Tango at the Casino

In Never Say Never Again, Largo hosts a charity ball at the casino in Monte Carlo. Bond attends uninvited and after winning over Largo at a rather stupid video game called "Domination", Bond settles for one dance with Domino instead of the 267,000 dollars he won. Largo observes the dancing couple from the second floor above as Fatima Blush comes up leaning against the balustrade.

                     "-They move well together don't they?"
        -Today you have anothzer chance. Zhis time, you'd better not fail..." 
                                  - Blush and Largo -

Largo and Blush are standing right above the entrance to the gambling hall, located to the left as you enter the main casino building. The pattern on the floor is very recognisable.

The famous tango scene were filmed in the main entrance hall, just beneath where Largo is watching. Bond and Domino are dancing as the guests are sitting around small tables next to the dance floor.

The large wall painting behind the opposite balustrade (opposite from where Largo is standing) is different from the wall painting behind Largo, it is thus possible to establish that Largo were standing above the entrance to the casino hall, that is to the left from the main entrance.

The wall painting seen in the picture below is the painting seen behind Largo.

Menton Motorcycle Chase - Rue Longe

During the motorbike chase in Never Say Never Again, Bond is lured away from his villa in Villefranche-sur-mer by Fatima Blush, after she has killed Bond's ally, Nicole. After chasing Fatima's Renault 5 Turbo down the roads of Villefranche-sur-mer, Bond ends up in the small town of Menton, close to the Italian border. Here, still in pursuit of Blush, Bond speeds down the famous steps of Saint-Michel in the old part of the city.

As Bond is driving down the steps, Blush is seen driving down Rue Longe that runs below the steps and separate the upper part with the last few steps that continues down to the beach road called Quai Bonaparte. Just before the last steps of the upper part reach Rue Longe, Bond jumps down with the motorcycle and continues the chase down Rue Longe. This narrow street will eventually lead to Rue des Logettes and Place du Cap where Blush's henchmen are waiting in two cars to capture Bond.

Blush is driving around in her Renault 5 Turbo. 

These steps are a historic monument, constructed in the mid 1700's. Bond and Blush later come out on a larger square, where Blush's henchmen are waiting in two cars and Bond becomes the hunted. The tunnel where Bond later is captured, but manages to escape, is only a short walk away from this location, along the beach.

After driving around Menton, Bond and Blush again end up in the port of Villefranche-sur-mer, namely Port de la Darse, where the motorbike chase finally ends and Blush is blown to pieces by Algernon's pen.

Hôtel de Paris - Monte Carlo

GoldenEye

In Goldeneye during Bond's visit to Casino Monte Carlo, the magnificent Hôtel de Paris is visible in the background as Bond drives up to the casino. The hotel was also briefly visible in Never Say Never Again twelve years earlier as Connery walks into what is called "Casino Royale" in the film. Bond has however never actually stayed in that hotel. The Hôtel de Paris is located in the heart of Monte Carlo, right next to the casino at the convenient address Place du Casino.

Hôtel de Paris was opened in 1863 but is today undergoing a total renovation that is scheduled to continue until 2018. During this renovation, the entire south section of the hotel (the round part of the building as seen in Goldeneye) has been demolished, which is apparent in the picture above.

The Persuaders! 

Although Bond himself has never stayed at the Hôtel de Paris, it was nevertheless the destination for Lord Brett Sinclair and Danny Wilde in the first episode of The Persuaders!. After the iconic car chase from Nice airport where Brett and Danny are speeding along the coastal road, they end up in front of the Hôtel de Paris, just like the invitation from Judge Fulton had stated.

"Please be my guest it's going to be a ball!!!"

Only one actual scene was shot inside the hotel, and that was Roger Moore's entrance when he walks through the lobby. Everything else, sadly, appear to have been shot in studio. The hotel lobby is amazingly beautiful and well worth a visit even if you are not staying in the hotel. Anyway, Le Bar American and the restaurant Le Louis XVI located inside the hotel on each side of the lobby, are probably two of the best establishments in Monaco. A drink in the bar is simply a must.

