The Russian Consulate / Şişli Mosque - Part 2

Quite a few scenes in From Russia With Love takes place in and around the Russian consulate in Istanbul. After killing the Bulgar who works for the Russians tailing Bond in Istanbul, Donald Grant parks the Citroën with the dead man outside of the Russian consulate on Klebb's orders, to cast suspicions on the British. The Russian entrance guard gets suspicious of Grant and walks up to the car, only to find the Bulgar dead.

The consulate is located along Halaskargazi Caddesi in the Şişli disctrict of Istanbul and in a few scenes you see a mosque visible in the far background. This mosque is called Şişli Merkez Cami and is located located in Şişli Square between the Büyükdere Avenue and the streets Halaskargazi and Abide-i Hürriyet. As seen from the above picture, a BP petrol station was located right opposite the consulate in 1963. This petrol station is gone.

The mosque is also visible when Bond arrives at the consulate in a taxi, and when Romanova leaves the consulate with her colleagues earlier in the film. Needless to say, the city has changed around the mosque, but the location is still recognizable and well-wort visiting. The fact that all the scenes outside the consulate and the actual consulate building are situated in the same place, and that they are still recognizable, makes it an exquisite location.

The Şişli mosque was the first mosque built Şişli Square during the Republican era in Turkey, after 1923. It was constructed between 1945 and 1950, due to the fact that the Şişli district was lacking a mosque at the time. It had thus only been open for about ten years at the time of filming of From Russia With Love. It is designed in the classical Ottoman architectural style.

After Grant parks the Citroën, he jumps into a taxi where Klebb is waiting, and they drive off along Halaskargazi Caddesi. During their taxi ride, another mosque is very briefly seen, covered here. This mosque is, however, located in another part of Istanbul, in the Beşiktaş disctrict by the Bosporus. Despite the vast change in the city of Istanbul, a few houses seen when Grant gets into the taxi can still be recognized on location today, for instance the beige building in the second picture below.

The entrance to the consulate garden is seen to the right.

The Russian Consulate in Istanbul - Part 1

In From Russia With Love 1963, Bond is sent to Istanbul to meet with Tatiana Romanova in order to try to obtain the Lector decoder from the Russians. He does not know that Romanova is working under orders of Colonel Klebb. Romanova is working at the Russian Consulate in Istanbul where she, unknowingly, is recruited to SPECTRE by Klebb.

The entrance gates to the garden of the Russian Consulate is seen very early in the film when Romanova and her colleagues leave for the day and later when Grant parks the Citroën with the dead Bulgar outside the entrance gate, observed by the Russian guard.

From Russia With Love was filmed during the spring and summer of 1963, mainly on location in Istanbul. Here, in the Şişli district, you can find the entrance gate and the building used as the consulate in the film.

The "Russian consulate" can be found along Halaskargazi Caddesi, and the entrance gate has the number 161. The building is located at a very large property surrounded by big garden. This is the only villa along Halaskargazi Caddesi.
If you walk to the back of the house (to street that runs along the back of the property) and you take the first small street to the right of the building, you are walking down the street 'T.M. Ali Bey'. A funny fact coincidence considering the name of Bond's ally in the film, Ali Kerim Bey.

The entrance gate and fence surround a large building, also briefly seen later in the film. The villa and the neighborhood will be covered in more detail later. This is definitely one of the best Bond locations in Istanbul and well worth a visit.

The fact that the location has not changed notably since 1963 and the fact that you can walk around this location undisturbed, since this location is unknown and of no interest to the common tourist, makes it even more memorable. A taxi from the city centre (for instance Hagia Sophia) should cost less than 25-30 Lira.

Via Veneto, Rome

I know that this post is rather far-fetched, but I think that there are enough Bond connections to Via Veneto in Rome in order for it to qualify as some kind of a Bond location. When Bond and Tracy are talking about getting married and settling down in On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Tracy suggests Via Veneto in Rome. The street was made famous in the film La Dolce Vita in the early 1960's, by our Swedish actress Anita Ekberg, who of course also "played a part" in From Russia with love. 

Anita Ekberg was a frequent guest at the famous cafés and restaurants at Via Veneto and was immortalized in Federico Fellini's La Dolce Vita when bathing in the Trevi fountain. To Bond fans she is known from From Russia With Love, where she featured on the large movie poster for another film produced by Broccoli and Saltzman, namely "Call me Bwana".

