Schönbrunn Palace - Part 3

 As Bond and Kara pass the Schönbrunn Palace they witness a dancing competition or a demonstration of the Viennese Waltz to the tunes of Johann Strauss Jr's waltz Op. 333 titled "Wine, women and song". This piece of music was composed by Strauss Jr. in 1869 and the title was drawn from the old adage: "Who loves not wine, women and song remains a fool his whole life long". This adage is probably a subtle nod to Bond who has enjoyed all three on numerous occasions over the years.

They ride through the garden in front of the palace only to arrive at their hotel located in another part of Vienna in the next scene. In the film the orchestra was located on the balcony above the dance floor. You can still recognize the characteristic green window shutters on the palace. The palace is of course open to the public and you can expect a great number tourists in the garden. 

The dance floor was created right in front of the palace facing the garden. Bond and Kara arrive from Obeliskenalle and continue down Lichte Allee in front of the palace. It is a shame that the outdoor scenes at Schönbrunn only last a minute or two. The full exterior of the rear side of the palace is never shown. During the end credits, the front exterior is pictured. Bond is visiting the palace on two further occasions in the film. He and Kara are attending the opera in the Schlossteater, and later Bond secretly attends Kara's ending performance in the same venue.

Seen on the other side of the palace garden, on a hill, is the Gloriette. This 18th century structure was erected during the reign of Emperor Joseph II and Empress Maria Theresa and functioned as a lookout point for the garden as well as a dining hall.

The Gloriette was built in 1775 and as well as being a festival hall it was the breakfast room for Emperor Franz Joseph I. The dining room, located in the middle of the gloriette, today houses a café. On the roof is an observation floor overlooking the garden and the city of Vienna. The view over the Palace and the garden is spectacular. Needless to say, if you are visiting Schönbrunn the Gloriette is a perfect place to stop for lunch.

Schönbrunn Palace, part 2 - The Palace Garden

In The Living Daylights Bond and Kara ride through Vienna in a horse carriage. On the way to their hotel, Im Palais Schwarzenberg, they pass the former summer palace of the Austrian Imperial family and the most famous tourist attraction in Vienna, the Schönbrunn Palace. Even though you never see the full exterior of the back side of the palace when they ride past it, the front exterior is pictured during the end credits.

Obeliskenallee

Bond's horse carriage arrive through the Obeliskenallee in the garden and continue on the Lichte Allee in front of the palace. Bond and Kara would return to Schönbrunn later the same evening to attend the opera performance of Le Nozze di Figaro which was filmed at the Schönbrunn Palace theater, the 'Schlossteater'. 

Schönbrunn Palace is definitely one of the most beautiful Bond locations in Vienna and a memorable experience. You have the best view over the palace and garden from the hill where the 'Gloriette' is located. Schönbrunn is one of the most important cultural monuments in Austria and apparently the palace and garden illustrate the tastes, interests and aspirations of successive Habsburg monarchs. Needless to say, a visit is a must when you travel to Vienna.

Today is Timothy Dalton's birthday and different sources claim that he was born either in 1944 or 1946. Why his birth year is unknown is not clear to me. 

Regardless of the fact that you do not want to be associated with the role, The Living Daylights is a solid Bond film that certainly belongs in the top ten list. Either way,

Happy Birthday Timothy

Noble House: Macau

In the third episode of Noble House, starring Pierce Brosnan, Ian Dunross and Miss Casey make a trip to Macau when Dunross needs to speak with Lando Mata, a Portuguese born in Macau who controls the gambling concession. Lando sends his Rolls Royce to pick up Dunross and Casey. They pass a few famous landmarks in the city of Macau on the way to Lando's home.

Briefly seen is the ruin of St. Paul's, a 17th century Portuguese cathedral located in one of the oldest parts of Macau. The ruin was once part of a 16th century complex including of what was originally St. Paul's college and the cathedral. Finished in 1602 St. Paul's was one of the biggest catholic churches in Asia. The cathedral was destroyed by a fire during a typhoon in 1835 and the facade was the only thing that survived.

The Rolls Royce is also driving past Casino Lisboa in the center of Macau. Casey thinks she's in Las Vegas and Dunross points out that the gentlemen in Las Vegas probably could learn a thing or two from Macau. The Casino Lisboa is one of the most famous hotel casinos in Macau and the round hotel tower seen in Noble House was built in the 1970's by Stanley Ho. In competition with Wynn Macau, a big extension was added to Casino Lisboa in 2006, the Grand Lisboa.