Roger Moore as Lord Sinclair makes an entrance. 

Blowing up the Russian Consulate - Part 3

After blowing up the Russian consulate and stealing the Lector decoder in From Russia With Love, Bond and Tania escape through Kerim's secret passage underneath the consulate. The building, doubling for the Russian consulate in the film is located in the Şişli district in Istanbul, along Halaskargazi Caddesi number 161.

The house and the surrounding garden still looks the same as it did in 1963 and the surrounding fence and the entrance gate have not been changed although the gate has been given some new paint. This is one of a few fairly untouched locations in Istanbul.

As the firemen rush up to the house, a small part of the path in the garden is visible, as well as the actual building behind the smoke. This path, made up from small round stones is in the style of classic "pebble mosaic", a style that probably originated in ancient Greece and became widespread in the Byzantine Empire. This path can still be found on location today and the house does not appear to have been changed that much either.

During filming, the crew had major problems with crowds that flocked the streets, something that is apparent in several scenes filmed around the consulate and elsewhere in Istanbul. The firetruck during the filming of the burning consulate probably contributed to even more spectators. Thus, a lot of the people seen in the top picture were probably not hired extras.

Bond first arrives at the consulate late in the film, in a taxi. The taxi stops outside the entrance gate at Halaskargazi Caddesi and at the same time, the Şişli  mosque is visible in the far background. More on the long street and the mosque have been covered here in an earlier post.

Spectre car chase - Rome

After escaping from the Spectre meeting at the Palazzo Cadenza in Rome, Bond drives off in his prototype Aston Martin DB10 through the streets of Rome. Bond is pursued by Hinx in his monstrous Jaguar. The car chase was filmed on several different parts of Rome, but one of the more notable locations during the chase is undoubtedly St. Peter's Church which makes up the heart of the Vatican City.

The filming in Rome kicked off on 19 February 2015, when shooting of the funeral scene began in the EUR district just outside of the city centre, which is covered here. The car chase was filmed at night during the following weeks in February and March.

Bond and Hinx are coming in from Via S. Pio X from the south and continues down Via della Conciliazione, which is the long wide street that leads all the way up to the Vatican from the river Tiber.

St. Peter's Basilica, or St. Peter's Church, is located at Piazza San Pietro which constitutes the south-east corner of the Vatican City. Bond and Hinx are speeding across the piazza and down the street to the right of Bernini's colonnade, the large wing that expands from the Basilica on the right side.

Bond and Hinx are passing one of the biggest churches in the world and S:t Peter's Church is also the most important for the Christian world. It was completed in 1626 and is visible from almost every part of the city.

Bond learns from donna Lucia that the Spectre meeting is taking place at the "Palazzo Cadenza" in Rome. The exterior of the Palazzo Cadenza was actually filmed at Blenheim Palace in the UK. The scenes with Bond driving off from the palace was juxtaposed with the following high speed chase in Rome.

Paleokastritsa - Corfu

As Melina and Gonzales are flying over Corfu, the seaplane passes Corfu town and various parts of the island before arriving at her parents yacht, the MY Triana, from where Melina's father is trying to locate the British spyship. The seaplane is passing over a rocky part of Corfu located somewhere on the coast.

This bay with the two small beaches seen as the seaplane is flying over in the film, is located on the north-western coast of Corfu. The location is called Paleokastritsa and has a few of the best beaches in Corfu. In the very first scene, the seaplane is flying in over Corfu Town, before passing Paleokastritsa bay.

The tail of the plane says "Kerkyra Charter Service"

Gonzales is flying a Cessna U206G Stationair Amphibian seaplane with the text "Kerkyra Charter Service" on the side of the tail. Kerkira is the Greek name for Corfu. Apparently Gonzales is posing as a pilot for some kind air taxi service.

