All eyes are currently on the diamond-encrusted principality of Monaco for the world-famous Rallye Monte Carlo, a race so auspicious in a setting so cool that it’s been inspiring creative types for decades.
Having celebrated its 100-year anniversary in 2011 and back on the WRC roster for the first time since 2008, we’re celebrating the super-rich rally by taking a look back at some of Monte Carlo’s greatest ever movie appearances…
GoldenEye
The millionaire’s playground (and particularly the casinos that deal baccarat) has welcomed the super-suave British secret agent, James Bond, on more than one occasion (check out the likes of Never Say Never Again and Casino Royale), but never have the superior surroundings and eyebrow-raising dialogue combined to greater success than in Martin Campbell’s spectacular shaken-not-stirred spy thriller. 007’s brief stay in Monte Carlo sees him taking down the particulars of an attractive bureaucrat, getting tongue tied with a saucily-monikered baddie and subsequently losing control of his top-secret chopper – no wonder he keeps returning for more.
To Catch A Thief
Life sadly imitated art for Grace Kelly – the famed Hollywood actress and later Princess of Monaco – when she filmed this cracking Hitchcock crime caper about a Riviera-residing gentleman burglar (Cary Grant) called out of retirement to track down a copycat criminal. One scene in which Kelly’s American tourist drives her car dangerously fast along the winding roads above Monte Carlo foreshadows her eventual real-life demise in 1982 when she died following a crash on those self-same treacherous roads.
Herbie Goes To Monte Carlo
Eschewing the opportunity to go all Christine on Dean Jones’ ass for his third adventure, the sentient 1963 Volkswagen Beetle instead decamps to Monte Carlo for some family friendly race-based mayhem. The Love Bug ends up in Monaco at the denouement of the fictional Trans-France Race from Paris to Monte Carlo having travelled hundreds of miles, bamboozled a pair of nasty jewel thieves, faced-off against stereotypical German and French rivals and found time to fall in love with a sexy Lancia called Giselle – and all on 36mpg!
Grand Prix
Fittingly for a venue that attracts the great and the good from across the globe, this Monte Carlo-set movie from 1966 features more big names and beauties than your average Oscars ceremony. James Garner, Eva Marie Saint, Yves Montand, Antonio Sabato and Toshirô Mifune all pop up in John Frankenheimer’s 1966 flick about a F1 season seen through the eyes of four different drivers. Featuring some awesome racing footage (thanks to contributions from the likes of 1961 world champ Phil Hill) and a lot of lovely aerial shots, this terrific tale captures all the excitement and nail-biting thrills of a real-life GP at the Circuit de Monaco.
Iron Man 2
Now, before any of you geeks out there get all pedantic, we do actually know that a fair amount of the Monte Carlo-set action from the smash-hit Marvel sequel wasn’t actually filmed on location - but enough cool stuff was, so there! Rumour has it that the violent showdown between old Shellhead (Robert Downey, Jr.) and Whiplash (Mickey Rourke), as seen below, had to be filmed in the parking lot of Downey Studios after Bernie Ecclestone retracted his permission to film on the official F1 track prior to the 2009 Monaco Grand Prix. While Bernie’s decision threw a spanner in the works for that particular set piece, RDJ as Tony Stark did at least get to strut his stuff in Monte Carlo when he rocked up in a Rolls Royce Phantom - the ultimate playboy in the ultimate playground, now that’s living the dream.
Monte Carlo Or Bust!
In the fine tradition of the It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World-style road race capers that were de rigueur in the Sixties, this European take on the formula saw the likes of Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Tony Curtis, Terry-Thomas, Jack Hawkins and loads of other people your dad will remember partaking in an epic car rally across Europe and ending up in the titular city. A sequel to the similarly-themed Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines (Monte Carlo Or Bust! was released as the rather more descriptive Those Daring Young Men in Their Jaunty Jalopies in the US), it’s not a particularly great film but it’s hard not to get caught up in all the barmy shenanigans, especially when the beautiful Monaco is the goal this ragtag collective of racers are fighting to reach first.
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