Spaghetti Western Trivia ~ Spain’s Almeria New Hollywood [archived newspaper article]

September 1969

     Ever since a cameraman with his hat on backwards hand cranked the first foot of film under the bright California sun, Hollywood has had competitors for the title it holds as ‘Film Capital of the World.’

     Now the quiet Andalusian town of Almeria on the southeast coast of Spain, rapidly gaining an international reputation as “Hollywood of the Med,” is giving New York, London and Rome a run for the money.

     Warner Bros.-Seven Arts’ all new service fiction western thriller, “The Valley of Gwangi” which opens on … at the … Theatre, was shot entirely in this Spanish setting. Filmed in Technicolor and exciting Dynamation, “The Valley of Gwangi” stars James Fransiscus, gorgeous Gila Golan and Richard Carlson.

     The forbidding Mountains of Tabernas on the southeastern tip of Spain serves as the film’s fascinating setting. The story is centered around a wild west show whose members stumble upon a hidden valley filled with prehistoric monsters.

     Richard Carlson who is in real life an avid amateur archeologist, found such a setting ideal for “The Valley of Gwangi.” He joined a group of Britishers who unearthed what appeared to be a fossilized pawprint of a large reptile. The discovery caused Carlson to ask if he had found the real Gwangi.

     Producer Charles H. Schneer, who has shot three previous films in Spain explains, “I predict that within five years this area will be the center of exterior filming for U.S. productions in Europe.