Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Les Tribulations d'un Chinois en Chine - Jean-Paul Belmondo (1965) - Tai Tam Road, Stanley

After starting its perilous descent of Wanchai Gap Road (as seen in the last picture of the last thread) the bed suddenly enters a space/time wormhole and appears on the long sloping driveway of a large mansion in Tai Tam called Longview. It then continues onto to Tai Tam Road at the bottom of the driveway.

This is a bit of a bonus for Bruce Lee fans because the lower screencap below shows a brief glimpse of the property opposite the driveway's entrance. What you can see is the terraced tennis courts of Palm Villa - made famous as the location for the tournament scenes in Enter the Dragon.

Driveway to Longview 
Palm Villa estate across the road

If you want to read my (perhaps overlong and a bit too enthusiastic) post on Palm Villa you can click here. Of course both Longview (whose driveway the bed just zipped down) and Palm Villa were part of the M.W Lo property portfolio.

In terms of what is visible in this film, it's a very brief moment but you can just about see the lowest tennis court at the bottom left behind the large tree. The more eagle-eyed of you may be able to make out the circular building poking out from the hedge at the right hand side. If you read the post I just linked to you'll find out it was an outside toilet and served as Ahna Capri's and Bruce Lee's (shared) dressing room during filming. The last time I was in that area, it was still there despite everything around it being redeveloped. The tennis courts are now the "Pacific View" development.

3 comments:

Rodney said...

Was there a slapstick scene in this film where a bloke gets robbed outside a post box by two baddies with toy pistols? The old, red post box was seemingly at the side of the rode in the middle of nowhere. I really can't remember if it was a foreign film or local production with a few of the usual foreigners in the industry.

I saw a musical special where a similar, if not identical, post box appeared. The sublime Jenny Tseng stops her her Bobby Ewing Benz and gets out to post a letter.

Pip the Troll said...

Hi Rodney, I can't remember, it's been quite some time since I watched it-nearly 10 years! When I am back in HK in August I will make an effort to rewatch and let you know. Phil

Rodney said...

No worries, Phil. I think it was most likely a TVB variety show and not a film. The HK Classic Car Club FB has a screencap of the post box and the car in question was Jenny's own at the time. I saw Jenny leaving the Entertainment Building in the mid-1990s and I nearly fainted.

Not sure if this link will work, but here it is.
https://scontent.fhkg13-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/432288967_10161120062209509_1888173654508689863_n.jpg?stp=cp6_dst-jpg&_nc_cat=107&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=aa7b47&_nc_ohc=UY7-y1mygvQQ7kNvgEYBw1Y&_nc_ht=scontent.fhkg13-1.fna&oh=00_AYBZZshdqg8f90NzOsiZe2aZOJr09vS5dzuLOreNC5KmqA&oe=668F1915

The Lok On Pai desalination plant you identified today was a stone's throw away from BBQ Gardens. I've been meaning to trek out there and up to Hung Shui Kiu, but because there seems to be a HKJC betting branch very near the house from ATV's 'In Cold Blood'.

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