She Shoots Straight - Joyce Godenzi (1990) - HMS Tamar

The first mission we see that the police group assigned to is the protection of a foreign (Arab?) princess who is attending a fashion show. The entourage starts the journey to the show from inside the HMS Tamar compund and exits via the main gates leading onto Edinburgh Place. This area is now the PLA Central Barracks.

She Shoots Straight - Joyce Godenzi (1990) - St Margaret Mary's Church, Happy Valley

The next film is another local one, this time from 1990, starring Joyce Godenzi (the future Mrs Sammo Hung) as Police Inspector Mina Kao (Mina is Godenzi's real middle name) who marries into a police family and faces a little bit of push back from her husband's younger sister, Ling (Carina Lau), because of her mixed-race (Godenzi is Eurasian in real-life). A Vietnamese gang, led by Yuen Wah, is running rampant in Hong Kong and following an incident at a nightclub where one of them is killed, they take revenge on the police by killing Kao's husband, Bo (Tony Leung Ka-fai). All bets are off as Kao and Ling put aside their conflict and join together to take revenge on the gang.

The film starts with their wedding which was shot at the St Margaret Mary's Church in Happy Valley, it's the same location that we saw in Rich and Famous a couple of years back.

The Young Rebel - David Chiang (1975) - Kwun Tong Police Station

It all ends at the police station as Gen Lai takes Xiao Rong in for all the naughty stuff he's been doing. Once again, it's a Shaw movie so it must be Kwun Tong Police Station.

The Young Rebel - David Chiang (1975) - 20 Kent Road, Kowloon Tong

Yet another Kowloon Tong location and this one with a bit of intriguing history behind it. The headquarters of the opposing gang is located at 20 Kent Road in Kowloon Tong. Xiao Rong is sent there by his boss to kill their boss. Failure to comply resulting in the death of his mum and sister. So he heads there on his motorbike. This one took a bit of locating because the property and it surroundings have changed significantly over the years. But there are a couple of clues that have helped lead to the identification. The first is the garden wall in the background of the first shot, behind the bike. This section of the wall doesn't exist anymore but there remains a section of it a little further up, belonging to #27 Kent Road.

The second clue comes from the background in the other direction. As Xiao Rong enters and leaves the property, we catch a glimpse of the roof of a property behind. It's quite a distinctive roof and, thankfully, is still around today. It belongs to the former "Air House" located at 1a Cornwall Street (the same building that was captured on camera in this post).

Sadly the property at #20 has changed significantly over the years and it was just recently demolished and completely rebuilt into a new building. What's interesting about this place, and you may already know this if you ever read my old, now deleted, history blog, is that it was the private house of infamous heroin kingpin, Ng Sik-ho aka "Limpy Ho".

Coincidentally (or not), Ho was convicted for his crimes in 1975, the same year this film was made, so it's quite possible the house was available for filming once it had been examined by the people investigating his crime. I have no idea who owned it at the time. In a later incarnation it was turned into a "Love Motel" (called the Kent Motel, I think?, the Chinese name was 根德小築) much in the same way as Bruce Lee's old house was. The owner basically filled in all the open spaces of the property (that can be seen in the screecaps) and turned it into a big rectangular block with maximum interior space (for max profits/usage) and operated it until around the time that COVID hit. Following its closure the building was demolished and redeveloped.

The house at the rear is 1a Cornwall Street

The Young Rebel - David Chiang (1975) - Devon Road, Kowloon Tong

Another Kowloon Tong location as Xiao Rong is on his way to a job with another gangster. Their car is hit by a delivery boy on a bike and Rong takes pity on him and chastises his gansgter colleague for hitting the guy. The initial image shows us the view up Devon Road from Somerset Road.

The Young Rebel - David Chiang (1975) - Sheung Sze Wan, Clearwater Bay

Xiao Rong accepts employment from the gangster boss and one of his first jobs is to hijack some people and rob them. This scene was shot above Sheung Sze Wan in Clearwater Bay. The whole area below them is now built up with village houses.

The Young Rebel - David Chiang (1975) - Ho Tung Lau, Fo Tan

Xiao Rong has to make a delivery to a large house where a kung fu class is being taught. It turns out this is the HQ of the gang that had tried to extort him earlier. The location is the magnificent Ho Tung Lau that was located on the shorefront at Fo Tan until its demolition in 1979 to make way for the widening of Tai Po Road and construction of the MTR depot (which, by the way, is named Ho Tung Lau depot).

We've seen it once before on the blog where it was a drug factory in The Amsterdam Kill. In this film though we get to see it in the full light of day.

The Young Rebel - David Chiang (1975) - Chi Man Street, Ho Man Tin

This was almost another addition to the Princess Margaret Road post, but the sequence plays out on a smaller road nearby so it was worth creating a separate post. This scene is our first introduction to Gen Lai in his new role as a policeman. He had been mentioning his new job to Xiao Rong earlier in the film, but the latter wasn't interested, but here we see him sweep into action as a thief steals someone's handbag and Gen Lai catches him. The thief is played by Tino Wong Cheung.

The scene starts at the petrol station on Princess Margaret Road right next to Chi Man Street. The thief then runs down the latter to the start of Oi Sen Path.

Princess Margaret Road, Chi Man Street in the foreground

The Young Rebel - David Chiang (1975) - Sifu Chi Wai's Wing Chun School, Mongkok Road

Here's a location I never thought I would see again. In the film, this is the location of Gen Lai's kung fu school with his sifu being portrayed by Yuen Siu-tin ("Beggar So" from Drunken Master for those who need reminding). Long term readers may remember this place was also used for Bruce Lee True Story (aka Bruce Lee the Man, the Myth), so you can click the link and read all about it there. It was located at 28 Mongkok Road.

The Young Rebel - David Chiang (1975) - Kent Road Garden Alleyway, Kowloon Tong

Another Kowloon Tong location as the bike chase continues down the alleyway that connects Kent Road Garden with True Light Lane. In the second image you can see the wall of the Kowloon True Light Middle School. The last image is the view into Kent Road as Gen Lai (Ti Lung) happens to be riding by when Rong is being attacked.