For a Few Dollars More - Trailers

 

 

 

 

Location: La Calahorra - The Town of Flagstone

 

I know LVC did not appear in Once Upon a Time in the West, however this location is part of the La Calahorra Train Station, and it would be a shame not to document it. 

 

Instead of reusing the Mini Hollywood location built for For a Few Dollars More and used again in The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, Sergio Leone chose to build a new location for Once Upon a Time in the West outside of the La Calahorra train station near Guadix. 

 

Town as it appeared in the film

 

Like "El Paso", The town of Flagstone was a mammoth location.  unfortunately unlike three other spaghetti western towns built at the time, this location was not preserved by turning it into a tourist location.  As is stands now, only the brick buildings remain.  The main building used in the film, The Flagstone Saloon, has been modified into a barn.

 

 

Then and now - 45 years apart

 

 

Additional pictures of the town's remains below.  Click to enlarge.

 

 

 

 

I also visited the site of the hanging arch in the US, which you can check out here.

 



Big Gundown - Black and White Press Photos

Click to enlarge!

Location: La Calahorra - Train Station

This was actually my first location stop once arriving in Spain, which despite a 6 hour flight, 4 hour layover, 8 hour flight, and 6 hour drive, I was happy to see!  The La Calahorra train station was of course used by Leone in The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly and Once Upon a Time in the West.  It also made appearances in Death Rides a Horse and The Stranger and The Gunfighter with LVC.

 The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly - station on left

 

Once Upon a Time in the West - opposite view, station to the right

 

 

Below are images of the station and tracks as they appear today.  While the station is no longer in use, the tracks are active.  The location is marked by some attractive Viva Leone! graffiti.  Overall a very interesting location with much spaghetti western history!

 

 

 

 

Beyond the Law - Press Photos

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Location: Cortijo Del Fraile - Indio's Camp

Cortijo Del Fraile which is only a few kilometers from Los Albaricoques, and was featured most prominently as Father Ramirez's Mission in The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, was also used as Indio and his men's base camp once they reached Agua Caliente in For a Few Dollars More.  For this the rear of the structure was used.

Sadly now as the location is in a terrible state of disrepair (despite "protected" status), one cannot explore this area as it is fenced off.  However through the fence you can make out the area in which Indio and his men put the beat down on Monco and Mortimer.

 

 

 

 

Octagon - Trailer

Location: Tabernas - Las Palmeras

Within the desert of Tabernas there is an oasis.  This spot was originally used for Lawrence or Arabia, thus Sergio Leone probably picked this spot because of his admiration of director David Lean.

In For a Few Dollars More this location represents Las Palmeras, the place where Indio and his men meet up after the bank raid of El Paso.  This location is unspoiled by time and man, looking virtually the same half a century later!



Indio's gang shoots open the cabinet



 The safe is revealed (and has since become a great bush!)

Full size images below.  Click to enlarge.

To get to the Oasis, you must walk through one of the many ramblas in Tabernas.  These ramblas and plateaus above were often used in many westerns.  Examples below.