The opening sequence with the Lamborghini
was shot in the Italian Alps, the scene
where it exploded in a tunnel was in
a place called Aosta. Peter Collinson's
wife, Hazel had to take their baby to
a lower town as it had caught a fever
in the thin air.
High in the Italian Alps, Col du Petit
St Bernard, was the scene of the Jaguar/Aston
Martin devastation that Croker and his
cockney suffered by the Mafia.
Opening
sequence in the Italian Alps |
The
traffic jam wide shots in Turin wasn't
filled with extras creating a 'Hollywood'
jam, but a real jam with some crew in
the midst of it. One camera crew set
up on one of the tallest building in
Turin, then the canteen van blocked
off one exit from the city, the camera
van the second and the lighting van
the third exit. It was lunch and everyone
was driving home, it caused chaos.
The bullion van then battled through
the traffic followed by the gang in
their Land Rover, driven by actor George
Innes (Bill Bailey) who learned to drive
just for this scene.
Stunt company Havoc, owned by Derek
Ware (Rozzer) supplied the action when
the bullion van was attacked in the
packed piazza although Havoc wasn't
credited.
The
shots where the Cooper's were being
loaded with the bullion was in Palazzo
Carignano and where they drive around
the block and down the stairs was shot
in Palazzo Madama. The local shopkeepers
around Palazzo Carignano weren't happy
as the street had been closed off, so
the production team had to pay off the
local Mafia, who paid off the shopkeepers!
The manager of Palazzo Madama asked
the stunt drivers what was coming into
his Palazzo, he was told a few 'machines',
which translated into Italian could
mean camera... or car, so he was horrified
when three Coopers blazed in as he was
expecting a few large cameras!!! Eventually
the stairway was covered in plywood
to protect the old stone steps.
After
negotiating the steps, the Mini's drove
through an arcade. The original arcade
location had to be abandoned as one
stubborn shopkeeper wanted more money
than everyone else. Eventually the scene
was shot in two arcades. The first being
Galleria dell'Industria, the second
in Galleria San Federico - this was
where the motorcyclist comes off his
bike on the freshly mopped floor.
The
Coopers hide amongst their own |
The
three Coopers hide from the Italian
Police in a large garage forecourt,
by parking next to a set of new Minis
under a big sign which reads 'Innocenti'.
Innocenti was an Italian firm bought
out by BMC who used to assemble Minis
for the continent. Innocenti ultimately
redesigned the Mini bodyshell to look
like something similar to a FIAT Panda.
The
Gran di Dio church steps that the Minis
slide down are right in front of the
weir that they later travel through.
This can be seen quite clearly in the
black and white film Mr. Bridger watches.
However, the Coopers could not have
come from behind the church as in the
film, as it is a dead-end.
The
dome roof sequence was filmed on the
top of Mostre in the Italia 61 Exhibition
Park, central Turin. The slope that
they drove up was specially constructed
for the scene, although some of the
crew had questioned the strength of
the roof, it was a full success.
The
chase on the Fiat rooftop track |
The
track as it is today |
The
racetrack the Coopers end up on is actually
at the top of the famous FIAT factory
in Turin, which was hailed as a triumph
of production-engineering. The whole
building is a giant spiral production
line. Raw materials for the cars would
enter at the bottom of the building
and progress up to the track at the
top, where the finished car would be
tested.
The infamous 'Three Mini' jump was also
filmed at the Turin factory. The three
cars were hoisted up to the one roof,
and Remy Julienne calculated that each
car would have to be moving at 50mph
to do the jump. The street underneath
was disguised by putting tables out
and bunting. Speaking in the Channel
4 documentary, Julienne remembered that
all the FIAT employees turned out as
extras, and all said goodbye to him
because they thought he was going to
be killed.
Cooper
hoisted up on the Fiat roof |
Start
of the 60ft jump |
The
entrance and exits to the sewer sequence
were in Turin, but the actual 'in tunnel'
footage was shot in the Birmingham-Coventry
Tithebarn main sewer located in Stoke
Aldermoor in Coventry, which was under
construction at the time. The Coopers
then had to negotiate the weir on Turin's
River Po.
Negotiating
the Coventry based sewer |
Coopers
on ice in missing scene |
The
infamous 'Blue Danube' missing scene,
where the Coopers gracefully side around
on ice with the Italian police cars
was shot in an exhibition hall in Turin.
Getting
the Coopers onto the coach was shot
on a new piece of unopened motorway
in Turin. Getting them out of the coach
was shot on the Italian side of the
St. Bernard Pass in the Alps, which
was ideal as it has over 20 hairpin
bends!
Eventually
the Herrington coach was left dangling
over a cliff near Ceresole Reale in
the Alps, after Ordnance Survey maps
had been studied as well as flying over
the area, although the 'in coach' shots
were filmed back at Twickenham Studios.
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