MovieChat Forums > Nicholas and Alexandra (1971) Discussion > Filming Locations

Filming Locations

posted 14 years ago by badischl
14 replies | jump to latest

When I looked up the filming locations on imdb, it looks as though the film was predominantly shot in Yugoslavia, with the beach scenes shot in Spain. However, some of the exteriors in the film looked very real. Especially the 1905 massacre outside the Winter Palace as well as some of the interiors. Does anyone know if any filming was actually done at any of the real locations in Russia or were they all sets built in yugoslavia? This is something that I've always wondered everytime I watch this wonderful film and there doesn't seem to be any factual information online. Thanks in advance!

[–] jdcofield 14 years ago

None of the filming was done in the Soviet Union. The Escorial Palace in Madrid was used for the scene at the start of World War I, when the Tsar and his family review the troops from the Winter Palace. Most of the interiors were done on stage sets.

[–] eolloe 11 years ago

Yes, according to this interview with one of the actors, a good part of it was filmed in Madrid.
http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/features/columnists/latest/8888374.Ts ar_for_a_day/

[–] Hancock_the_Superb 14 years ago

Carlo Ponti asked the Soviet government for permission to film Doctor Zhivago in the USSR and got a flat-out refusal. I doubt Spiegel even tried.

"Shoot straight, you bastards! Don't make a mess of it!

[–] 14 years ago

[deleted]

[–] John-367 14 years ago

For what it's worth, the publicity for The Blue Bird (1976) claimed that it was the first (partly) Western film to shoot in the USSR.

[–] Jordan_Haelend 12 years ago

This is true. Jane Fonda starred and the lead Soviet cameraman, Gricius, remarked that he never would have believed "that I'd hear Lenin quoted to me by an American!"

"An Archer is known by his aim, not by his arrows."
-Li Chen-Sung (Richard Loo) The Outer Limits

[–] HijodelCid 10 years ago

What did you expect from the Hanoi Jane lady?
God is subtle, but He is not malicious. (Albert Einstein)

[–] Jordan_Haelend 10 years ago

Absolutely nothing else.

"An Archer is known by his aim, not by his arrows."
-Li Chen-Sung (Richard Loo) The Outer Limits

[–] Rueiro 10 years ago

Most of the exteriors were shot in Spain. The Aranjuez Palace near Madrid is easily recognizable as the Winter Palace, the Costa Brava stands for the Crimea and the train trip to Siberia was shot in the Castilian plain.

[–] John-367 8 years ago

Some of the more minor exteriors were shot in and around Pinewood Studios. A woodland by a lake is in Black Park, next door to Pinewood and an ornamental bridge over a lake and the surrounding garden are in the grounds of the studio. Both of these locations have been in a multitude of film and TV productions.

[–] rrb_1 8 years ago

If the massacre at the Winter Palace was shot outside of Madrid, how did they get all the snow?

[–] palisade-1 8 years ago

how did they get all the snow?

They had the same problem when they filmed Doctor Zhivago (the DOP on Nicholas and Alexandra was the same person; likely others in the crew were as well, but Freddie Young would certainly have known how they got those effects in Doctor Zhivago).In DZ they used marble dust; other options in those days included spray-painted breakfast cereals and tiny balls of polymer plastic.

Here are two articles on how movie-makers produce fake snow:

http://www.popularmechanics.com/culture/movies/g1092/snow-job-how-hollywood-fakes-winter-on-film/?

http://wonderfulengineering.com/this-is-how-they-create-snow-in-movies/

[–] Rueiro 8 years ago

I don't know about what the climate over there is like on these days of global warming and all that crap, but it used to snow in Madrid in winter. Not all of Spain is like Costa del Sol.

[–] rrb_1 8 years ago

Snowfalls in Madrid, when they happen, are rare - and nothing like the heavy snows shown in the Bloody Sunday scene.