Boys from Brazil, The

The first shot after the opening credits shows Belém, the most southwestern district of Lisbon, with the then level crossing just next to the suburban station of the private Cais do Sodré to Cascais railway. The broad gauge train, consists of Electric Multiple Units made of stainless steel, were first built in 1950 by the British Cravens and later in 1959 and 1970 by the Portuguese Sorefame.

Obviously Portugal stands in for the South American country, where the film mainly takes place in the first half. Coming from Avenida Brasilia the 1969 Mercedes Benz 230 long version crosses the Avenida India heading for Praça Alfonso de Albuquerque. In the distance the Belém lighthouse can be recognized.

This view shows that the grade crossing has been removed. Image copyright Google.

Somewhere in the capital Asunción, Walter Gotell as former SS-Hauptsturmführer Gerhard Mundt has lunch in the German style street cafe "Heidelberg", as the Mercedes is stopping nearby him. Still at Lisbon with the partly visible Picadeiro Real behind and the Palácio Nacional de Belém in the very background. Actually the "Heidelberg" was a set decoration, situated close to the northeastern corner of the Jardim Alfonso de Albuquerque.

After Barry Kohler has watched Mundt get into the German limousine, the young Nazi hunter runs to his rickety delivery van in order to be able to pursuit the Mercedes-Benz. The 1960 Morris J4 is parking around the corner of Praça Alfonso de Albuquerque and Rua da Junqueira. The building on the right edge was torned down in 2010 because of the completly new built Museu Nacional dos Coches.

Seems like an improvised bullring on the banks of the Río de la Plata outside Asunción during a fiesta. However, we are still in Portugal, more accurate in the Setúbal District, and we see the later beach called Praia Fluvial at Rosário, at that time a hamlet in the parish Gaio-Rosário.

The mysterious black limousine drives down the then unpaved Largo das Forças Armadas in Rosário.

The colouring of the buildings has hardly changed. Image copyright Google.

At the same time Barry Kohler, who had previously taken a dirt road, arrives from the other side and parks his van behind the carousel at the point where the Restaurante Baía Tejo is now situated.

While in the background the chapel called Ermida de Nossa Senhora do Rosário from 1532 can be recognized, Georg Marischka as Gunther picks up two young but willing and unscrupulous neo-Nazis. First he asks Arnold Schwimmer (Wolf Kahler) to come with him to the car . . .

A clearer view of the background now. Image copyright Google.

. . . and also Dietrich Hessen (Sky du Mont), while the scene being inconspicuously observed by Kohler.

Steve Guttenberg in his acting debut as the young Jewish Nazi hunter is waiting next to the doorway of the Mercado de Santa Clara until the short convoy of the Military Police, which is sweeping up the slope of Campo de Santa Clara in the Alfama district with sirens howl, has passed the square in front of the market hall. Above in the left corner the greenery of the Botto Machado Garden is visible.

The camera pans across the square towards the corner with the Rua da Verónica, while Barry is watching the meeting of the Germans in front of the camera shop, owned by former SS Sturmbannführer Ludwig Trausteiner (Carl Duering).

There's little change at this location. Image copyright Google.

After Barry has seen enough, he makes his way thoughtfully back to the parking lot behind the Mercado de Santa Clara.

Palacete Mendonça, now located at Rua Marquês da Fronteira 18, stands in for the stately Asunción residence of Gunther. It seems, that the wealthy business man with excellent connections to the Military Junta is a servile supporter of the SS Comrades Organization, more known by the German acronym ODESSA. While behind a McDonnell Douglas DC-10 from the Dutch KLM is approaching Lisbon airport, Barry observes the sprawling property from the roadside, pretending to have a car breakdown. The remarkable building was later also used for all interior shots during the conspiratorial meeting, leading by Dr. Mengele.

Barry learns from Ismael, the very young errand boy who usually lives in the slums, that the Mercedes limousine is on its way to the airport and follows them immediately. From the spectator terrace of what was then Lisbon-Portela Airport, he makes some close ups of Eduard Seibert, who instructs Gunther on the runway before boarding the private jet. Two different types of Boeing 707 planes (from the Brazilian VARIG and the Portuguese TAP) can be seen in the background.

During night time Barry returns to Trausteiner's store, in reality located at Campo de Santa Clara 138, and gains surreptitiously access to the photo lab. There he finds freshly made passport photos for the six Germans and takes pictures of them.

Indeed Vienna, because we see the L4 type tram car N° 588 (built in 1961 by Simmering-Graz-Pauker) of the Wiener Verkehrsbetriebe heading for Nussdorf. Looking along Schottenring, as section of the Ringstrasse, towards the Schottentor square.

