Leone's prison returns

The prison of 'The Good, the Bad and the Ugly', located in Carazo, is beginning to take shape.

The second stage to be recovered from Sergio Leone's film after the mythical Sad Hill cemetery will open on September 7

Diario de Burgos

June 6, 2024

     [Two members of the Sad Hill Association, in the 'new' film set. - Photo: Alberto Rodrigo] 

Betterville begins to take shape. Stick by stick, the stage that housed this prison camp from the film The Good, the Bad and the Ugly has begun to be rebuilt from scratch. Located on a high ground very close to Carazo, the location is already beginning to resemble the one that director Sergio Leone showed on the big screen. With it, there will be two recovered settings from one of the most emblematic films of the western genre, adding to the Sad Hill cemetery, the most visited place in the Arlanza region and rebuilt at the initiative of the association that bears its name on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the filming of the film.

Unlike the former, which was rescued with volunteer work, Betterville is being built by professionals. The Junta de Castilla y León, which finances the work with 50,000 euros, awarded the project to Eurofor, which first had to remove the juniper wood from about 6 hectares of the Santo Domingo de Silos Mountain devastated by the fire in the summer of 2022. "Everything has been delayed due to the weather conditions. It has been impossible to enter before to cut the trees," confesses Sergio García, a member of the association, on site to advise during its execution. "The plans were designed by Carlo Simi, but we are being guided by the photos of the shoot and by frames from the film, since there is a difference between the original design and what was finally made," he details.

The construction of this new Betterville began a few days ago with the installation of master posts, seated on concrete every two meters. Slats have been placed on them on which each mast is anchored, an average of 2.20 meters high but irregular. So along the three walls that made up that prison, which was made in a U-shape for the film leaving one side unclosed.

To date they have placed an eighth of the entire wooden perimeter palisade, so they still have work to cover the total meters of each wall, about 96 the south and north (with which it has started) and 80 the west. "The forecast with which we are working is that throughout this month it can be concluded," explains the member of the collective.