Although it was filmed in Spain by an Italian director with another Italian providing the soundtrack, and the majority of the cast was also European, the 1966 movie The Good, The Bad and The Ugly was a generation-defining American western film. The guns used in the film did not gain the iconic status of the firepower used in Clint Eastwood’s later Dirty Harry series, but a horde of moviegoers had their interest in firearms piqued due to the film, so interest was understandably high when one of those long-lost weapons was found.
But there’s a catch: It wasn’t Angel Eyes’ revolver or the handguns or rifles used by another character in the film. Instead, enthusiasts have found the cannon that Clint Eastwood uses to set up the film’s final stages.
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Why is there a cannon used in a film about ruthless Western antiheroes looking for lost gold? Because this film is set against the backdrop of the American Civil War’s western campaign, with scenes of POW camps and pitched battles between the Confederate and Union troops. The gold the film’s main characters are searching for is lost Confederate funding, and there’s a theme of constant double-crossing and back-stabbing as they work their way closer to the stash. That’s where the cannon comes into the story; see below for the famous scene.
In real life, the history of that cannon is almost as convoluted as the film’s plot. It was actually made in England in the 1870s and eventually found its way to Spain, where it was in a military arsenal and then eventually was lent to filmmakers for the production of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. That might sound odd, but the cash-strapped Spanish government lent a lot more than a cannon for this film; they also rented out the services of many conscript troops, who served as extras for the film’s battle scenes and also as hired laborers, building the cemetery in the scene above.
The Sad Hill Cultural Association, a group of volunteers dedicated to preserving the film’s history and sets in Spain, eventually realized this cannon was on display at a Spanish military museum, where it had been sent at some point after filming. Unlike the many other weapons used in the film, which were returned to prop departments and then disappeared over time, the cannon had been in government hands and the serial numbers showed it was the same one used in the movie.
For now, it’s going to remain at the museum in the city of Cartagena, but the Sad Hill Cultural Association hopes to return it to the desert site of filming in the future, as they work to recreate the sets of this iconic film.
