Sad Hill Restoration Project

The SAD HILL ASSOCIATION wants to restore the locations where scenes of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly were shot in the Burgos area.

"Sei attenti!Tutti pronti "...

By Julio Martinez Piernavieja

In 2016 the 50^th anniversary of the filming of the movie "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly ', in different corners of the Arlanza Valley will be fulfilled. Before this event, German Martina Rica collects some of the anecdotes and memories of locals used in the filming. (The person in the picture is Julio Martínez Piernavieja).

Sei attenti! Tutti pronti "... There was no hesitation. The Spanish army colonel excitedly squeezed the detonator. Langstone Bridge, one of the most important and representative scenes of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Sergio Leone shot in the Valle del Arlanza (who appears in the photo inside the news) blew up. Leone did not have time to utter "Motor", the word that would began the scene. The seven cameras had not yet begun to roll. Leone and Tonino Delli Colli, director of photography, jumped like two springs, angry and wounded in their pride. The colonel, humiliated, promised that his soldiers would rebuild the bridge in two weeks. And so it was. The scene could successfully be shot a third time.

Next year the 50th anniversary of the film, one of the best movies of all time is honored. The Sad Hill Association, created in 2013 aims to recover the locations of the film set in the Valley of Arlanza Burgos. We have started the reconstruction of the Sad Hill Cemetery. For Christmas we have created a section of the Western Cycle Short Film Salas de los Infantes. Next year, we will have lectures, courses and exhibitions. We have designed a photographic exhibition about the filming and props that will be rotated in Salas, Covarrubias, Silos and Contreras said Diego Montero, a member of the Association.

       [Jesús Porras the Betterville band harmonica player is                 watched by guard Franco Tocci.]

The filming of this important film was not without its difficulties and curious anecdotes. Pérez Giner, head of production of the Valley of the Swords, shot four years ago in the Valley of Arlanza, Leone had been recommended to use this place for its resemblance to New Mexico. Many do not know that the scene of the Mission of San Antonio is rolled inside the ruins of the Monastery of San Pedro de Arlanza in Hortiguela. The friar with Tuco talking in the hallway was José Molero, the usher of the Casino de Salas. At the scene of concentration camp Betterville Leone includes a real band really from Salas, Arauzo de Miel y Covaleda. The highest paid extras, made 2,000 pesetas a day. The battle scene at Lansgtone Bridge had more than 1500 extras who were stationed and formed at the military barracks in Burgos San Marcial.

Sei Attenti !! Tutti Pronti! ... Engine. Next year marks the 50th anniversary of the filming of the good, the bad and the ugly in the Arlanza Valley. Clint Eastwood, Elli Wallach and Lee Van Cleef again ride together by the magical places that gave life and honor of one of the best films of all time. They will resurrect from the ashes Mission San Antonio, the Betterville concentration camp, the battle Langstone Bridge and Sad Hill Cemetery. Images, feelings, memories talks filming, friends ... everything will come back to life because the film by Leone is immortal, at least in the Valley of the Arlanza that jealously guards the souls of all those who made it possible.