Welcome to theBad.net Lee Van Cleef Blog! Here you will find information, photos, videos, and some of my opinions of the badman himself.

Many thanks to the wonderful fans of theBad.net for their contributions and continued enthusiasm!

Saturday, July 30, 2016

Saturday, July 23, 2016

Location: Rodalquilar - Jaroo's Mine


Located a few miles from Cortijo del Fraile, Rodalquilar is an area best known by it's heavy gold mining in the 19th and 20th centuries.  These mines have long been shut down, however this region has been featured in many feature films, notably for LVC fans, 1970's El Condor, where the landscape was featured as Jaroo's mine near the start of the film.

The mine was inactive during the shoot of the movie, and remains largely the same to this day.  Due to the conditions of the road, it was not the most accessible location, but here it is in all it's glory.

This is part one of two on this location.


 Jaroo arrives at the mine


 Jaroo ascends to a lookout position


 "Goddamn dirty double dealin', sneakin', bastard, bushwackin', sons of bitches!"


The bandits arrive!


Below are some additional pictures from this location. Click to enlarge!

For a sense of scale; that's me near the middle of the frame






Part two will focus on the attack on the mine by the bandits, as well as take a look at two other Spaghetti Westerns films near this location.



Saturday, July 16, 2016

High Noon Coming to Blu-ray - 4k Restoration


Independent U.S. distributors Olive Films have announced that they will release on Blu-ray a new 4K restoration of High Noon, LVC's feature film debut.

Press release below-

The myth and poetry of the old west come alive in Fred Zinnemann’s (Julia) classic western, High Noon (1952). One of the great treasures of the American cinema, the film stars the legendary Gary Cooper as lawman Will Kane, a marshal who stands alone to defend a town of cowardly citizens against a gang of killers out for revenge. Engaged in the fight of his lifetime, Kane stands to lose everything when the clock strikes noon – his friends, his honor, and his Quaker bride, played by Grace Kelly in one of her first screen roles. Unfolding in real time, the tension builds as we race ever closer to the climactic duel from which the film takes its name. For his career-defining role, Cooper would go on to win the Oscar® for Best Actor. High Noon’s stellar cast also includes Lloyd Bridges (Try and Get Me), Thomas Mitchell (It’s a Wonderful Life), Katy Jurado (Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid), Otto Kruger (Saboteur), Lon Chaney (The Wolf Man), Henry Morgan (Strategic Air Command), Jack Elam (Hannie Caulder) and Lee Van Cleef (The Good, the Bad and the Ugly). High Noon won a total four Academy Awards including Best Editing, Best Score (Dimitri Tiomkin, The Old Man and the Sea) and Best Song, “Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darlin’,” written by Tiomkin and Ned Washington and sung by Tex Ritter. High Noon also received Oscar® nominations for Best Picture (Stanley Kramer, producer), Best Director (Fred Zinnemann) and Best Screenplay (Carl Foreman).

YEAR: 1952
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH (with optional English subtitles)
TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 85 mins.
RATING: N/R
ASPECT RATIO:  1.37:1 Aspect Ratio; B&W
AUDIO: MONO
Coming to DVD and Blu-ray September 20th.

 

Saturday, July 9, 2016

Location: Tabernas - Sabata Double Cross


The majority of Sabata was shot in Italy, with only a few key scenes shot in Spain.

The area known as Las Salinillas within the Spanish desert of Tabernas has been featured in countless Spaghetti Westerns, and many LVC westerns including The Big Gundown, Death Rides a Horse, Beyond the Law and Sabata.

This entry will focus on the sequence where Banjo double crosses Sabata outside of Los Palos.


Sabata, Banjo, and Carrincha ride out of Los Palos 
 

 Sabata and Carrincha wait...
 
 
...as Banjo double crosses them


Sabata is wise to Banjo's deception
 


Sabata outwits Banjo, and lets him go
 


 Sabata departs, ready to go antagonize Stengel.  (Much of the ground has collapsed here where they once stood)
 


Interestingly enough this same location was used in the Yul Brynner "sequel", Adios Sabata.  The title sequence is framed almost exactly the same as the opening of the above scene.

 
 
Additionally the opening sequence preceding the Adios Sabata credits was also shot here, where the ruins of the Los Palos set remain to this day.

 

 
 
Sabata would not return to this location for a third time.  The final film, Return of Sabata was shot entirely outside of Spain.


 

Saturday, July 2, 2016

Midas Muffler Commericals Candids

From the early 1980's.

 
 



 
 
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