GOLDFINGER Miami Hotel Fountainebleau Visit

Gebruder Gumbold

Cheers Fellow Collectors!
Wonderful visit to the Fountainebleau Hotel in Miami.
It's not the same as in the good old days of Goldfinger, but still a definite stop for all of us Bond aficionados.
My lovely and patient girlfriend Amanda used to live and work near the hotel, and recalls seeing the diving board, skating rink, and underground jungle as a youngster.

I do want to share with you all the emotion that I felt, after watching GF for 40 years, and finally seeing the Fountainebleau, was a thrill. Brought my Ipod to play "Into Miami" while on the premises. Miss you, John Barry...
Oh, and South Beach was another fun time, with the Art Deco bulidings, and beautiful people everywhere!
Tried to capture the Goldfinger camera angles, hope you all enjoy... B&W shots are from the lobby. Amanda tried to double as Dink, however those cabanas are gone....

Gebruder Gumbold

Oh, forgot to add...Saw a plane towing a banner for some local car dealer. Ddin't say "Welcome to Miami," but as I was humming Into Miami, it was a fitting introduction to the Fountainebleau.
We paid $7.14 for a bottle of water, and our bar tab was around $55 for two vodka martinis....stirred not shaken, correct?
In the lobby, there are some lovely B&W shots of GF, and some Martin and Lewis clowning on the diving board for a charity event in the early 1960's. Lewis was in a striped 1920's bathing suit..very funny.
Still has the vibe of a first class hotel. We toured around for about 3 hours after seeing the Dezer collection, which i will post later...then it was on to South Beach.
Cheers,
GG

Thunderpussy

Looked a fun trip. -{ love the photos.

Strangeways

Awesome! I love Miami. When I visited South Beach a few years back I didn't get to see the Fountainebleu as it was being renovated to the way it appears now. Such a shame that a major piece of 007 history has now effectively gone. Odd to think though that neither Sean C nor Gert F actually filmed any scenes in Miami, they were all recreated on sets at Pinewood!

AlphaOmegaSin

Would like to visit Miami one Day, shame it had a Reputation back in the 80's though.

PoorMansJB

Sadly, save for the exterior of the main building, there's not alot of Goldfinger elements left at the Fountainebleau. When I was there a couple decades back I asked about the skating rink or the bar that looked into the pool and the staff acted like I was nuts.

Thunderpussy

) they must of thought " not another Bond nut "

PoorMansJB

Thunderpussy wrote:

) they must of thought " not another Bond nut "

No, they had ZERO idea of what I was asking about.

Some places clearly understand what's up and relish it (like the mortuary in Vegas) and some don't (like the Broadgate building in London.

Gebruder Gumbold

That is so true.
Had to bluff my way in to the College of Arms, and they were a bit irritated with two Trilby clad Americans trying to reenact an OHMSS scene.
The Fountainebleau, at least, has some glorious photos in the lobby- kind of out of the way, though. Nobody working there over 35, as in most Miami establishments, especially on the South Beach strip.
I felt really old and out of shape in SB.
Even the wonderful Mr. Williams at the bauxite mine relishes the Bond history, although he admitted that he hadn't seen all of the films.
ps What significance is the Broadgate Building in London? Universal Exports??

Higgins

PoorMansJB wrote:

Sadly, save for the exterior of the main building, there's not alot of Goldfinger elements left at the Fountainebleau. When I was there a couple decades back I asked about the skating rink or the bar that looked into the pool and the staff acted like I was nuts.

Do you have pics from that visit, Alan?

Charmed & Dangerous

Gebruder Gumbold wrote:

That is so true.
Had to bluff my way in to the College of Arms, and they were a bit irritated with two Trilby clad Americans trying to reenact an OHMSS scene.
The Fountainebleau, at least, has some glorious photos in the lobby- kind of out of the way, though. Nobody working there over 35, as in most Miami establishments, especially on the South Beach strip.
I felt really old and out of shape in SB.
Even the wonderful Mr. Williams at the bauxite mine relishes the Bond history, although he admitted that he hadn't seen all of the films.
ps What significance is the Broadgate Building in London? Universal Exports??

The Broadgate building in London was used to double for the skyscraper in Singapore in Skyfall where Patrice and Bond have the fight culminating in the former's fall to his death. I visited there last winter and took a couple of photos:
http://www.ajb007.co.uk/topic/43063/shanghai-hotel-from-skyfall-found-in-london/


PoormansJB was right. One or two of the security guards I spoke with knew it had been used in films but didn't realise that Skyfall had been filmed there.

PoorMansJB

Gebruder Gumbold wrote:

Had to bluff my way in to the College of Arms ...
What significance is the Broadgate Building in London? Universal Exports??

You mean bluffed your way past the desk? When I was there a few months ago the receptionist was all too prepared to chat with me about their Bond connection, pointed out the novel, script pages, etc.

Charmed and Dangerous answered about Broadgate; both the interior and exterior were used for SF (although the interior eventually switches over to a set).

Gebruder Gumbold

College of Arms> the old lady there seemed put off that anyone would ring the bell! This was May of 2008.
So, I had rung the day before, after looking at a series of names of the Heralds. Found one listed as "on sabbatical," and stated that we had an appointment, and I came out all this way...
Got us in, and were let take as many photos as we dared....
Great fun, went to Lock's after

Bond Collectors' Weekends

I'll do a Miami group trip anytime, particularly to escort pals coming from across the pond. I've led 4 group excursions there and there about one dozen Bond stops on the tour.