a Vince Edwards show, ‘Matt Lincoln.’ Or a Glenn Ford show, ‘Cade’s County.’ And that’s a big deal, ’cause he did ‘Hell-Fire Texas’ with Glenn Ford and they didn’t really get along. But now they bury the hatchet and they make a big deal about the two guys doing it together. And then he does a couple of Paul Wendkos’ TV movies.
And you know, he’s doing OK.”
So, there you have it—the ‘Once Upon a Time’ sequel that will never happen. Rick Dalton does see a career bump, but not even using a flamethrower to kill a potential murderer is enough to bring him back to the A-list. But hey, he’s doing alright.