Filming Locations

dr.jones1986

Active member
Stoo said:
This information is FANTASTIC not just for the locations but for the dates. (JuniorJones posted a scan of that page in the "Digital Versions" thread but it was low-res and the text was hard to read.)

Thanks, Moedred, for taking the time to type it out. Saved me much trouble!:hat:

@MDew: I was in Barcelona again this past spring and found some more specific spots. Also few months ago I was in Florence (& Pisa too), and found a couple of locations. Will let you know exactly where when I have more time. Happy Holidays to you!:)
Any others you can share Stoo? I will be going to Europe in a few weeks, including Barcelona and Florence/Pisa. Do you have any areas I could check out other than the obvious ones (major sites and landmarks).
 

Stoo

Well-known member
MDew said:
I just crossed off a big chunk of the "wanted" list.
I also like Demitasse's idea of a sourcebook. What else is on your "wanted list", MDew?
dr.jones1986 said:
Any others you can share Stoo? I will be going to Europe in a few weeks, including Barcelona and Florence/Pisa. Do you have any areas I could check out other than the obvious ones (major sites and landmarks).
There are a few more things that I've been meaning to post in this thread but have been too distracted. MDew has done such a FANTASTIC job and covered a lot of ground but there are some missing spots that I could help him with. Thanks for the reminder...

Suggestions for visiting others areas would be more appropriate for the "Globe-trotting" section. I've always wanted to start a general thread on Italy (and Spain) so maybe now is the right time!:)
 

Stoo

Well-known member
MDew said:
It's a looonnng list: :D
Yeesh, Doctor Dew. I checked out your want list and it is indeed lo-o-o-ong.:eek: While I haven't be able to precisely pin-point anything yet, your photos are very helpful. (Barcelona, Florence, London, Paris and Prague will be my main areas of concentration. Apparently filming was also done in Budapest and I've been there, too.)

In your Paris 1908 want list: "Staircase 2" and "Stairway" are the exact, same place. This is SOMEWHERE in the Montmartre area, leading down from the Sacré-Coeur Basilica, which sits on top of Montmartre. (The REAL location of Au Lapin Agile is on the same hill.) I've found many staircases on Google Maps but nothing that matches...Not yet...;)

A tiny tip for Paris locations: On many of the buildings you can see small blue squares. These are the address numbers. If you have a zoom function on your TV or DVD player you might be able to read them.
Moedred said:
JANUARY 25-26, 1992: Switzerland (Location shoot)
The DVD Press Kit says that shooting was done in Interlaken, Switzerland. I've been to the area a few times and this location could have been used for the opening shots of the Alps for the Northern Italy segments. If that's the case, technically, it's slightly SOUTH of Interlaken somewhere around Lauterbrunnen Valley.

It must be said that MDew's website is EXCEPTIONAL! Truly a class act.:hat:
 

MDew

Member
Stoo said:
Yeesh, Doctor Dew. I checked out your want list and it is indeed lo-o-o-ong.:eek:

That's not even everything, it cut me off at the 500 mark! So basically, if you see a shot in an episode that I haven't posted yet...it's yet to be found.

Stoo said:
In your Paris 1908 want list: "Staircase 2" and "Stairway" are the exact, same place.

Yep, you're right. I forgot to take that off the list - I actually found it and its in Prague, just down the hill from Prague Castle. That's probably why you're having troubles finding it in Paris!

Stoo said:
The DVD Press Kit says that shooting was done in Interlaken, Switzerland.

That is very possible, I've gone through loads of images of the Dolomites trying to find peaks that match with no luck. Switzerland is just right there, so it makes sense. I'd really like to find out about the location for the mountaintop trenches & tunnel because many of those WWI tunnels are open to exploring!

Stoo said:
It must be said that MDew's website is EXCEPTIONAL! Truly a class act.:hat:

Thank you sir, I'm glad to have your help on this!
 

Exulted Unicron

New member
My grandparents live in Spain, not far from Fort Bravo. Next time I'm over there, I'll see if I can get over there. It looks like it might be interesting to visit
 

MDew

Member
Steam Locomotive from Mexico 1916

My brother and I just got back from a whirlwind tour of the Yucatan peninsula - from Mexico to Belize and Guatemala. Wow - what an amazing place! While on his own in Puebla, my brother had a chance to visit the National Museum of Mexican Railroads - so I made sure to have him take a few photos of N de M #1150, seen in "Mexico 1916."

It is an American Locomotive Company (A.L.C.O.) Baldwin GR-20 put in service in 1921 for the Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México.









Now what baffles me is that the episode was filmed in Almeria, Spain and somehow this thing ended up in Mexico...:confused: It's extremely hard to find any information about its history or the restoration work, but obviously if it's the same one it's been repainted since. I suppose there could be another similar engine in Spain that they could have repainted and used for the show, but why?

