Where was this shot?
North Africa, maybe?
shareApparently, only second unit work was done outside California - establishing shots and the like.
Did anyone catch btw where was the majority of the film 'supposed' to be taking place? Thought it was either Istambul or Cairo, but don't recall it having been mentioned.
"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan
The majority of the film supposedly took place in Dammuz, a fictional city in either North Africa or the Middle East.
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Joe Satriani - "Always With Me, Always With You"
https://y2u.be/VI57QHL6ge0
I assumed it was an Imaginary North African city than one in the Middle East.
Its that man again!!
What do you base your assumption on? As far as I remember, the movie doesn't ever tell one way or the other, but it's very well possible that I missed something.
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Joe Satriani - "Always With Me, Always With You"
https://y2u.be/VI57QHL6ge0
The look of the buildings, the European touches, the more cosmopolitan feel suggests more North Africa, of that period, than the Middle East. Also, it seems to be less devout muslim, which reflects more the attitude of of North Africa, in the 60s. Also, the fez tended to be a bit more prominent in North Africa (and Turkey) than the Middle East.
Fortunately, Ah keep mah feathers numbered for just such an emergency!
When I wrote "Middle East", I mainly thought of Turkey (with the possibility of other countries in the Middle East, such as Lebanon), exactly because of the fez. Turkey fits with the settings of other movies of the time, such as From Russia With Love (1963) and Topkapi (1964). I don't know why you would consider those countries as less "cosmopolitan".
Furthermore, I think it's supposed to be a fictional country anyway, with a fictional cultural history. Also, the fact that we didn't see any black people as extras in the background (or at least I don't remember seeing them; I may be wrong) rather favours a Middle East setting than a North-African setting.
That's why I think we cannot narrow it down more than just "North Africa or Middle East".
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Joe Satriani - "Always With Me, Always With You"
http://youtu.be/VI57QHL6ge0
I discount Turkey, mostly because of the market scenes, where there were some in bedouin attire (based on memory). It seems to be Mediterranean, more than Persian Gulf, but with more Arabic than Blakan influence, which is why I favor North Africa over Lebanon or Turkey. It could be an island; but, the bedouins types suggest it is a continental state, with a seacoast. Obviously, there was a great similarity between French Lebanon and French North Africa, especially in the 50s and 60s; and Beirut was a major international playground, before the civil war. However, it still feels more like a Morocco or Tunisia, to me. The film leaves it to the imagination; and, that's more where my imagination takes me.
Fortunately, Ah keep mah feathers numbered for just such an emergency!
According to Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bedouin), the territory of bedouins stretches "from the vast deserts of North Africa to the rocky sands of the Middle East". So I'd say the presence of bedouins in a scene is hardly any indication of the setting of the movie (apart from "somewhere in North Africa or the Middle East").
Judging from the name of the city, Dammuz, it can't really be Morocco or Tunisia, or else it would have been spelled as "Dammouz" or even as "Dammoush". Due to the strong French influence on the (written) language in those regions, the (English) "oo" sound is spelled as "ou" when using the Roman alphabet; while in most of the Middle East (as well as the rest of Asia), the "oo" sound is spelled/transliterated as "u".
The word "Dammuz" suggests a Middle-Eastern origin; it looks like a (made-up) mix of the word "Tammuz" and "Damas". "Tammuz" is the name of a month in the Babylonian calendar or the name of a Babylonian or Sumerian deity; "Damas" is the French name for Damascus, the capital of Syria. By the way, there's also a city called "Damas" in Egypt's Nile Delta.
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tammuz
The antagonist's name is "Shahbandar", which also suggests a Middle-Eastern setting; "shah" is a Persian title, meaning "king" or "master", and "bandar" is a Persian word meaning "port" or "haven"; "shahbandar" is the Persian word for "harbourmaster".
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shahbandar
It's fine if your imagination takes you to the Maghreb, but the OP was looking for an objective answer, not a subjective one. All evidence considered, I think the only feasible conclusion is that the filmmakers left it intentionally open as "somewhere in North Africa or the Middle East".
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Joe Satriani - "Always With Me, Always With You"
http://youtu.be/VI57QHL6ge0