Gonzales and Melina are on their way to Melina's parents aboard the Triana, which is anchored somewhere on the coast. However, the MY Triana is located in the Kalami bay which is located in the north-eastern part of the island. Thus, if flying in over Corfu town, it would not be natural for the seaplane to pass over Paleokastritsa on the way to Kalami, unless there are some kind of limitations on the airspace in the northern part of Corfu, due to the mountain Pantokrator.

The map below illustrates the route of Gonzales' seaplane.

Monte Carlo Harbour - Port Hercule

The warship is located along Quai des Etas-Unis in Port Hercule

In GoldenEye, James Bond goes to Monte Carlo for the first time in the official series. Bond had actually visited Monaco and the French Riviera already in 1983 in the unofficial Never Say Never Again, more on that visit here. The Yacht Manticore is anchored close to the pier of what was then the Monte Carlo Yacht Club, YCM. The warship with the Tiger Helicopter is moored along Quai des Etas-Unis on the other side of the harbour.

In the film, Bond is following Xenia from the casino and finds out that she is spending the night at the yacht Manticore which is anchored in Monte Carlo Harbour called Port Hercule. Bond is watching the yacht from Fort Antoine in the evening and in the morning after, we get a nice panoramic view over the entire harbour. It becomes obvious that there were considerably less boats in Port Hercule in 1995 when you compare it to the harbour 20 years later (see the two pictures above).

You have the best view, and the same view as in the film from the Rampe de la Major, a walking path that leads up to the Prince's Palace which is the home of the Grimaldi family. Originally built as a fortification, the Palace is located on the big rock in the middle of Monaco which offers stunning views from three sides over the principality.

Notice that the right pier in Port Hercule has been expanded since 1995 in order to accommodate larger cruise ships. This construction and the large expansion of the port took place in 2001. As of 2014, the Monaco Yacht Club is no longer located in the old location on the south side of the harbour along Quai Antoine 1er. Instead the new Yacht Club has been relocated across the harbour to the north side. Thus, the original location where Xenia parks the Ferrari does not belong to the Yacht Club anymore.

Menton Motorbike chase - Les rampes Saint-Michel

The motorbike chase in Never Say Never Again, was primarily filmed in and around the village of Menton on the French Riviera. The chase starts in Villefranche-sur-mer, when Fatima Blush kills Bond's ally, agent 326, in the mountainside villa. Bond chases Fatima down the mountain roads and into Menton, which actually is located quite far (approximately 25 km) from Villefranche-sur-mer.

Seen in the background in to the right is the bigger Chapelle de la Conception, facing the square. After driving across the small square with the notable mosaic tiles, 007 speeds down the famous steps called 'les rampes Saint-Michel'.

After driving up the steps behind the church in Menton, covered here earlier, Bond comes down on Place de la Conception in front of the small chapel called Basilique Saint Michel.

During the chase Bond's motorcycle is coming down the steps from both left and right, an obvious blooper. After the last curve on the steps, just above Rue Longe, Fatima Blush is visible in her Renault as she is driving down Rue Longe below the steps.

The steps are facing the water and span from the square, Place de la Conception, all the way down to the beach road called Quai Bonaparte. Rue Longue cuts through the steps before the last part reaches Quai Bonaparte and the shore.

The steps was constructed in 1753 and was extended down from Rue Longue to the Quay Bonaparte in 1941. Facing the steps is l'hôtel Pretti de Saint Ambroise, which together with the Basilique Saint Michel and the Saint Michel steps are cultural monuments. This is of course a must see when visiting the city and not only the historical steps but the entire surroundings of this old part of Menton is beautiful. From here you are only a few minute walk away from several other locations seen in Never.

Bond's motorcycle which is supplied by Q is a Yamaha XJ 650 Turbo. He chases Blush in her Renault 5 Turbo 2.