The camera pans together with the street-car until the Deutschmeisterplatz comes into view across the boulevard, where the Deutschmeister monument from 1906 can be seen in the middle of the square. The tower in the centre background belongs to the castle-like Rossauer Barracks.

In my opinion, there is no official Tram stop at this spot of Schottenring, because of the lack of a passenger platform of any style. Image copyright Google.

David Hurst as the quite upset caretaker Strasser has positioned himself at the doorway to the residence Neutorgasse 15, located in Vienna's 1st district, in anticipation of a very particular tenant, living at the 1st floor.

Approaching from the corner of Neutorgasse and Zelinkagasse, the person in question turns out to be famed Ezra Liebermann, founder and owner of the Jewish Documentation Center. In the background on the left we can see the Palais Sturany, located at Schottenring 21.

Lilli Palmer as Liebermann's resolute sister Esther continues to argue with Strasser after handing the phone over to Ezra, because a certain Barry Kohler calling from Paraguay is still on the line. It seems that the 1st floor of the property at Neutorgasse 15 could actually be used for filming, as the view through the window towards Zelinkagasse does not show a backdrop.

Barry is sitting on the phone in the main post office in Asunción and excitedly reports to Liebermann about his strange observations about the Nazis. In reality, one of Lisbon's main squares, called Praça do Comércio, can be seen partly in the background from the corner with Rua do Arsenal.

This is an unobstructed view beyond the window. Image copyright Google.

Laurence Olivier plays the elder Nazi hunter (of course based on Simon Wiesenthal, 1908 - 2005), who initially shows little interest and tells Kohler to refrain from further research and ideally take the next plane to the USA. Looking through the window behind shows in the distance the intersection of Zelinkagasse with the Franz-Josef-Kai along the Danube canal.

Barry succeeds in overhearing the conference with the help of a self-made mini-transmitter. When the transmitter, placed by meanwhile befriended Ismael (Raul Faustino Saldanha), is discovered accidentally, Barry escapes from the grounds of the villa and boards his Morris parked nearby. By the way, the Juan E. O'Leary street sign is again one of those cleverly placed movie props by Production Designer Gil Parrondo.

On the way back to the hotel, Barry's delivery van curves around a monument during its frenzied drive through the city. In fact we see the nightly Campo dos Mártires da Pátria, with the statue of Dr. Sousa Martins in the square's centre and the UNL Faculty of Medical Sciences behind.

The Morris delivery van takes the driveway to the Hotel Flamingo. However, Barry does not yet know that Dr. Mengele and his henchmen have already started the chase, thanks to poor Ismael, and that he will not survive the night. The view from Avenida da Liberdade towards the original building of the Hotel Tivoli, opened in 1933, and completely decorated as the fictional "Flamingo" by Set Designer Vernon Dixon for the film so that the interior shots can also be made.

Liebermann feels compelled to investigate the alleged Nazi conspiracy, because of the photographic documents received from Barry Kohler and the mysterious last phone call with him. The almost new 1976 Steyr City-Bus of the Wiener Verkehrsbetriebe takes the ageing Nazi hunter to Am Graben, which is now a pedestrian zone in the city centre, in order to visit the Reuters news agency.

Denholm Elliott as Sidney Beynon, Head of Agency, is not really amused when he is intercepted by Liebermann on his way to lunch. Just around the corner, looking along the Kohlmarkt towards Michaelerplatz, where the cupola of the so called Michaelertrakt, the northern facade of the former principal imperial palace, the Hofburg, can be recognized.

The same street. Image copyright Google.

By no means Gladbeck, in the district of Recklinghausen, North Rhine-Westphalia, because the town has only a small railway station and two stops with regional traffic. In fact we see the goods yard and sidings of Vienna's Westbahnhof, looking from the Rustensteg pedestrian bridge towards the Schmelzbrücke.

Former SS Hauptsturmführer Farnbach (Günter Meisner), another member of Mengele's killer squad, has the first victim in his sights. After the daily visit to the local pub, tipsy railway official Doring (Richard Marner) tries to grope the Loreley waitress. Looking from the northern end of the Rustensteg towards the corner of Felberstrasse and Holochergasse, located in Vienna's 15th district.

The building is no more. Image copyright Google.

As Doring makes his way home on his moped, Farnbach gets into his 1971 BMW 2500 and drives after him. The building on the corner, which stands in for the Loreley pub, was demolished at some point later, which is why the property is still empty today, but now heavily overgrown.

Just left the underpass of Deutschordenstrasse near the then suburban station Hütteldorf-Hacking, situated in the 14th district and now called Wien Hütteldorf, Doring has no idea that he only has a few minutes to live.

