Eastwood's Film Cannon Linked to Cartagena Museum

Diego Montero, a board member of the Sad Hill Cultural Association, said on May 16 that a cannon displayed at Cartagena's Military History Museum had been identified as the piece used by Clint Eastwood in the final sequence of Sergio Leone's 1966 western *The Good, the Bad and the Ugly*. Spanish media reports and a Europa Press dispatch said the gun is a Whitworth cannon dated 1873 and held by the museum under inventory number MUE-5410. The find links a surviving prop from one of the best-known scenes in the film to a military collection in southeastern Spain. It also comes weeks before events tied to the 60th anniversary of the movie's production in Burgos, where part of the film was shot. ### How was the cannon identified after nearly 60 years? Diego Montero said he matched details from the museum's documentation with information in Peter J. Hanley's book *Behind the Scenes of Sergio Leone's The Good, the Bad and the Ugly*. Europa Press reported that Montero compared the Cartagena records with Hanley's research and concluded that the museum piece was the same cannon used in the film's climactic sequence. Several Spanish outlets gave the same inventory reference, MUE-5410, for the gun now in Cartagena. (europapress.es) The 1873 Whitworth cannon appears in the scene in which Eastwood's character fires on Eli Wallach's fleeing character, according to reports on the identification. The movie, directed by Sergio Leone and released in 1966, starred Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef and Wallach. The cannon's link to a specific scene is what turned a museum object into a piece of film history. (europapress.es) ### Why was the cannon in Cartagena in the first place? Cartagena's Military History Museum is part of Spain's Army historical network and is housed in the former Real Parque y Maestranza de Artillería, according to the museum's official page. The Army says the museum is devoted mainly to the artillery that defended Cartagena and holds one of Spain's largest collections of cannons and howitzers. That made it a plausible destination for a 19th-century artillery piece after its use in filming. (msn.com) The museum's official description says its collections cover weaponry, munitions and uniforms from the 16th to the 20th centuries. Spanish reports did not say when the Whitworth cannon entered the Cartagena collection, but they said the museum records preserved enough detail for Montero to connect the piece to the Leone production. ### Who is Sad Hill, and why was it looking for the gun? (ejercito.defensa.gob.es) The Sad Hill Cultural Association is tied to the Burgos area where the film shot its cemetery scenes, and Spanish reports said Montero made the discovery as part of the group's work on the movie's legacy. El País said the association, based around the village linked to the filming site, located the cannon in Cartagena. Reports said the timing is close to commemorations marking 60 years since the production took place in Burgos province. (ejercito.defensa.gob.es) Burgos has become a focal point for preservation of the film's Spanish locations, especially around Sad Hill cemetery. The cannon discovery adds a museum object to that broader effort to document what remains from the production, according to the reporting by Spanish outlets. ### What does Cartagena say it has now? (elpais.com) Cartagena's museum has not published a separate statement in the search results reviewed here, but the Army's museum page says the institution preserves and displays major artillery holdings. Spanish coverage said the newly identified cannon remains in the Military History Museum of Cartagena, where it is already part of the permanent collection. That means visitors can see the object in the same place where the identification was made, rather than at a temporary exhibition. (elpais.com) Local cultural programming in Cartagena is already promoting museums and heritage sites this month, including the city's annual Night of the Museums events and a broader spring-summer cultural agenda, according to city pages. Those listings do not mention the cannon directly in the snippets reviewed, but they show the museum sits inside an active tourism and heritage calendar. (ejercito.defensa.gob.es) ### What happens next for visitors and anniversary events? Spanish reports said the discovery comes about two months before commemorations of the 60th anniversary of filming in Burgos province. The cannon remains at Cartagena's Military History Museum, while the anniversary activity is expected to center on the Burgos locations associated with the film and the Sad Hill group. For visitors, the next concrete step is simple: the identified Whitworth cannon is on display in Cartagena, and the anniversary calendar in Burgos is approaching in the summer of 2026. (cartagena.es) (observatorial.com)