Liquidator, The

The pre-title sequence shows the Allied victory parade on the Champs-Élysées in 1944, as Sergeant Oakes' M4 Sherman tank strays disoriented through the streets of Paris and takes an impromptu shortcut. Shot at the MGM British Studios backlot at Borehamwood, Hertfordshire.

Shortly thereafter, Brian "Boysie" Oakes (Rod Taylor) saves the life of British Intelligence Major Mostyn (Trevor Howard), attacked by the German enemy. The backdrop construction of MGM British Studios appears also in 'Stranger in the House' (Capture 4).

20 years later the Royal Guards parades at the corner of Horse Guards Road and The Mall, while the Admiralty Arch can be recognised in the background, London SW1.

Works continue on Admiralty Arch. SJ

Trevor Howard as Colonel Mostyn, number two of British counterintelligence, watches the parade from Waterloo Place.

Not particularly busy when I visited. SJ

The Parade passes the Foreign Office on Horse Guards Road.

The scene is unchanged. SJ

Mostyn makes his way to the office... behind him is 10 Carlton House Terrace, seen in "Wings of the Dove." (SJ)

In December '23 I wrote, "Just our luck. What is it about RS which scaffolding sees us coming? To be replaced in the future." And here is the replacement as promised. SJ

The Colonel is annoyed by the headlines on the newspaper box about the current espionage affair. Queen Anne's Gate, SW1.

London Movie Guide (Anova) will tell you Queen Anne's Gate hosted filming for The Whistle Blower, Give My Regards To Broad Street, The Queen's Guards as well as TV's The Persuaders. SJ

Mostyn at the entrance of number 24, Queen Anne’s Gate. Inside he is immediately summoned to "Chief" (Wilfrid Hyde-White), who informs him that, because of all the series of embarrassing security disasters, the House of Commons is asking for their heads on a silver platter. But he also tells Mostyn about his plan to solve the problem.

A close-up of no24. SJ

The Colonel shows up at the funeral of Oakes' business partner, who, according to Boysie, fell off the ladder, of course on his head. You're no stranger to death, are you, Boysie, the Colonel remarks. And Nick Williams tells us this is St Margaret's church in Ridge, Hertfordshire.

Replacing Nick's proving google shot. The church was also seen in Father Dear Father, Best Pair of Legs in the Business and Curse of the Crimson Altar. SJ

They reach the Bird Cafe together in Mostyn's Bentley. This Bird Cafe could be anywhere, but more likely close by the studios. Very close to the studios, a set on the MGM backlot at Borehamwood, see http://avengerland.theavengers.tv/studios/mgmblot.htm (RL)

Mostyn is still convinced that Oakes is a natural born killer and lures him into a luxurious penthouse apartment: he is very impressed but more interested in the interior designer (Jennifer Jayne) or her assistant (Heller Toren). Millbank in SW1, which also appears in ‘Alfie Darling’ and 'Innocent Bystanders'.

This replaces my totally unsuitable portrait shot from Oct 2012 with a landscape. SJ

And the Edgwarebury Hotel, aka Corus, is close by, hence its use in so many films. It's off Barnet Lane, Elstree. Earliest use that we've found is in 1939 in 'Sons of the Sea'.

Now, looking directly into winter sun. SJ

Nice lines... Indeed, the 1959 S2 Continental Flying Spur is a perfect match for the elegant Jill St. John as Iris Macintosh.

No Jill St. John and less impressive motors. SJ

Mostyn asks Oakes about his progress in shooting training (with a paintball gun) and warns him to keep up.

Now. SJ

Boysie can't resist tagging the Colonel from behind. On the lawn in front of the main entrance. Besides 'Sons of the Sea', the popular filming location also appears in ‘School for Scoundrels’, ‘The Devil Rides Out’, ‘Spider’s Web’, ‘Never Too Young to Rock’, ‘Stardust’, 'Man Accused', ‘The Rough and the Smooth’, ‘Stranger from Venus’, ‘My Lover My Son’, ‘Not Now Comrade’, ‘So Evil, So Young’, ‘Mosquito Squadron’ and ‘Night Must Fall’.

They've changed the central reservation. SJ

Distracted by the delightful Iris, Boysie is tricked during Judo training, which obviously amuses Mostyn. Shot round the back of the hotel, seen in many films like 'Clockwork Orange', 'Hot Fuzz, 'School for Scoundrels', 'The Devil Rides Out', 'Members Only', 'Sons of the Sea' and 'Confessions of a Driving Instructor'.