1323703594_70.jpg
 

Stoo

Well-known member
MDew said:
My brother and I just got back from a whirlwind tour of the Yucatan peninsula - from Mexico to Belize and Guatemala. Wow - what an amazing place!
Sounds like a great trip, MDew!(y) Did you go to Tikal National Park? One of my uncles actually moved to Guatemala years ago and I've always wanted to go visit. (I've also wondered how people in Belize would react if you referred to their country as the British Honduras.)
MDew said:
Now what baffles me is that the episode was filmed in Almeria, Spain and somehow this thing ended up in Mexico...:confused: It's extremely hard to find any information about its history or the restoration work, but obviously if it's the same one it's been repainted since. I suppose there could be another similar engine in Spain that they could have repainted and used for the show, but why?
I can answer this. The reason is because the shots of the locomotive & train were taken from the 1989 film, "Old Gringo", which was filmed in Mexico. It appears that the Young Indy crew in Spain only had 2 flatcars made up to match the footage (Remy's costume was made to match, too). Watch the sequence and you'll see that the principal actors are never seen in any shots with the locomotive nor the rest of the train.

I wrote about it briefly in the 1st post of this thread: References to other films/TV shows in YI.

One of these days I'm going to upload the "Old Gringo" sequence to YouTube. Some people may be shocked to find out how much footage was borrowed from it!:eek:
 

MDew

Member
Stoo said:
Sounds like a great trip, MDew!(y) Did you go to Tikal National Park? One of my uncles actually moved to Guatemala years ago and I've always wanted to go visit. (I've also wondered how people in Belize would react if you referred to their country as the British Honduras.)

Yeah Tikal was our main reason for going to Guatemala and it was probably my favorite place we saw, although it was quite the adventure just getting there. We got there right in the morning and it felt a bit like an Indy adventure wandering through the jungle with spider monkeys, coatimundis, parrots and toucans in the trees above us.


Stoo said:
I can answer this. The reason is because the shots of the locomotive & train were taken from the 1989 film, "Old Gringo", which was filmed in Mexico. It appears that the Young Indy crew in Spain only had 2 flatcars made up to match the footage (Remy's costume was made to match, too). Watch the sequence and you'll see that the principal actors are never seen in any shots with the locomotive nor the rest of the train.

I wrote about it briefly in the 1st post of this thread: References to other films/TV shows in YI.
Interesting, I can't believe I missed that. Now that you point that out, that would explain some of the inconsistencies I'd noticed in those scenes. I'll definitely have to track down Old Gringo now. Thanks Stoo!
 

Stoo

Well-known member
Very enjoyable article, MDew.:hat: It's a real kick to be contacted by people who were part of the show (a few have written me, too) and those photos Bridget sent you are really special. How kind of her to do that.

So Lamu, Kenya stood in for Cairo, eh? Nice discovery.

Something to add is that the shot of the Europeans getting off the boat was also used in the original broadcast of "British East Africa" which, of course, is modern-day Kenya. (Unfortunately, the entire arrival sequence is cut from the "Passion For Life" DVD). Although the specific port is never mentioned, I've always imagined it being Mombasa but, hey, it could've been Lamu!:)
 

Stoo

Well-known member
MDew, after fully investigating your BRILLIANT webpages for "Vienna, November 1908" and "Austria, March 1917" (and the 'Missing in Action' pages for both Vienna - M.I.A. and Austria - M.I.A.), I'm quite confident that...

The only filming in Vienna seems to have been done by 2nd unit for establishing shots at the beginning & midway points of the episodes. Notice that there are NEVER any shots of Corey & SPF actually in the real Vienna. (My guess it that the ice-skating pond is probably somewhere in the Czech Republic, as all of Corey's other parts seem to be.)

My Vienna trip wasn't a total bust, though, because I uncovered some interesting information!(y)

The famous, Viennese Giant Wheel (Wiener Riesenrad) in Prater Park was digitally composited into both of those 2 aforementioned episodes. The Prater amusement park suffered a great fire during WW2 and the ferris wheel was destroyed along with several other rides. It was rebuilt c.1945 but this 'new' (present) version has only 15 carriages instead of the former 30. Upon learning about this fact from my trip, I immediately wanted to check out Young Indy again. SURE ENOUGH, the MASTERS at ILM presented the ferris wheel in all it's pre-1945 glory, with the original number of 30 carriages. Bravo!:hat:

The wheel has obviously been digitally inserted into these shots from the show on the left.

ViennaFerrisWheel_Comparison_zps5dff83d1.jpg


These shots last only a matter of seconds, yet the filmmakers went out of their way to make them look authentic. (That's cool in my books.) My love for this show is BIG but certain things keeps pushing that love into overdrive and this is the most recent example. (Another similar one is when I found out that ILM depicted Barcelona's Sagrada Familia under construction in 1917.)

The show's attention to background detail never ceases to amaze me!(y)
 
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MDew

Member
Nice work Stoo! I'm totally jealous of your globetrotting adventures. I concur that the only Vienna filming appears to be by 2nd unit, seems to be the case with many of the locations in the show. You could tell they tried to keep the main unit as central to the Prague area as possible - probably not only from a cost-saving perspective but also I'm sure the logistics of filming around certain landmark sites & the fact that the surrounding areas have altered so much over the years.

I too am always impressed with the level of detailed research that went into this show. They really did their homework! :hat:
 
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