Wednesday, May 15, 2019

Spaghetti Western Location ~ Los Albaricoques



The village of Los Albaricoques (The Apricots) is home to low-lying white houses, twelve kilometers north of San Jose, in the Nijar countryside. This is where Clint Eastwood's entrance scene to San Miguel was filmed in the movie "A Fistful of Dollars" (1964), when he passes the cadaver of a Mexican hoisted on a horse, which carries on his back a sign in which is written "Adios amigo". This location is then combined with the set of Golden City at Hoyo di Manzanares, north of Madrid, where much of Sergio Leone's film is shot. Los Albricoques was then used as a set to represent the hostile and inhospitable village of Agua Caliente in the last sequence of “For a Few Dollars More” (1965). Los Albaricoques then appears in the last sequence of "A Woman for Ringo" (1966); also it was used in "Ringo the Face of Revenge" (1966); "Day of Anger" (1967) (representing the town of Bowie, Arizona); "A Long Ride from Hell" (1968); "Blood and Guns" (1969); "El Condor" (1970).

Today the village of Los Albaricoques has changed quite a bit. The buildings were renovated during the 1990s; but the 'era' still survived, a structure typical of old rural Spain, that is the stone-paved rotunda-shaped courtyard that is used for threshing. It was used in "For a Few Dollars More" (1965) as the theater of the final duel between Mortimore (Lee Van Cleef) and Indio (Gian Maria Volonte). At the edge of the 'era' there is also the small white cubic construction with a stone toretta which – again is seen the sequence of the final duel - it is seen when, after the two direct antagonists (Mortimer and Indio), appears in scenes Clint Eastwood or, better, when in the foreground his arm with the music box appears.




“A Fistful of Dollars”



 

“For a Few Dollars More”




 
“A Woman for Ringo” 





“Ringo the Face of Revenge”






“Day of Anger”





“A Long Ride from Hell”








“Blood and Guns” 






“El Condor”


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