Newer drainpipe. SJ

Oakes is very upset about and will knock out his coach (on the left) in the next second. Behind them the tennis court from 'School for Scoundrels' can be seen.

It's still there, just. See School for Scoundrels for current state. SJ

On the south facing terrace. Alastair Sim lurked in the hut behind Rod Taylor in 'School for Scoundrels'.

Building now over the hut and croquet lawn. Nice sunny south-facing terrace. SJ

The terrace again. Also part of the training: Boysie has to find out which drink is poisoned and which Dry Martini is bugged with a micro transmitter in the olive.

Edgwarebury's dining room. SJ

During a dinner in the Hotel Casino restaurant, Oakes finds out from Mostyn what the whole training is supposed to be for (to kill people, of course). Unknown location .. for a while until Alan Bourke suggested the Casino Hotel which was once on Tagg's Island in the Thames near Hampton Court. It began as The Karsino and was built in 1913 by variety artiste Fred Karno, and featured a large ballroom and restaurant. It became the Casino Hotel in the 1960s before being demolished in 1971. (SJ)

Totally upset, Boysie quickly leaves the restaurant ... As above: and Alan provided a postcard dated from the time it was known as Palm Beach, Hampton Court as evidence. (SJ)

Already on his first mission to kill, in which he is supposed to liquidate Frances Anne Chandler (Betty McDowall), Oakes' nerves are on edge. Instead of discreetly pushing the exposed Foreign Office employee in front of the incoming subway, he saves her from falling when he himself is jostled from behind. Shot in the Bank tube station.

He also continues to flirt with Iris, so he jumps into his fancy 1962 Jaguar E-Type ... Facing west on Old Queen Street SW1. (SR)

The works ensured a quiet road with no parked cars in the way. The Two Chairmen pub, seen in 'Keep the Aspidistra Flying', 'Mary Poppins Returns' and 'The Big Sleep', is hidden behind the white van in the centre. SJ

... and wants to catch her after work to invite her for candlelight dinner.

Rather an over-parked day for a good comparison. SJ

But she charmingly but firmly rejects Boysie and unconsciously reminds him of his unfinished mission to kill.

The postbox has moved down the road. The north side of Queen Anne's Gate, SW1. SJ

Oakes meets somewhere on the banks of the Thames for a rendezvous ... Unknown location.

... with freelance professional assasin Griffin (Eric Sykes), who turns out to be a friendly and courteous fellow, so that the two quickly come to an agreement. Unconfirmed location but maybe the Royal Docks, E16.

Thanks to Griffin, poor Frances later ends up on the tube tracks, so payment for the dirty job takes place discreetly during a horse ride in the park. Unconfirmed location but probably Rotten Row in Hyde Park.

There are relatively few areas where Rotten Row runs alongside road traffic but this seems a likely point next to South Carriage Drive in Hyde Park looking west. SJ

An establishing shot by the Thames across Westminster Bridge stands at the beginning of Griffin's next assignment to kill.

As Griffin walks past him, perhaps on Hampstead Heath, Boysie puts the envelope with the blood money quickly into the front of the shorts.

This looks very like the path running alongside the pond in the Vale of Health, Hampstead, NW3 where Nick Dryhurst grew up. And he provides this match, convincing by the path's curl to the left and the fencing arrangement to the right. (SJ)

And again by the Thames. Anthony Spencer identifies the chimney in the centre distance as belonging to Blackwall Point Power Station on the Greenwich Peninsula which was was demolished in 1987.

Actually expressly forbidden by Colonel Mostyn, Boysie manages to persuade Iris to go on a short vacation abroad together. Could this be Heathrow Airport in the mid-1960s? Unknown location.

Disguised as vicar, a British Intelligence employee (Colin Gordon) waits for the arrival of BEA flight from London.

On the roof terrace of Nice-Côte d'Azur airport, sexy decoy Corale (Gabriella Licudi) receives final instructions from Sheriek (Akim Tamiroff).

In front of the airport. Oakes tells the taxi driver to wait until Iris is coming.

A short motorcade leaves the airport area, as Sheriek and Corale follow the taxi with Boysie and Iris in it, while the fake vicar follows the cabrio with Sheriek and Corale in it.

An aerial shot by helicopter shows the motorcade making its way east on the Moyenne Corniche above Villefranche-sur-Mer, passing the today luxury apartment hotel "La Fiorentina" seen on the right.

