When They Call Me Trinity was released in Italian cinemas in 1970, audiences were glued to the screen, and not only for Bud Spencer and Terence Hill’s comic moments. There was something familiar about its scenery: open grasslands, wide skies and rugged rock faces. Yet Trinity’s Wild West was not Arizona or New Mexico. It was Italy.
The locations where They Call Me Trinity was filmed lie between Lazio and Umbria. Director E.B. Clucher, the pseudonym of Enzo Barboni, carefully selected each corner of the region, giving the film a visual authenticity that still holds up today.
Where was They Call Me Trinity filmed?
The film’s exterior shoots covered a very specific geographical area, beginning in the Simbruini Mountains on the border between Lazio and Abruzzo and continuing towards the Roman countryside.
Each sequence has its own identifiable location, many of which can still be visited today. These are the film’s key sites.
Camposecco Plateau, Camerata Nuova: the heart of the film
The most important location in the entire film is the Camposecco Plateau, in the municipality of Camerata Nuova in the Province of Rome. It sits at roughly 1,320 metres above sea level in the Monti Simbruini Regional Natural Park.
This is where the Mormons, led by Tobias (played by Dan Sturkie), are shown with their wagons and livestock. The Mormon camp scenes were filmed on this small grassy plateau, with Rifugio di Camposecco in the background.
Camerata Nuova later formally acknowledged its historical connection with the film. In recognition of the attention it brought to the area, the municipality awarded honorary citizenship to both Bud Spencer and Terence Hill. The Camposecco Plateau remains accessible today, and the surrounding countryside has changed little since the 1970s.
Monte Gelato Waterfalls: the bathing scene
One of the film’s most memorable sequences, in which Trinity takes a bath, was shot at the Monte Gelato Waterfalls, in the Treja Valley Park between Rome and Viterbo. The falls are formed where the River Treja descends from the Cimini Mountains, and they remain one of Lazio’s most visited natural spots.
They are easy to reach from the municipality of Mazzano Romano, and the view remains strikingly close to the one seen in the film.
De Laurentiis Studios: the saloon and indoor scenes
Not everything seen in the film was filmed in the Italian countryside. The interior scenes, including the saloon, dormitories and inn rooms, were shot at Dino De Laurentiis’ film studios on the Via Pontina, between Rome and Terracina.
During the 1960s and 1970s, the studios were one of Italian cinema’s main production hubs, hosting dozens of domestic and international productions. The Western set built there recreated a Far West village, complete with unpaved streets and wooden façades.
Other filming locations in Lazio and Umbria
Alongside its main locations, the film used other parts of central Italy to create its on-screen world.
The River Tiber at Attigliano, Terni
The scene in which the two brothers, Trinity and Bambino, cross the river was filmed along a stretch of the Tiber near Attigliano, in the Province of Terni. In this area, the river flows between quiet, wooded banks, with the width and depth needed for the sequence.
It is one of those details that few viewers might have expected: Rome’s great river serving as the backdrop for a Western gag.
The tuff quarry and the posada on Rome’s outskirts
The scenes in which Trinity crosses the desert dragged along by his horse, then arrives at the posada, or inn, to devour an impressive quantity of beans, were filmed in a tuff quarry on the outskirts of Rome. The site lay along what is now the A91 motorway towards Fiumicino Airport.
The dry, desert-like setting associated with the American Wild West was recreated using the volcanic-material quarries around the capital.
Campo della Pietra, Vallepietra, Rome
Some additional exterior scenes were filmed around Campo della Pietra, near the Sanctuary of the Holy Trinity in Vallepietra, also in the Province of Rome.
This wild mountain area, near the Simbruini Mountains, provided natural backdrops for the film’s scenes. Its terrain recalled the grasslands of the North American West.
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