Somewhere in the Brazilian state Mato Grosso: The view from Dr. Mengele's laboratory shows the poor huts for the natives on the river bank and the jetty with the seaplane in the distance. But in fact we are back in Portugal, about 25 kilometres south of Lisbon, and we see the salt water lagoon called Lagoa Pequena, situated close to the larger Lagoa de Albufeira in the Setúbal district.

The camera pans over a fully equipped test laboratory and then follows Dr. Mengele onto the veranda after he has noticed the landing seaplane. While the Cessna 206 Stationair approaches the jetty, a dilapidated building at the opposite river bank comes into view, which later turns out to be Mengele's former jungle hospital.

Two friendly elderly men, but the impression is very deceptive, because we see former SS-Standartenführer Seibert (James Mason), warmly welcomed by Dr. Josef Mengele (Gregory Peck), the notorious SS-officer and physician at Auschwitz, called "Angel of Death". By the way, according to an interview by Roger Ebert, after arriving on the set in Lisbon, Mason asked if Paraguay had pine trees. It does now, he was told. And so pines can also be seen on the north shore of the Lagoa Pequena.

Mengele leads Seibert up to his well-guarded estate with the laboratory wing on the left. At $ 12 million, it was the most expensive film to be made in Portugal by then, and the government gave the producers every kind of support and the unique way to create the extensive set designed by two-time Academy Award winner Gil Parrondo right on the southern shore of the lagoon. And the effort was unbelievable. As the now following dialogue scenes prove, the different rooms of the bungalow were completely furnished so that all interior shots could be made on location. Also all the exotic greenery around was specifically planted, watered by a specially laid freshwater pipe.

When Seibert's aircraft takes off again towards evening, the western end of the Lagoa Pequena can be seen, making the transition to the Lagoa de Albufeira recognizable, not far away from the Atlantic coast.

Meanwhile Liebermann has decided to investigate the Nazi plot, discovered by Barry Kohler, during his lecture tour in the Ruhr region. On the way to the railway station, the tram with Ezra and Esther aboard passes the impressive parliament building, located at Dr. Karl-Renner-Ring 3, with the clock tower of the Gothic style Vienna town hall visible behind.

Obviously London, where the AEC Routemaster double-decker on line 24 brings Mr. Harrington from work at Westminster to home, stopping in Savernake Road in NW3 just opposite the Parish Church of all Hallows in the borough of Camden.

Luke Cumiskey provides this comparison of the location.

In the nearby neighbourhood Mr. Harrington (Michael Gough) reaches his home, where at the same time ingratiating but murderous Nazi henchman Hessen seduces young and sexy subtenant Nancy (Linda Hayden) in order to later lure her landlord into a deadly trap. Luke Cumiskey identifies this as facing numbers 5 and 7 Shirlock Road NW3.

Unable to replicate a better angle due to parked cars, Luke notes that the property on the left is named Lochie House.

Due to the message from Reuters agency, Liebermann learns of the mysterious death of Doring and makes his way to interview the widow (Rosemary Harris) at home. A notable brick building can be recognized in the background through the wind-shield of the bus for Gladbeck. In reality, however, we see the entrance tract of the Döbling cemetery at Hartäckerstrasse 65, located in Vienna's 19th district.

And this is the building behind the bus. Image copyright Google.

As the coach drives on, Liebermann remains alone at the bus stop, overlooking the wintry Döbling district, which standing in for Gladbeck. Very remarkable in my opinion, that the 1965 Mercedes-Benz O 302 type was masked especially for this short sequence as vehicle of the "Vestische Straßenbahnen GmbH", responsible for public transport in the Recklinghausen district.

Coming from Dortmund the "Donau-Kurier" express train brings Liebermann back from West Germany to Vienna, where Esther is already waiting on the platform at Wien Westbahnhof. By the way, the ÖBB loco N° 1042.570, built in 1971 by Simmering-Graz-Pauker for the Austrian Federal Railways, has taken over the train already in Frankfurt am Main.

On the way to the exit, the two are approached by David Bennett (John Rubinstein), member of the "Young Jewish Defenders", who informs Liebermann that Barry Kohler was murdered. The view through the large window front in the background shows the almost 70 m high bell tower of the neo-Gothic style Lazarist Church in Vienna's 7th district, called Neubau.

On the way to the remote Swedish village of Storlien (Åre), the 1975 Volvo 244 DL driven by former SS-Hauptsturmführer Mundt approaches the nearby dam. Actually the impressive panorama view shows the then newly erected Kölnbrein Dam with a still low reservoir, situated in the Hohe Tauern range within Carinthia, Austria.