Via Veneto became extremely popular in the 1950's and 60's when the European jet-set frequented the restaurants and cafes here. Even though the jet-set today is gone, it remains popular by tourists and it is definitely one of the more beautiful streets in Rome. However, today it would probably be regarded as somewhat tacky, and it is probably not an address that would have been favoured by Contessa Teresa di Vicenzo today. However, it remains one of the most elegant and expensive streets in Rome.

"-Mr and Mrs James Bond.
              -Of Acacia Avenue, Tunbridge Wells.
-Hmm, how about Belgrave Square?
             -Or the Via Veneto, Rome. 
-Paris, convenient for Le Touquet.
             -Monaco, handy for the Raniers. 
-I wonder how much they're asking for this place..."





Some of Rome's most renowned cafés and five star hotels, like Café de Paris, Harry's Bar, Regina Hotel Baglioni are located along Via Veneto. A walk along Via Veneto is highly recommended as well as a lunch or evening cocktail in one of the luxury hotels.

Connery in Istanbul - Dolmabahçe Mosque

After picking up Donald Grant outside the Russian Consulate Klebb and Grant drive off in a taxi. During the ride through Istanbul one particular building is briefly visible. The same building does not feature anymore in the film but a few photos show that both Connery and Armendariz actually visited this location when filming one of the scenes that were deleted from the finished film, which were shot nearby this location. The building turns out to be one of Istanbul's many mosques.

The mosque visible behind Grant and Klebb in the taxi is the Dolmabahçe Mosque, located just by the Bosporus along the road 'Meclis-i Mebusan Caddesi'. The mosque can be found in the Beşiktaş district, approximately 15 minutes by taxi from the Galata bridge. Immediately after passing the mosque, the taxi with Grant and Klebb takes off to the left on what appears to be the street 'İnebolu Sokak'.

"The cold war in Istanbul will not remain cold very much longer..."

However, it would probably not be worth the trouble to find this location if it wasn't for the picture below, namely the photograph with Sean Connery, taken during filming. In this picture Connery is standing on the street 'Dolmabahçe Gazhane Caddesi' with the mosque visible in the background. The reason for Connery's visit to this location was for the shooting of a scene that, sadly, was deleted from the finished film.

The mosque is located right next to the Dolmabahçe Palace, which was the main administrative center of the Ottoman Empire from 1856 to 1922, and which certainly is a much more visited tourist attraction in Istanbul than the Dolmabahçe mosque. The easiest way to get here is probably to take a taxi to the Dolmabahçe Palace, but it is also possible to take one of the Bosporus ferries to the Kabataş station. From there it is just a short walk to the south.

The deleted scene that was shot here on location features Bond, Kerim and the Bulgar who is tailing Bond earlier in the film. Apparently, Bond is on his way to meet with Romanova and is trying to loose the mysterious Bulgarian pursuer. Bond hops into a taxi and takes control of the taxi's brakes, causing the Bulgar to run into the back of the taxi. A third car joins the pile-up and the driver of the third car turns out to be Kerim. As Bond makes good his escape in the Rolls Royce, Kerim simply says to the Bulgar: "My friend, this is life". This was supposedly a brilliant scene that Terence Young shot several times in order to get the long ash on Kerim's cigarette that Pedro Armendáriz insisted on. However, during a screening it was discovered that the Bulgar in this scene had actually been killed by Grant in the St Sophia earlier. Therefore, this scene was cut and to my knowledge only a few stills survived, such as the picture below. The fact that the Bulgar's Citroën appears to have crashed into Kerim's Ford in front of it, contradicts the story that Bond was in a taxi.

The Citroën and what appears to be Kerim's Ford is visible next to Connery.

"My friend, this is life."

The Shanghai Skyscraper - Broadgate Tower, London

In Skyfall Bond tracks down the assassin Patrice who has stolen the secret hard drive and escaped in Istanbul. In the film, very little is known about Patrice, but thanks to intelligence from the CIA, Mi6 learns that Patrice will turn up in Shanghai in two days time. Patrice is apparently going to carry out an assassination from a skyscraper in that city.

When Patrice arrives at the Shanghai Pudong Airport he takes a taxi downtown, followed by Bond dressed up as a private chauffeur. Even though some car scenes were filmed in Shanghai, none of the principal cast were ever on location in red China. Rather surprisingly, this location can be found in central London, namely 20 Primrose Street.

