If you come from Holywood you probably won't be impressed by what is left of the film studios in Nice. After having almost disappeared in the beginning of the XXIst century, the studios are now under the control of the city of Nice, which aims to turn them again into a central place of the French movies industry.
Nice has always been appréciated by film makers. As early as 1897, the Lumiere brothers who invented the cinema shot news films here, for exemple on the Carnival.
Then studios were created to produce fictions. Pathe was the first before 1908, on the Turin street. Then came Gaumont which created its studio in Carras, in 1914. Just after the war, Metro Goldwyn Mayer created in 1919 its own studio in a property they had bought for this purpose : la Victorine.
Out of the 6 studios which existed in Nice in 1930, it is the only one to survive, although it doesn't belong to the MGM any longer, and hasn't for decades.
For the 100th birthday of the Victorine studios the Nice Cinémathèque showed many films which were shot here, in March and April 2019. On september 28th and 29th it will be possible to visit the studios for free, with concerts and exhibitons.
Since 2018 the city has taken control again on the studios. It aims to turn them into a "French hollywood", as they used to be considered in the past.
The best way to visit these studios and to see them at work is to watch "La Nuit Américaine " (Day for night) the François Truffaut film, featuring among others Jacqueline Bisset, and which won the Academy Award for best foreign language film in 1973. The topic of this film is the making of a film shot in la Victorine.
Famous films were shot here, at least partially. "And god created women" by R. Vadim featuring Brigitte Bardot, "My uncle" (best foreign language film Academy Award in 1959, Special award at the Cannes festival) by J. Tati, "Children of Paradise" by M. Carné, "Forbidden games" (Golden Lion in Venise) and "the Damned" (Great award of the Cannes festival) de René Clément, the "Gendarme de St Tropez" de J. Girault , Never say never again (James Bond), To catch a thief (Hitchcock) and so many others.
Later TV took the place of the cinema. Films are still shot on the Riviera and in Nice, however.
La Victorine is 16 Bvd Edouard Grinda, West of Nice, 200m from the Western end of the "Voie rapide". (Make a left when you exit the "Voie rapide".)