Sunday, March 14, 2010

I finally found it, the lost location in Mannekäng i Rött


Mannekäng i Rött is an absurdly stylish Swedish murder-mystery set in a fashion house. Directed by maestro Arne Mattsson and released to be a big success in 1958. Some say, like me, that it was a big inspiration for Mario Bava's Blood and Black Lace - and I still claim that. But I know some conservative Bava-fans won't agree with me. Anyway. I love this movie, though it has some faults (some pacing-problems and some comedy that hasn't aged well) and has always wanted to know where they shot the exteriors of the fashion house... and I found it today, just by mistake.


I just took my iPhone and took a picture (which I also made brighter, because the shadows was hiding the details) of this square in Uppsala because I felt it was something that I recognized, and when I came home I compared it with the few shots of the exteriors and found it was the same place. The little street in between the houses is a galleria now, but in the movie that's where a lot of the action is set. The fashion house itself, La Femme, is where the blue flag is above. The big difference is that (except that the street behind it is gone) they expanded the stores and there's no "roof" where people can walk under anymore.

The ground is still exactly the same, and the pillars on the grey house to the right seem to be the same. The same yellow bricks is also present even today.





I know this probably only interests me, so you have to live with that I think :)

7 comments:

David A. Zuzelo said...

Excellent! Great way to spend a fun day sir.

BlueRoseCase said...

Alltför längesen jag såg filmen trots att jag har dvd-boxen. Kul att byggnaderna finns kvar!

Anonymous said...

Fy fasan vad söt du är på kortet med din pappa....m.

CiNEZiLLA said...

Fred! That completely fucking rocks. When I saw that question "what to do in U:sala" my first thought was, I'd check out the Hillman and Mask of Murder locations. And you did just that. you are a genius sir, a genius. Thanks for yet another highly entertaining post.

J.

CiNEZiLLA said...

By the way, there's also a rumour that HItchcock saw the movie and presented Mattsson with two cigars claiming that it was an excellent scary movie indeed. dunno if there's any truth to it, but just the idea of Hitch acclaiming Mattsson makes the Swedish part of me glow with pride. :)

Ninja Dixon said...

Cine: I was sure the square was in a small town around here somewhere, so I was surprised to have found it in Uppsala of all places. It just felt like such a small place in the movie!

The ruin in the beginning of Mannekäng i Rött, you can find in Sigtuna. St Pers Ruin close to St Pers School. Looks exactly the same!

And it's a cool story about Hitchcock! I haven't heard it before, but I sure hope it's true! Mattsson deserves that!

Mary B said...

The poster is from www.nordicposters.com !