Sergio Leone western movie locations in Almeria

'For a fistful of dollars', what a splendid idea Sergio Leone had, to name his movie, shot in 1964 in the desert of Tabernas (Almeria). Guess he did so, in order to laugh rather than cry while contemplating the inadequate budget of 20 million Pesetas (some 120,000 Euros). The Italian Director could not aim for the moon, so he had to content himself with a virtually unknown actor 'Clint Eastwood', who was cleaning swimming pools to survive from one month to the next.

Clint Eastwood still remembers Almeria and the making of:

For a few dollars more:

Today, the desert of Tabernas is reached in half the time. There, next to the highway from Almeria to Granada, one will find the Mini-Hollywood, a western town built in 1965 under the instructions of Sergio Leone that he used for his second movie with Clint Eastwood and Lee Van Cleef. Since he had a little larger budget for the second film, Leone called it 'For a Few Dollars More' and it became a best seller, as did the following Sergio Leone western shot the year after, namely 'the Good, the Bad and the Ugly' (Eastwood, Eli Wallach, and Van Cleef).

Well, this definitely confirmed that the desert of Almeria not only brings hits but also good luck. This is how Almeria turned into a big film location, attracting other important directors like Steven Spielberg and Franklin J. Schaffner.