Who's hunting down DeNiro in the beginning?

It's a question that's been asked many times and Leone was aware that viewers need to process a lot of information at the beginning of the movie.

Basically the people looking for Noodles in the beginning were hit men working for the mob.

Max & the gang were getting more involved with what Noodles called "The Combination". This organization is also known as the mob, mafia, cosa nostra, this thing of ours, etc. One of their most important codes is omerta or silence.

Noodles has broken this code of silence by ratting to the police and the betrayal has led to unnecessary deaths of persons associated with the mob and the loss of a booze shipment.

A hit contract is inevitable in such circumstances. At the time the Combination had several bosses and under bosses any of whom could have ordered the hit.


http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087843/board/flat/256391534?p=1

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087843/board/flat/253705717?p=1

This is a good question.

If you believe that Noodles' later years were a dream, this is the beginning of the dream and those killers a reflection of Noodles's guilt.

If there is no dream, and his escape to Buffalo and 1968 are real, then it would be some associates of Max looking for the guy who ruined the plan and send some to prison.

the one Noodles shoots when he's waiting for the lift to come down looks awfully like one of the guys in Burt Young's crew - also shot by Noodles (in the pillow factory) - more weight to the dream theory? Or just a co-incidence that the 2 actors look alike?