Hotel Im Palais Schwarzenberg

After a trip through Vienna Bond and Kara arrive at Hotel im Palais Schwarzenberg in their horse carriage. Bond is a regular at the hotel and is greeted by Hans, the hotel manager, in the reception. Bond's hotel is located in a high-end residential part of town, surrounded by embassies and more notably, the famous Belvedere complex.

The Schwarzenberg Palace is located right next to the Belvedere garden and the Belvedere Palace, which is probably one of the most famous palaces in Vienna. Schwarzenberg however is not as publicly known, probably due to the fact that it is still privately owned and closed for the public. All the same, this is what makes it even more interesting as a Bond location. You are not bothered by tourists and very few people have visited the palace.  

The interior of the hotel was filmed on location at the real palace with the reception housed in the main hall, called the marble gallery. Whether this actually was a hotel in 1987 is a little unclear, information about the hotel and when it existed have been hard to find. But given the state of the interior, it is not likely that any activity will commence anytime soon. The interior is still very recognizable however with the chandelier, briefly seen in the film, still in place. If anyone has information about when the hotel existed, feel free to contact me.

The marble gallery.

Bond is greeted by Hans in the reception who immediately wants to prepare Bond's usual suite. Bond, a gentleman however wants a second bedroom for Kara. Something that he could have managed without considering the development during that same evening. It is also here, in a shop opposite the hotel reception, that Kara finds the dress she wears to the opera later. Bond wants to buy it and send the bill to Georgi. How he managed that is a bit unclear...

"-Good afternoon Mr Bond, you will need your usual suite? 

-Not tonight Hans, something with a second bedroom!"

                               -Hans and Bond-

The fireplace can briefly be seen behind Hans in the reception and can still be found in the marble gallery in the palace.

                         "-Shall I have vodka martini sent up? 
                                                   -Shaken, not stirred! 
                           -Of cooourse..."
                                       -Hans to Bond-

The baroque palace was constructedby architects Lukas von Hildebrandt and Bernhard Fischer von Erlach between 1697 and 1728. It is still owned by the Schwarzenberg family, which is a princely family that dates all the way back to the 12th century. Today, Palais Schwarzenberg is one of the last family owned palais left in Vienna. With a private enclosed park and 44 rooms this is a truly unique palace still in private hands.

Unfortunately the park is closed and not accessible for the public. According to the information we received during our visit, the owner is trying to open a hotel and the building have been "under renovation" for at least 10 years. One can only hope that they will receive the necessary permits and funding and finally convert this beautiful and classic Bond location to a real hotel! In the meantime, the surroundings with the parking lot really ruins this otherwise magnificent location.

See the film scenes here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9xelKHbDyE

Ocean Sky - The Private Jet Company

With this 101st post I will reach 100 000 pageviews since my blog inauguration! Hopefully it will take less than 2 years to reach another 100 000.

Ocean Sky Bombardier Challenger 604

In Quantum of Solace, the CIA is meeting with Dominic Greene in Haiti to make a deal with the Quantum organisation. The section chief, Gregory Beam together with Felix Leiter are discussing the deal during a flight from the Aerogare in Haiti to Bregenz in Austria. The CIA have chartered a plane from the private jet company Ocean Sky. Greene is assured that the CIA will do nothing to stop General Medrano's coup in Bolivia and in exchange they get the lease to any oil found in the country.

On board the jet is a small fridge visible, containing Heineken beer and Bollinger Grande Année champagne. A Sony TV is also visible, all brands are part of the sponsorship deals for the film. The tail number is G-OCSC and the plane in full Ocean Sky livery is a Bombardier Challenger 604.

Ocean Sky was formed in 2003, originally as an aviation broker, but the company changed their business model to a private jet company in 2005. At this time they bought a fleet of new aircraft but also managed privately owned jets on behalf of other owners. In 2012 Ocean Sky were the subject of insolvency proceedings and on 3 September that year, their operating licence was suspended by the Civil Aviation Authority. Today Ocean Sky is a group that consists of a number of UK and international limited companies with offices in London, Geneva, Moscow and New York involved in e.g. agriculture, aviation and real estate. Weather they still have a private jet service is unclear, but it is not likely that they have their own fleet of aircraft anymore. 

Beam and Leiter leave Bregenz.

The product placement by Ocean Sky was one of the bigger sponsorship deals in the film. The company lent five of its business jets to the film production. The planes, valued at £100 million each and with the standard rate of £5000 per hour, were used to fly the cast and crew to Panama. How much the product placement did amount to is unknown however.

For some reason an Ocean Sky jet with Black livery is pictured at the Bregenz Airport
instead of the one that Greene, Beam and Leiter arrive on. Not a clue why...

                   "Ocean Sky, guten abend!"

Greene leaves on a Gulfstream after the shootout at the opera.

