Fontainebleau offers a spectacular blend of history as a revered landmark since its opening in 1954. Throughout its past and present with little surprise, the hotel has served as a set in a number of television and film productions to represent the distinct atmosphere of Miami Beach, ranging from “Goldfinger” in the James Bond film series and a TV episode of “The Sopranos” to, most recently, the hit Amazon Original series “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.”
“We are thrilled that Fontainebleau has become known as one of the go-to spots for film and television productions to represent the iconic Miami Beach aesthetic”
Phil Goldfarb, President & COO of Fontainebleau Miami Beach
In honor of The National Association of Television Program Executives visiting with us this month, we thought it would be fun to run down a few of our film and television credentials.
ABC’S GRAND HOTEL | SEASON 1
The location for the fictional Riviera Grand Hotel in the ABC series, which was executive produced by Eva Longoria. The pilot episode was filmed here in March 2018, with locations including the hotel’s exterior, lobby, Bleau Bar and poolscape seen in the premiere episode.
GOLDFINGER
Miami played a huge role in the 1964 James Bond film “Goldfinger,” and Fontainebleau is featured prominently in a sweeping aerial shot that follows the opening credits. It also serves as the hotel where Bond girl, Jill Masterson, is murdered by villainous Oddjob.
THE SOPRANOS
“The Sopranos” filmed a scene for a season four episode, “Calling All Cars” at our iconic Miami Beach property. In Florida, Tony meets with Little Carmine and that night dreams that he follows Ralphie to an old house. Before he enters the house, he sees a female figure with a shadowy face resembling his mother walking downstairs. He wakes up short of breath, sweaty, and startled and goes out on his Fontainebleau hotel balcony, into the bright Florida morning.
SCARFACE
In this popular movie, a Cuban immigrant from Castro’s jails cuts a violent path of destruction on his way to the top of Miami’s drug trade. In one scene “Scarface” Tony Montana (Al Pacino) and Manny Ribera (Steven Bauer) try unsuccessfully to pick up girls at Fontainebleau Hotel’s poolscape.
THE BODYGUARD
Filmed primarily on the grounds of Fontainebleau, the blockbuster hit starred Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner in the romantic thriller. The iconic singer plays a superstar who is being stalked and sent death threats, while Kevin Costner plays her bodyguard. As “Rachel”, Whitney performed 2 songs in the film right here in Fontaine Ballroom. One, “I Have Nothing”, would soon be one of two Oscar nominated songs from the film and the other, “I Will Always Love You”, become the biggest selling soundtrack in history.
TONY ROME
Frank Sinatra brings a sneering Rat Pack ethos to his first hard-boiled detective role in Tony Rome. Tony is an ex-cop who lives on a houseboat off Miami, accepting fees for private-eye work. Tony investigates a wealthy divorced couple’s daughter (Jill St John) and finds blackmail, murder and fake jewels
LADY IN CEMENT
While diving for sunken treasure, Miami private eye Tony Rome (Frank Sinatra) finds the body of a gorgeous blonde, her feet stuck in a block of cement. Soon after, tough guy Waldo Gronski (Dan Blocker) hires him to find a missing person. In no time Tony finds himself mixed up with a beautiful party girl (Raquel Welch) and a slippery racketeer (Martin Gabel).
THE BELLBOY
A bellboy (Jerry Lewis) fouls up room keys, luggage and everything else at a swank Miami hotel.
Jerry Lewis now claims that his film directorial debut came about when his home studio, Paramount, needed a summer-release Lewis vehicle in a hurry. Jerry and his entourage headed to Fontainebleau Miami Beach, and 29 days later returned with The Bellboy!
THE BIRDCAGE
In this remake of the classic French farce “La Cage aux Folles,” engaged couple Val Goldman (Dan Futterman) and Barbara Keeley (Calista Flockhart) shakily introduce their future in-laws. Val’s father, Armand (Robin Williams), a gay Miami drag club owner, pretends to be straight and attempts to hide his relationship with Albert (Nathan Lane), his life partner and the club’s flamboyant star attraction, so as to please Barbara’s father, controversial Republican Sen. Kevin Keeley (Gene Hackman).
MIDNIGHT COWBOY
Convinced of his irresistible appeal to women, Texas dishwasher Joe Buck (Jon Voight) quits his job and heads for New York City, thinking he’ll latch on to some wealthy, sex-starved Manhattan women. New York, however, is not as hospitable as he imagined, and Joe soon finds himself living in an abandoned building with a Dickensian lay about named Enrico “Ratso” Rizzo (Dustin Hoffman). The two form a rough alliance, and together they kick-start Joe’s hustling career just as Ratso’s health begins to deteriorate, sharing their dreams of Florida or the ultimate rich broad.
ANALYSE THIS
When doctors tell a mob boss (Robert De Niro) that he is suffering from anxiety attacks, he seeks the help of Ben, a therapist (Billy Crystal), who is manipulated into treating him, with hysterical results. Just as Ben and his fiancée (Lisa Kudrow) are about to wed in Miami, they are faced with a mobster who won’t take no for an answer.
With such a diverse collection of productions filmed at the hotel, guests are able to connect to their favorite characters while staying at the resort and immerse themselves in the iconic Miami lifestyle.