Shot from the cabrio back seat driving onto Avenue Bella Vista, as part of the Moyenne Corniche, here above Beaulieu-sur-Mer with the view towards the Cap-Ferrat peninsula.

Another spectacular aerial shot with the motorcade, consisting of the 1955 Citroën 15 Six D Familiale type taxi with Boysie and Iris, Sheriek's 1958 Oldsmobile Super 88 and the false Vicar's 1958 Citroën 2CV, onto the viaduct, called Pont du Diable, nearby the well-known "eagle's nest" of Èze Village. The bridge appears also in 'To Catch a Thief', 'Foreign Intrigue' and 'Absolutely Fabulous'.

Here the James Bond parody seems more like a commercial for the Côte d'Azur in general and Monte Carlo in particular. The view from Avenue Prince Rainier III over the bay at La Condamine, the central ward in the Principality of Monaco.

The taxi reaches Place de Casino in Monte Carlo, Monaco, with the traditional Hôtel de Paris on the right, opened in 1863. With thanks to Dean Nelson for sending in an identifying GEV in November '12.

With a fake call from the lobby, Sheriek lures Oakes down to the pool and then sets his decoy Corale on him. However we are back in France at Beaulieu-sur-Mer, east of Nice, precisely by the pool of the luxury Hôtel Métropole. At the horizon the notable mountain range of Cap d'Ail can be recognised.

Corale intentionally lets Boysie bump into her and feigns a sprained ankle. Limping, she guides our anti-hero in the direction of a few fishermen, who turn out to be Sheriek's henchmen. Round the corner from the coastal swimming pool at the later Quai Edward Whitechurch. In the background the hotel ?Le Frisia? can be seen.

Google shot from Manuel G. Today, the same angle looks completely different after the construction of the new marina. (SJ)

Sheriek, as a servant of the KGB, and his henchmen try to press Oakes about the reason for his stay, but fail. Thanks to a fake escape opportunity by Sheriek, Boysie manages to escape the cellar dungeon with Corale in tow. Filmed on the grounds of Villa Zamir, built in 1902 and located at 24, Avenue Douine, in Roquebrune-Cap Martin.

Poor Corale falls back and gets shot in the back, but Boysie manages to grab the convertible while Sheriek's "gardener" jumps from behind onto the passing car and holds on. A second killer gives chase in a then brand new Simca 1500 Break, to see at the gateway, which gives us a discreet clue to the filming location.

At the end of a wild chase at the Col de l'Arme area high above Monte Carlo, a fight to the death breaks out between Oakes and the "gardener" in the car, which dangerously overhangs the side of the road.

Boysie Oakes, now the hero, returns to the hotel, but the front of the Oldsmobile convertible doesn't look particularly damaged. The Monte Carlo Casino is visible in the background.

Boysie and Iris, along with Quadrant (David Tomlinson) from British Secret Service, return to England on orders from Colonel Mostyn, ostensibly to take part in a top-secret military operaton. With the Queens Building to see behind, they leave Heathrow Airport in a 1960 Mercedes-Benz 220 S.

An unsuspecting Mostyn and head assistant Fly (Derek Nimmo) puzzle over the whereabouts of Boysie and Iris at the entrance to the counter-intelligence head office.

And it's back to Queen Anne's Gate, SW1, but I missed out the window to the left in Feb 2012 so I returned for a (slight) improvement. SJ

An impatient Boysie waits for the secret operation to finally begin, unaware that Quadrant is actually a Soviet double agent. And not just him ... Unknown location.

On the occasion of the Duke of Edinburgh's visit to an RAF base, the guard of honour marches along with a band. Paul Brennan suggests the former RAF Bovingdon in Hertfordshire. Phil Milsom directs us to the Website https://www.derelictplaces.co.uk/main/military-sites/6303-bovingdon-airfield-control-tower.html#.VTkK4Wx0yP8 for more information and the sad decline with the passage of time. (RL).

And he's right. This photo was taken in 1956 is copyrighted to Steve Bond. Also seen in 633 Squadron, War Lover, Mosquito Squadron and Hanover Street. Thank you Paul.

The 1955 Bedford lorry, with the Soviets disguised as RAF members and an unsuspecting Boysie inside, pulls up at the RAF base checkpoint. Unconfirmed location but maybe Bovingdon... Prompted by a recent viewing, Mike Tighe suggests that this and the previous capture may in fact be the BAC test airfield at Wisley, Surrey, and is encouraged by a back projection during a final approach which seems to show the A3 road crossing below the flight path: the debate continues. (SJ)