20 Things You Didn’t Know About Casino Royale (2006)

6. What Sharp Little Eyes You’ve Got!

The Madagascan construction site that James Bond pursues Mollaka through is part of the Royal Bahamas Defence Force Coral Harbour base in Nassau, The Bahamas.

The construction site was actually an incomplete extension to the Coral Harbour Hotel, whose costs ultimately bankrupted the resort. The main building, which dates back to the 1950s, had served as James Bond's hotel in Nassau in Thunderball and its pool area represented the Café Martinique where Double-0 Seven and Domino Derval (Claudine Auger) dined together before she was summoned away by the foghorn of the Disco Volante.

The pool and its surrounds were virtually unrecognisable when they were later transformed into a shantytown for the mongoose and snake fight in Casino Royale.

The Bond filmmakers often returned to the location after Thunderball, most notably to film Derek Meddings’s miniature of The Liparus supertanker from its rooftop for The Spy Who Loved Me (1977). For that production, the derelict shell of the incomplete building also served as a makeshift workshop for building Meddings's memorable miniatures after they had been flown into Nassau from London in pieces.

Contributor

I started writing for WhatCulture in July 2020. I have always enjoyed reading and writing. I have contributed to several short story competitions and I have occasionally been fortunate enough to have my work published. During the COVID-19 lockdown, I also started reviewing films on my Facebook page. Numerous friends and contacts suggested that I should start my own website for reviewing films, but I wanted something a bit more diverse - and so here I am! My interests focus on film and television mainly, but I also occasionally produce articles that venture into other areas as well. In particular, I am a fan of the under appreciated sequel (of which there are many), but I also like the classics and the mainstream too.