After attending Puccini's Tosca at the Bregenz opera, Greene leaves on another private plane, this time a Gulfstream. Since Ocean Sky did not have a Gulfstream in its fleet, this is evidently another jet company or Greene's own jet. Bond is trying to follow Greene by chartering a jet from Ocean Sky, but M has cancelled his card so it is denied at the Ocean Sky desk. Instead Bond goes to see Mathis in Italy. How Bond could travel to Italy, buy a Tom Ford cardigan for a few thousand dollars and charter a boat to Talamone without a single credit card is beyond me. But then again, the plot in Quantum of Solace has more holes than the Titanic so it is probably better not to go down that road...

                              "Could you do me a favour, you're gonna get a phone call in a minute, would you                                    mind telling them I'm headed for Cairo?" 

In return for providing the planes, the Ocean Sky jets featured prominently in the film, including an Ocean Sky service desk at Bregenz airport. The logotype has several minutes of screen time. 

Into Vienna - By the Praterstern

After escaping the Czechoslovakian border guards, in Kara's Cello case, Bond and Kara arrive in Vienna. They have hitched a ride after crossing the border safely into Austria and arrive on the back of a lorry carrying vegetables. Not exactly Bond's finest hour. But his dignity is soon restored when he hails down a horse carriage that takes them through town to Hotel Im Palais Schwarzenberg.

Bond and Kara are standing on the road 'Praterstern', next to the underground station with the same name. When standing on the side of the road, close to the intersection with Ausstellungsstraße you have the same view over the Prater ferris wheel as Bond and Kara in the film. Later that evening, after attending the opera, Bond and Kara visit the Prater park and take a ride in the famous wheel.

"Taxi!"

This is one of the easiest accessible Bond locations in Vienna. The Shell gas station is briefly visible in the film and can still be found on the same location. If you are going to visit the Prater park, you enter from this side. Just cross the road and walk past the gas station to find the entrance.

Schloss Schönbrunn - part 1

At the end of The Living Daylights 1987, Kara gives a concert at Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna. Both M and General Gogol are among the audience, and Bond supposedly on a mission, has been attending the concert secretly. However, the full exterior of the palace is only seen during the film's end credits. Filmed by of one of the two fountains in the palace courtyard, we see some horse carriages and a few limousines in front of the palace. Bond and Kara have actually been riding past the palace earlier in the film but the garden and backside of the palace will be covered in a later post.

Kara's concert takes place in the Schönbrunn Schlossteater or the Palace theater, located in one of the adjacent buildings to the palace. John Barry who composed the soundtrack for the film, his eleventh and last soundtrack, got a cameo as the philharmonic orchestra conductor in this last scene. John Barry's swan song in the Bond series.

John Barry 1933-2011 - His services will be greatly missed

Schönbrunn was originally built as a residence for Empress Eleonora Gonzaga 1638-1643, but was severely damaged in the Second Siege of Vienna in 1683. The Emperor Leopold I had the palace rebuilt as a palatial hunting lodge which was then handed over to his heir, Joseph I. In 1743 the place in its present form was expanded and rebuilt under Empress Maria Theresia and until the end of the first world war it was the summer residence of Austria's Imperial family, the Habsburgs. It was inhabited almost continuously during this period and became a cultural and political center of the Habsburg empire.

During the end credits, three limousines (most likely belonging to M and General Gogol) are parked behind the fountain in front of the palace. The fountains however are switched off during the winter season. The horse carriages also seen in the background in the film can still be found on location in the palace courtyard, ready to take tourists for a ride.

Schloss Schönbrunn is one of the most important cultural monuments in Austria and listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1996. The palace gardens will be covered later, but this is definitely the most beautiful Bond location in Vienna and it is highly recommended to spend the better part of the day here.

Pipeline to the west - Gasometer, Vienna

In The Living Daylights Bond helps a Russian general, Georgi Koskov, defect to the west. The defection takes place in Bratislava and when the general asks how he will get across the border, Bond tells him that they have a pipeline to the west. The general is then sent across the border from Czechoslovakia over to Austria in the Trans-Siberian Pipeline. The pipeline is ending up in a gas tank called gasometer, in Vienna. Q is there receiving the general.

All of the action in Bratislava were actually filmed in Vienna, and the four gasometer buildings can also be found here, alongside Guglgasse in the district Simmering, some 15 min. outside the city center. The containers were originally used to help supply Vienna with gas. In the film, the pipeline is supposedly ending up inside the last of the four gasometer buildings. This is the most eastern building, 'Gasometer D'. For the film, a fake piece of the pipeline was constructed and just attached to the building. It was probably just a small pipe that looked bigger on screen.

When the buildings were retired in the 1980's the "shells" were preserved and the structures found a new use with buildings constructed inside. Today all four gasometers house apartment buildings, shops and a mall. Very little of the original interior can be seen. But you can always have a nice lunch in the galleria inside the A building, and get as close to Koskov as you can.

