Anyway, after chasing the runaway king size around the southern parts of HK island for the best part of a few minutes, it finally comes to rest in front of a ferry pier. The pier is actually disguised and has a sign on the front saying (in English) "Ferry to Sey Chang".
Of course "Sey Chang" is a made up place name and the location used for it will be looked at in the next post, but anyone who reads Chinese will be able to see that the real sign above says it is the Hong Kong Island ferry service (the Chinese reads R->L): 來往香港.
Looking at an old map, I can see that the Mongkok Ferry Pier was situated at the very end of Shantung Street. So when the bed arrives, it is Shantung Street that the camera is looking up. You can compare it with the modern Streetview image at the bottom.
Shantung Street 1965
Shantung Street now
The reclamation of the harbour on the west side of the Kowloon peninsula is vast in scale and Ferry Street marks the previous demarcation between the water and dry land. There's now an additional 600 metres of land between the spot we see above and the current coastline. The reclamation actually occurred in the 1990's, but the Mongkok pier had already been removed by 1972 when it was replaced by the pier at Tai Kok Tsui. Both pier locations succumbed to the 1990's reclamation.
Luckily for us we get some good views from this film and it appears a couple of times as the protagonists head to and return from the fictitious island of Sey Chang. The shots below show part of the return journey.
The building under construction at the back is the previously mentioned Yuen Fat Building which opened properly in 1965. Other than the Yuen Fat Building and a building at 9-11 Shantung Street, every building seen in these screen shots has since been demolished and replaced. I'll leave you with a fairly good comparison with Streetview so you can see how much has really changed. You can just see the Yuen Fat Building poking out in the Streetview picture, it's the blue building at the end of the yellow line.
4 comments:
Thanks for all the detailed explanation of sites, names, buildings... .philippe from France looking now at the movie. Best
Thank you so much, Phil. I am also watching the film that was broadcasted yesterday on the French TV. I travelled in HK and lived there in the 80' and the 90's. I love to see these old streets and the ferry piers. I wonder if they still exist . And things are changing so much now, HK people are not in a mood for wandering along... All the best
you're welcome Jeanne. I have to admit, of all the films I have covered on this blog, this films remains one of my firm favourites. In fact some trivia: did you know that it was during the filming of this movie that HK stuntmen were introduced to the use of cardboard boxes for high fall stunts? It was the French stuntmen who introduced this to HK!
no problem unknown. I will rewatch the film soon and see if there are any sites I missed. Phil
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