While Mundt is discussing with Lofquist, in fact former SS-Sturmbahnführer Hartung (Wolfgang Preiss), about Mengele's assignment to kill one of the Storlien habitants, the much smaller Galgenbichl reservoir can be seen in the background from the railing of the dam crown.

Due to another agency report from Reuters, Liebermann travels to America to do an interview with Mrs. Curry (Anne Meara), whose husband recently died under circumstances that were also unexplained. Probably somewhere in New England, but currently an unknown location

Bennett now works for Liebermann and has taken up residence at the Bonnington hotel, located in Bloomsbury, to do further research in the Harrington case. A night view across Southampton Row in WC1 with a 68 bus bound for Euston passing by.

In daytime along with a 68 bus. Result! SJ

The white 1968 Mercedes-Benz 200 takes Mengele to the hotel in Asunción, where the leaders of the exiled Nazi community are giving a lavish party, protected by Paraguay's Military Police. When Mengele later discovers that Seibert, as threatened before, has stopped the entire mission because of Liebermann’s research in order not to endanger the Comrades Organization, he behaves like a berserk (performed by Gregory Peck with obvious pleasure). Probably filmed somewhere in Lisbon, but presently an unknown location.

Before Mengele finally leaves Brazil, he crosses the river and approaches the hospital, which has been abandoned about 14 years ago. At first glance just another backdrop, also designed by Gil Parrondo, located at the north shore of the Lagoa Pequena.

Mengele finally finds his talisman again somewhere on the floor of the totally dilapidated building that has long since been recaptured by the jungle. Before that, there are short flashbacks that show the splendid condition of the clinic in the first half of the 1960s. Facing onto the lagoon through the window at the front of the bed wing proves that even this short sequence was filmed on location, which is quite unusual.

David is waiting on the campus of the University of Vienna, while Liebermann visits Professor Bruckner (Bruno Ganz) from the Biological Institute to find out more about the current possibilities of Human Cloning. In reality we see the Linnépark, just opposite of the Gregor Mendel House, situated in the 18th district, called Währing. In the background the monument for the Forest Academy director Josef Wessely can be recognized.

The remarkable building at Gregor Mendel-Straße 33 stands in for the Biological Institutes, as indicated by the sign at the entrance, but in fact hosts Vienna's University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences since 1896.

The same location now. Image copyright Google.

Apparently Mengele was able to enter the States without any problems and is now on his way to working off the death list in order to advance his diabolical project. While driving through the rainy homeland of the Mennonites, a horse-drawn carriage comes towards him as the Amish People reject modern technology.

Meanwhile in the Mato Grosso area, Seibert wants to erase all traces that indicate any existence of Dr. Josef Mengele. After the bodyguards and all the locals around the property are massacred, Seibert himself sets fire in the laboratory wing of the estate, before boarding the Bell 206B Jet Ranger II with his henchmen. From today's perspective it is unimaginable that the burning down of the entire set was permitted by the Portuguese authorities back then, especially in this later nature reserve.

Coming from Main Street Mengele's almost new 1976 Ford LTD reaches the intersection with Highway 222 in the village of . . . .

. . . New Providence, Lancaster County, as can be read when the camera pans away from the road, situated nearby the town of Quarryville, Pennsylvania.

Mengele approaches the Wheelock Farm via the access lane. But in fact we see the back area of the Paul Findley Farm, still situated in the eastern part of New Providence. In the right distance Highway 222 can be seen.

The "Angel of Death" knocks on Wheelock's front door, pretending to be Ezra Liebermann. His murderous intentions are initially hampered by three Doberman Pinscher, who protect Henry Wheelock (John Dehner) with baring teeth. According to "Variety" the final confrontation between the two arch enemies could not be filmed on location because of the delicate health of Laurence Oliver. Since the specially trained dogs were already used to Gregory Peck, they were flown together with Jeremy Black to Vienna, where the key sequence between Mengele, Liebermann and Bobby Wheelock was made in the Wien-Film studios at Sievering.

Meanwhile Wheelock's 14-year-old offspring Bobby (Jeremy Black) is on his way home from school, passing a historic wooden bridge on his bike. Since 1849 the Zook's Mill Covered Bridge spans the Cocalico Creek and can be found west of Brownstown, Lancaster County.

The speed limit is still 10 mph. Image copyright Google.

Slightly misty establishing shot of the General Hospital, located at 555 North Duke Street, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The following interior shots with Laurence Olivier and John Rubinstein were not filmed on location, but at Shepperton Studios in Surrey.