Inside Gasometer B today. Was Ken Adam hired to do the interior?

The four buildings were originally constructed between 1896-1899 as part of the Vienna municipal gas works. They were in use until 1984, and thus available for the film team in 1987 at the time of The Living Daylights.

Koscov escapes to Britain.

You have a nice view over the last gasometer, the one Koskov escapes from, from Otto-Herschmann-Gasse. The untouched exterior makes this location well worth a visit when in Vienna. It is conveniently located just by the underground station "Gasometer".

The Persuaders! - Djurgårdsbron

In honour of Sir Roger Moore, who celebrates his birthday today, I will make yet another post from The Persuaders! and the episode that starts off in the Capital of Scandinavia. 

The first part of the episode "The morning after" takes place in Stockholm where Lord Sinclair wakes up at Grand Hôtel discovering he is married. 

Brett and Danny are on their way to the parish office (covered earlier) in a taxi and during the ride we see one of the most exclusive parts of the city. They are driven across Djurgårdsbron over to Djurgården, or 'The Royal Game Park'. The name stems from the game park of King Johan III, which he created in 1579. Since the 15th century the Swedish monarch has owned or held the right of disposition of Royal Djurgården. In the early 19th century, Djurgården developed into a stately residential area when a few foreign dignitaries were given some exclusive land plots. 

In the background you see the buildings along the boulevard Strandvägen, one of the most prestigious addresses in Stockholm along with Djurgården. The boulevard Strandvägen and the bridge to Djurgården were constructed just in time for the Stockholm World's fair in 1897. Part of the bridge and Strandvägen are visible behind Brett and Danny when riding in the taxi. The building used as the parish office is located in the opposite direction so ultimately they are going the wrong way.

This area, including Djurgården is truly a beautiful part of Stockholm and a walk along Strandvägen is highly recommended. If you continue down Strandvägen you will ultimately reach the commercial center and the Royal Dramatic Theatre.

Congratulations to Sir Roger Moore who turns 86 today, 14 October 2013!  

To one of the nicest persons in the world, long may he live! 

Drax Air Freight - Varig Brazil

In Moonraker Bond goes to Rio to investigate the affairs of Hugo Drax. In a warehouse belonging to the importer firm 'C&W' (Carlos & Wilmsberg) in downtown Rio, Bond learns that Drax is moving his merchandise through his cargo airline 'Drax Air Freight'. Manuela tells Bond that 'Drax Air Freight' operates out of San Pedro Airport and Bond gets up to the Sugarloaf mountain to check it out.

The airport can be seen from the viewpoint on top of the mountain, no doubt one of the most famous tourist attractions in Rio. In reality the airport is called Santos Dumont Airport, after a Brazilian aviation pioneer. Why San Pedro was used instead of the real name is unclear.

The Varig star logo can vaguely be seen on the tail.

The Drax Air Freight plane however is a Lockheed L-188 Electra, in reality belonging to Varig Airways, the leading Brazilian airline at the time. The dark blue plane livery can be recognized if you compare Drax's plane with the Varig plane in the picture below. Santos Dumont airport was one of the main airports that Varig used in Brazil. In 1959 together with two other airlines, Varig had initiated an "air shuttle service" between Rio-Santos Dumont airport and São Paolo airport. The three airlines coordinated their schedules and operations and shared their revenue. Due to the success of this shuttle service led by Varig, it was abandoned only in 1999. The interesting fact is that this route was served exclusively by Varig's Lockheed L-188 Electra between 1975 and 1992 and the aircraft used on this route did not have the Varig name on the fuselage for the sake of neutrality to the other two airlines. This would have made it easy for the filmmakers to use one of Varig's aircraft in the film and put the name "Drax Air Freight" on the side, since the fuselage didn't have the Varig logo on it.

Copyright Bill Hough, used with permission. 

The Lockheed L-188 was developed in the 1950's by the American manufacturer Lockheed. It first flew in 1957 and was the first large American turboprop airliner. However, the engines would soon be replaced by turbojets and many of the aircraft that still used this engine type were modified as freighters.

Copyright Bill Hough - airliners.net. 

Another Varig aircraft, or at least the tail, can be seen behind the Concorde when Bond arrives in Rio. The Concorde did not land at Santos Dumont Airport however, but at the larger Galeão International Airport. Varig also receives a thank you in the end credits of the film.



Varig was the leading and almost only international airline in Brazil between the years 1965 and 1990. Beginning with the new millennium, Varig experienced financial difficulties and after a reconstruction and two failed attempts to auction the airline, Varig was split into two companies. The call sign ceased to exist in 2008.

On a Lockheed related subject, both the president and Goldfinger have private planes from the Lockheed company in Goldfinger. As Pussy Galore points out:
    "The humming means you're in Mr Goldfinger's Lockheed Jetstar heading for Baltimore."