FOUR FILM LOCATIONS FEATURED IN THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY

In 1966, Produzioni Europee Associati released an amazing Western (set during the American Civil War) that revolves around a bounty hunter, a bandit, and a mercenary who compete against each other to find a fortune in missing gold. The film's called, 'The Good, the Bad and the Ugly', and it was directed by the legendary filmmaker, Sergio Leone, and stars Clint Eastwood (the bounty hunter), Eli Wallach (the bandit), and Lee Van Cleef (the mercenary). Today, we're going to take a look at some of the locations featured in the aforementioned Western, which includes an interactive map for each one. Please enjoy.


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Cinecittà Studios, Via Tuscolana, Rome, Italy
(An Unnamed Western Town)

Near the start of the film, we see a rugged-looking bounty hunter, nicknamed, Blondie (as played by Clint Eastwood), capture a Mexican bandit called Tuco (as played by Eli Wallach), so the former can then hand in the latter at a nearby sheriff's office and collect the reward placed on the bandit's head. This scene, just like many others featured throughout the film, was shot within the grounds of the largest film studio in Europe, Cinecittà Studios, which is where many other films have also been developed, such as 'The Godfather Part III' (1990), 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' (1999), and 'Gangs of New York' (2002).

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Carazo, Burgos, Castilla y León, Spain
(Betterville Concentration Camp)

After a while, Blondie decides to save Tuco from the hangman's noose, and together, the two of them form an uneasy alliance that results in them both trying to track down a fortune in missing gold. Someone else who's also searching for the missing gold is a devious mercenary, nicknamed, Angel Eyes (as played by Lee Van Cleef), who Blondie and Tuco run into when they're mistaken for Confederate soldiers and taken to a Union-run concentration camp. This camp was purposely built for the making of 'The Good, the Bad and the Ugly', and it was located in a Spanish town, which has an economy based on agriculture, livestock, and rural tourism.

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Arlanza River, Burgos, Castilla y León, Spain
(Langstone Bridge)

Once they manage to escape from the concentration camp, Blondie and Tuco get involved in a situation where they end up blowing up a bridge that connects a Union army camp to a Confederate army camp. However, when this scene was shot for the film, the signal to blow up the bridge was instigated before the cameras started to roll, therefore, nothing was ever captured on celluloid. But as luck would have it, the person who mistakenly instigated the signal (an unnamed captain in the Spanish Army), was also in charge of initially constructing the bridge and made sure it was built again for a second take.

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Santo Domingo de Silos, Burgos, Castilla y León, Spain
(Sad Hill Cemetery)

At the end of the film, the three main protagonists, Blondie, Tuco, and Angel Eyes, finally face off against each other in the middle of a remote cemetery, named Sad Hill Cemetery, in order to find out who's going to get their hands on the missing gold that's buried there. This cemetery was designed by Carlo Simi and originally constructed for the film in 1966 by the Spanish Army. Since then, it has been rebuilt by a group of fans (circa 2015) so they can preserve the aforementioned location for its cinematic legacy. Its reconstruction can be seen in the 2017 documentary, 'Sad Hill Unearthed', which was directed by Guillermo de Oliveira.

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So, there you have it, folks, four film locations featured in the 1966 Western, 'The Good, the Bad and the Ugly'. More articles featuring famous film locations will be coming soon, but before then, please feel free to leave your thoughts in the comment section below.