Producer John Schneider agrees. "You couldn't buy this architecture. You couldn't build it on sets. We were essentially on the largest back lot in film history, the city of Amsterdam."
In addition to the scenes that featured the famous canals, several historic buildings were also employed in the film. The opening sequence depicting the first gigolo murder, takes place at The Castle of De Haar, a remarkable historical monument situated outside the city of Utrecht. Historical references date the Castle to as far back as the 13th century, when the Van Zuylen family established title. In 1890, after Baron Etienne van Zuylen van Nijevelt van de Haar inherited the castle he commissioned the famous Dutch architect P.J.H. Cuypers - noted for his neo-Gothic churches and other Amsterdam landmarks like the Central Railway Station and the Rijksmuseum - to design the restoration. Having escaped damage during the bombings of World War II, the family opened the property, the castle and its park, to the general public, reserving one month a year for the exclusive use of the family.
Parodying movie award shows, the "Man-Whore Society Awards" required a grand interior and exterior space befitting such a "prestigious" ceremony. The exterior was shot at Artis Zoo, which was founded in 1828, and is comprised of an aquarium (in which interiors were also used,) a zoological museum, formal gardens and a planetarium in addition to the zoo itself. For the interior, the production utilized Amsterdam's Municipal Theatre, Stadsschouwburg. Located at the Leidseplein, one of the city's most popular squares, Stadsschouwburg is home to Toneelgreop Amsterdam (a theatre group), and is a favorite venue for the city's Ajax football team who gather and greet their fans from the theatre's balcony after an important win. This is the Municipal Theatre's third location in four centuries. The first theatre, built in 1638, burnt to the ground in 1772. The second theatre was completed in 1774, but suffered the same fate in 1890 on the King's Birthday after celebratory fireworks landed on the roof. Architects Springer and Gent designed the current theatre, which boasts a Renaissance facade using brick and soapstone, and is adorned with several small towers. The interior space, which is the setting for the Awards, is highly ornate in the neo-baroque style.
Ironically, Waalse Kerk (The Walloon Church), which dates back to the year 1409, was the location used for the "Man-Whore Society meeting space. Once the chapel of a monastery, it was put at the disposal of the French-speaking Protestant refugees from Southern Netherlands and France after Amsterdam converted to Protestantism in 1578. For the past 400 years the church has been the domain of the Walloon community and still hosts services - in French -every Sunday.
Other buildings of note that were utilized by the production include the Bazel Building, constructed in Neo-Deco design. Completed in 1926, the Bazel Building was home to the Netherlands Trading Company (Nederlandsche Handel-Maatschappij.).
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