Lando Mata's house was not located in Macau, these scenes were filmed on the south side of Hong Kong Island. But an interesting Bond reference in Noble House is the fact that Dunross and Casey visit the floating Macau Palace casino. The same casino Bond visits in The Man with the Golden Gun. 

The Grand Lisboa and the original Casino Lisboa from Noble House to the right.

Macau was the last remaining European colony in Asia when Portugal handed it over to the Peoples Republic of China in 1999. Dunross tells Casey that the Portuguese had tried to give Macau back already in 1974 but that the Peoples Republic had refused to accept it then.

A street in Bratislava

In The Living Daylights Kara takes the tram back home from the conservatoire after her afternoon practice concert. The tram is passing a street crossing somewhere in "Bratislava". Bond watches her on the tram before they arrive at Kara's apartment, where she is abducted by the KGB.

This establishing shot was filmed along the tram track 9 in Vienna. The particular street crossing can be found at the intersection between Hormayrgasse and Leopold Ernst-Gasse in the western part of Vienna. In the film, the tram number 9 is briefly visible. The tram line 9 is still running past this location today. Not much else can be said about this place except that it is still very recognisable.

A ''Einbahn'' (one way) sign can be seen to the right and it gives away this location not to be set in Bratislava.

Noble House: The Dragon Garden

The same view as seen in The Man with the Golden Gun

Today, Monday 24th of February, is a special day that marks the addition of Noble House to the blog. In 1988 Pierce Brosnan starred in a TV miniseries based on a novel by James Clavell called Noble House. The original story is set to take place in Hong Kong in 1963 but the storyline in the television series has been updated to the late 1980's. Brosnan portrays the main character Ian Dunross Struan, who is Tai Pan (supreme leader) of Struan's, the biggest and oldest of the British East Asia trading companies in Hong Kong. The most powerful company in Hong Kong is called the "Noble House", a title that Struan's has possessed for decades. The evil Quillan Gornt, head of the company Rothwell-Gornt, is trying to destroy Struan's in order to become the Noble House.

A lot of old Bond locations appear in the series and besides Mr Bond himself, a few familiar faces from the Bond series have leading roles. The most distinctive Bond location seen in Noble House is The Dragon Garden in Hong Kong. Starting with this post I will cover a few of the Hong Kong and Macau locations from the series.

When John Chen is kidnapped and Dunross is summoned to Philip Chen's house he walks through Chen's garden. The location is immediately recognisable from The Man With the Golden Gun where the Dragon Garden was the estate belonging to the villain Hai Fat (supposedly located in Bangkok). Some interior scenes were also filmed on location in Noble House and Chen's living room is probably the same room as where the killing of Hai Fat was filmed in Golden Gun.

In Noble House Brosnan is walking down the same path as Sir Roger had done 15 years earlier. The exterior of the main building however did not feature as prominently in Golden Gun as it did in Noble House. When Dunross is shown into the house for the meeting with Chen and the Chief Inspector of the Royal Hong Kong Police you get a good look at the exterior.

The facade today has not changed notably since 1988 and Brosnan's visit.

Later in the first episode, Phillip Chen runs down in the garden. The same bridge that Hai Fat walks across in Golden Gun (covered here) can then be seen.

The entrance to the garden with the characteristic red doors can also be seen in the first episode of Noble House. John Chen is climbing over the wall into his parents' garden and the inside is then visible. The same doors can of course be seen in The Man With the Golden Gun (also covered earlier).

Today the front doors and the wall have been renovated and probably moved back, since the main road that runs alongside the garden has been widened. But the distinctive red doors can still be found at the entrance.

The Dragon Garden entrance in 2012.

Sir Roger in The Man With the Golden Gun 1974

The first compradore of the Noble House, Philip Chen, is played by non other than Burt Kwouk. Kwouk's connection with the Bond series started in Goldfinger when he played the Chinese villain Mr Ling, and continued in You Only Live Twice where he played one of the Spectre agents in Blofeld's volcano. Kwouk is perhaps most known for his role as Cato, the butler of Chief Inspector Clouseau in the Pink Panther.

The "bad guy" in the series, trying to overthrow the Noble House by selling short the Struan stock, is Quillan Gornt. He is played by John Rhys-Davies, who of course is familiar from The Living Daylights where he played Russian General Pushkin a year before Noble House.

The miniseries appears to have a fairly high budget and is well worth watching. The soundtrack is very memorable and the locations are a pleasure to watch. Overall the performances of the main cast is very good (Brosnan is always very entertaining) and the story has a lot of surprises. It is a must see for any Bond fan and it is also a veritable promo for Hong Kong as a tourist destination.