For the exterior shots of the Shanghai skyscraper, the filmmakers used Broadgate Tower, located in the main business district in the City of London. Next to Broadgate, two other skyscrapers were added digitally in the film to make it look more like the densely built city of Shanghai. With its 165 meters, Broadgate is the 12th tallest building in London. It was constructed between 2005 and 2009. The interior scenes from Shanghai airport were actually also filmed in England, at another old Bond location, namely the Royal Ascot racecourse which Bond visited in A View to a Kill. Skyfall is thereby the second film in the Bond series where a racecourse has doubled as an airport. In GoldenEye, the exterior of St Petersburg airport was filmed at Epsom Racecourse in Surrey.

Bond follows Patrice into the building and finds a dead guard after walking up some escalators. These escalators can also be found on location inside the building and are accessible from the lobby.

The elevator where Patrice enters and Bond "hangs on" was re-constructed by the filmmakers and cannot be found on location. The rest of the interior scenes in the skyscraper were also shot in studio.

Among the more notable tenants of Broadgate Tower you find reputable law firm Reed Smith LLP. Many thanks to my esteemed colleague on secondment at Reed Smith, senior associate Bità Pourmotamed, for valuable information and the pictures.

The Persuaders! - Bromma Airport, Stockholm

In the 19th episode of The Persuaders! called "The Morning After", Brett wakes up in his suite at Grand Hôtel in Stockholm, covered earlier. He discovers that he has married a woman during what appears to have been a very wet previous night. When Brett takes a flight back to London, he leaves Stockholm from Bromma Airport, Stockholm's city airport.

Bromma Airport is located only 7 kilometers from the city centre and is closest to the city compared to all the other commercial airports in Stockholm. It was opened in 1936, by King Gustav V, when Stockholm urgently needed a proper airport and it was the first airport in Europe to have paved runways from the start. During World War II Swedish and British aircraft flew to the United Kingdom from Bromma Airport.

Bromma Airport around 1972

Bromma Airport in 2018

However the runway of Bromma was too short for the jet age and for intercontinental traffic in the 1960's (e.g. DC-8), and the capacity limit of Bromma could be foreseen. Therefore Stockholm Arlanda Airport was built. The flight between Stockholm and London in 1972, at the time of filming of The Persuaders! would most likely have taken off from Arlanda. Even though there are several international flights from Bromma today, there are no flights to London.

It is unlikely that any of the principle cast ever were in Stockholm for the filming, since neither Sir Roger nor Curtis are seen outdoors. The interior scenes in the episode were most likely shot in Pinewood with a back projection from various Stockholm locations. Interestingly enough, the back projection from the airport shows airplane hangars from Stockholm's largest airport, Arlanda instead of Bromma. A DC-9 airplane from Scandinavian Airlines is briefly seen in the background.

We do not learn which airline Lord Brett is using, although a billboard from SAS is visible in the terminal in one scene as well as the DC-9 from SAS.

The old terminal building in 2018

At present there is a political campaign run by the environmental party, presently in power, to close down the airport, although there is a strong resistance against it. Hopefully the airport will remain open for many many years to come, because where else would Lord Sinclair land the next time?

Gibraltar car chase - Charles V Wall

During the car chase in the pre-title sequence of The Living Daylights, an assassin escapes in a Land Rover. While driving down the rock of Gibraltar, the car passes a few famous Gibraltar locations. Early on in the chase, the Land Rover drives through an opening in Charles V Wall. Charles V Wall is a defensive wall built in the 16th century that extends from the South Bastion (lover part of the rock) to the top of the rock, right in the middle between the north and the south top.

The Land Rover is coming down Charles Vth's Road when it drives through the opening in the wall. This road runs just below Queen's Road and intersects with Signal Station Road further down the rock.  

One of the British guards opens fire on the Land Rover and a crate with explosives catches fire. It falls off the car just before it explodes. The box explodes right by another part of Charles V's Wall, this time at the top of the rock. This scene was filmed closed to Douglas Path.

This part of the defensive wall can be found along St Michael Road, near the southern top and is today a feeding place for the apes. It was being renovated at the time of our visit but the location is unmistakable. If you walk in the southern direction from here you will end up at Douglas Path which ultimately leads to the Moorish Outpost, covered earlier.

The entire car chase is cleverly edited to make it seem like it is going down the rock, but in reality, the car is filmed in both upper and lover parts of the rock, as well as on the north and the south top. The part where the ammunition crate explodes is filmed very close to the southern top.

This wall was was actually built in 1540 and strengthened in 1552 by Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and is a well known tourist location in Gibraltar.