Project A - Jackie Chan (1983) - Ping Kong Walled Village, Sheung Shui

Another one that has taken a while to find but still here we go, it's the Tin Hau Temple that JC stops in front of during the bike chase. I can't confirm whether or not this is the same village where some the other bike sequences takes place (would need to visit in person) but here is the temple from the film as a reminder.

There has been a recent renovation to the temple and the area next to the red door above has been knocked through but the temple is still fairly recognisable. Here is a modern view courtesy of Chong Fat's picture on the Tin Hau Temple wiki page.

Photo: Chong Fat on Wikipedia

Love is a Many-Splendored Thing - William Holden (1955) - Aberdeen, Hong Kong

Aberdeen has been seen in so many films on this blog - I guess it was a place renowned for showing a different side to HK life for some people and it's been used time and time again, for example on Enter The Dragon, The Protector, The World of Suzie Wong, Flatfoot in Hong Kong, Tomb Raider 2 as well as a brief glimpse in Soldier of Fortune. However, it could be argued that this was the film that did it first. So here we are as Holden and Jones head to the Tai Pak.

We get to see them driving along (a very different) Aberdeen Praya Road in his little car and turning onto the famous shore front that held the restaurant piers at Wu Nam Street (they have since been moved to Shum Wan Pier Drive). If you read my Flatfoot in Hong Kong post on this place you'll know that this area has long been reclaimed and is now used as a bus stop.

Look carefully in the background of the above snap and you may just be able to spot Aberdeen's famous Tin Hau temple hiding at the back. Whereas below we can see Wu Nam Street - seen from harbour looking inland.

The small signs on the boats above say 白花油 "Baak Fa Yau" a.k.a White Flower Oil. Still a popular ointment here in Hong Kong and especially good for stopping the itch of a mosquito bite.

Love is a Many-Splendored Thing - William Holden (1955) - 41a Conduit Road, Midlevels

This location has often been mistaken for King Yin Lei over in the Wanchai mid-levels and it's a mistake that seems to have gained a bit of misinformed traction (also the notion that the Repulse Bay Hotel was featured in this film: it wasn't!).

This building was located at 41a Conduit Road and was known locally as the Mok Villa - named after the family who owned it - or by its official name of 'Fairview'. At the time of filming though it was home to the Foreign Correspondents' Club (F.C.C) and its connections to this film go a bit further than just it being one of the locations used.

Throughout the film the house is used to represent what is described at one point as 'Victoria Hospital' where Dr Han (Jennifer Jones) works as a doctor. The terraced gardens are featured more than the actual house though (all interior scenes were filmed back in the US on a sound stage) and we are led to believe that the hospital backs onto the famous windy hilltop.

In reality though the hilltop was in fact located in California at the former Fox Ranch (now part of Malibu Creek State Park) and the hillside behind the house was actually only about a third of the way up Hong Kong's Peak.

The other connection to this story is that the ornamental pavilion seen above in the buildings grounds was the real life location where the real life Han Suyin met her lover, Ian Morrison, who was a journalist from Australia and no doubt was a member of the F.C.C.

This splendid building was knocked down in the mid-1960's and was eventually replaced by a development called Realty Gardens in 1971 which still stands there today. The current development also has a small ornate pavilion in the grounds (the terracing remains fairly unscathed but the ornaments you see above are all gone) which for a while some people mistakenly believed to be the same one seen above. Alas, it is a modern replacement that was built on a slightly higher level to the original one. There is a great summary of the building over on Richard Wong's FLICKR page and it's necessary to read all the comments: https://flic.kr/p/8jNYZx

The thing I find most staggering about these grabs are the fact that there was a completely open view of the harbour back then. This view has slowly disappeared as more and more high rises have filled up the hillside.

Flatfoot in Hong Kong - Bud Spencer (1975) - Repulse Bay...again

As Rizzo is chased out of the casino by a bunch of Chinese hoodlums, he makes a break for it across some nearby boats and dives into the water. However, there are two things to note, the first is that it's Bud's (slimmer proportioned) stuntman that does the leap down onto the boat. Second is that this was obviously shot back in Repulse Bay. I suspect the waters of the inner harbour in Macau were slightly too gross for anyone to want to jump into (maybe too busy as well), so there is a quick edit point to the shot below as Rizzo makes his escape.

Actually, this is one of my favourite scenes from the film because we get to see Bud (real name Carlo Pedersoli) in his element. Remember that before his film career, Pedersoli was an elite Olympic swimmer and water polo player and you get a brief glimpse of his enjoyment of the aquatic environment as he takes on the Chinese guys under the water.

You can see by the small islets in the background that this scene was filmed very close to the Tin Hau  shrine, so I wonder if it was filmed during/at the same time.

Flatfoot in Hong Kong - Bud Spencer (1975) - Casino Macau Palace, Macau

Rizzo follows Chang Li into one of Macau's former foremost landmarks (I've featured it loads on the blog over the years), the floating Casino Macau Palace. I later found out that the first version of this casino was the original Sea Palace Restaurant, towed over from Aberdeen Harbour in Hong Kong. This larger wooden structure was version 2 that replaced the original (year unknown but sometime in the mid to late 1960s).

The casino was moored on the Rua Das Lorchas around the section where it intersects with Av. De Almeida Ribeiro but was decommissioned sometimes in the 90's, after which I'm not sure what happened to it. Judging from the photos above it was quite nicely built.

Flatfoot in Hong Kong - Bud Spencer (1975) - St Paul's Ruins, Macau

Chaplin's mysterious character, apparently called "Chang Li" is driven down the hill past the famous church facade and Rizzo follows close behind in a taxi.

Flatfoot in Hong Kong - Bud Spencer (1975) - Avenida Da Republica, Macau

Now we move the action over to Macau and one of our first shots is taken from the praya overlooking the channel between the Macau Peninsular and (what was) Taipa Island and the bridge linking the two: Ponte Governador Nobre De Carvalho.

These days the view is now obscured by the reclamation that has created the Sai Van Lake and the Macau Tower but everything else has stayed put including the low wall with its drain holes which can be seen in the top shot.

Of course at the end of this bridge on the peninsular side is the famous, original, Lisboa Hotel and casino and here we see it through the driver's windscreen (just to the left of the dude's head).