 The film was shot in Spain from September 1964 until April 1965 , with a break in filming from late December until late February . Welles 's limitations on the film included a budget of $ 800 @,@ 000 and actors Jeanne Moreau and John Gielgud being available for five and ten days respectively , while Margaret Rutherford was only available for four weeks . Welles later joked that during one scene which included seven principal characters , none of the actors were available and stand @-@ ins were used for over @-@ the @-@ shoulder shots of all seven characters . Filming began in <unk> and included all of John Gielgud 's scenes . Welles then traveled to Cardona , where the Royal Court scenes and Marina Vlady 's scenes were shot , and to Madrid 's Casa de Campo Park , where the <unk> robbery scene was filmed . Madrid was also the location of the Boar 's Head Tavern set , where Welles shot Moreau 's and Rutherford 's scenes . The production then traveled to Pedraza for some outdoor street scenes , and then to Soria to shoot in the snow for the opening shots . After shooting some scenes with Justice Shallow and Justice Silence in the Basque country , Welles returned to Madrid in December to film the battle scenes in Casa de Campo Park for ten days . 
