Another scene "bagged" from the Russia House Movie

On a recent trip to London, I managed to "bag" another scene from the film The Russia House. 

Towards the end of the film, Barley Scott Blair (Sean Connery) and his American "business partner", Jack Henziger (Colin Stinton), host a business launch party in Moscow during a Book Fair.  In the film, the location of the "Potomac / Blair" party is not stated, nor is mentioned in the book - the reception takes place in "the mirrored room of an elderly mid-town hotel" in Moscow; however, there is a cut to a scene featuring Barley and Katya (Michelle Pfeiffer) on a balcony of the now demolished Hotel Rossiya - overlooking St Basil's cathedral and the Kremlin.  The interior shots of the party scene were filmed in the Reading & Writing Room of One Whitehall Place in London.

One Whitehall Place is located just off Whitehall on Victoria Embankment overlooking the River Thames towards the South Bank and London Eye.  It is a elegant Victorian building which host a number of function rooms ornate sculpted ceilings, glittering chandeliers and spectacular views over the River Thames , ideal for weddings, conferences and, of course, filming locations.  

Entering on the corner of Whitehall Place / Whitehall Court, where the brass plate at the entrance states that it is the National Liberal Club, you are faced with a grand circular marble staircase - the largest in London, I was reliably informed by a concierge.  The Reading & Writing Room is to be found at the top the staircase along an ornate, tiled corridor. 

http://www.onewhitehallplace.com/occasion/parties/

http://www.onewhitehallplace.com/occasion/filming-at-one-whitehall-place/

It is not the only scene from The Russia House to have been filmed in London: here are a couple of others I have managed to find:

St Ermin's Hotel:
http://therussiahousescenes.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/hotel-national-audio-fair.html
King Charles Street (off Whitehall):
http://therussiahousescenes.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/interrogation-scenes-and-flashbacks.html
Symons Street (off Sloane Square)
http://therussiahousescenes.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/training.html

Boris Johnson 'bags' scene from The Russia House

Boris Johnson announced yesterday at a press conference that he will not run for leadership of the Conservative Party.  The shock announcement was made at St Ermin's hotel in the room which was used for a scene in the film The Russia House.  The room where the press conference was held is a function room which doubled as the interior of the Hotel National in Moscow.

Anyway, I 'bagged' it before he did.

http://blog.therussiahouse.net/2015/10/the-russia-house-another-location.html

The Russia House Scene Locations: Barley Makes Contact with Katya

I am continuing to make slow progress in describing the locations used in all of the scenes from the Russia House - I document these in my other blog: http://therussiahousescenes.blogspot.co.uk

The Russia House Scene Locations: Barley Makes Contact with Katya: Making Contact Location: Red Square & GUM Moscow Russia Details: Katya and Barley get a taxi to Red Square.

This post includes some photos of GUM which I took in 2002, which I have included here:

Gosudarstveny Universalny Magazin - State Universal Store.  These photos were taken in May - a few days before the May 9 Victory Day celebrations.  As you can see, the side of GUM facing Red Square was adorned with huge banners depicting war medals commemorating victory in the Great Patriotic War.  There were similar banners hanging from the ceiling inside GUM as well.