Rancho Leone is located in a depression on the right side
of the current highway that leads to Guadix, one kilometer away from the
junction between the freeway itself and the road leading to Tabernas: and two
kilometers away from Mini Hollywood. In this area in 1968, for the film “Once
Upon a Time in the West” based on a design by Carlo Simi, the set of Sweetwater
was built, a ranch in the middle of an arid territory that became the center of
the action, the goal of the dreams and conflicts between the protagonists. It
is a solid two-story log building with an inclined roof and wooden tiles; a
large barn to the right and a stone well. In the 1990s the main building was
renovated (respecting its original shape) to make it a tourist attraction.
Thanks to the large budget that Sergio Leone had available, for the last part
of “Once Upon a Time in the West” he built a railway line of about eight
hundred meters, which, started from the rambla (canyon) that runs along the
dirt road that descends towards the set and almost reaches the main ranch
building. Other films that later used the set of Rancho Leone are: “Kill Them
All and Come Back Alone” (1968); “The Price of Power” (1969); “Chato’s Land”
(1971); “Doc” (1971); “The Ballad of Ben and Charlie” (1972); “It Can be Done
... Amigo” (1972) (in a sequence with Bud Spencer and Roberto Camardiel a part
of the railway used in “Once Upon a Time in the West” appears; “Masacre at Fort
Holman” (1972); “The Man Called Noon” (1973) (as Rosanna Schiaffino's ranch); “Whisky
and Ghosts” (1974); “The Four of the Apocalypse” (1975); “California” (1977); “Al
Este del Oeste” (1984); “Rustlers’ Rhapsody” (1985) (for this film, in which it
appears as Rancho Ticonderoga, on the south side, towards the depression, a
tall entrance portal was built, which has been preserved); “Tex and the Lord of
the Deep” (1986).
“Once Upon a Time in the West” (1968)
“Chato’s Land (1971)
“It Can Be Done Amigo” (1972)
“The Man Called Noon” (1973)
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