Foxbat - Henry Silva (1977) - Bonham Strand Public Latrine, Sheung Wan

Here's another one pulled from the recent bluray review. The scene when A-Cheung gets out of the car and hides in a toilet was filmed along Bonham Strand. For anyone familiar with the area where Bonham Strand meets Morrison Street and Wing Lok Street there is now a triangular paved area (the paving stones make up a large compass face on the ground) that is marked on maps as a rest garden. Wing Lok Street is now split into two by this rest garden, but back in 1977 it was a continuous road and the triangular island formed between the three roads hosted the toilet block that can be seen in the film. I tried to find out when it was built but could only find a mention in a 1941 public works document asking for tenders.

Anyway, as you can see on the screen caps it was constructed in a sort of streamline moderne/art deco style of building. When was it demolished? I'm not sure but it is perhaps worth mentioning that sometime in the early 80's the old south block of Western market, which used to stand on the southern part of Bonham Strand here, was demolished to make way for the ugly carbuncle that goes by the name of the Sheung Wan Municipal Services Building. So perhaps the toilet block was demolished at the same time and the area remodelled to its current configuration? If anybody can give me more accurate dates or events I would appreciate it.

The top image below is looking from east to west along Bonham Strand. Morrison Street is running left to right immediately behind the car. As you can see the toilet block behind the car consisted of a single storey and double storey part. Maybe the upper part was a bath house? This is quite a common thing for toilets in HK (not that I spend much time hanging around them I hasten to add...)

 Front of the low block, you can see the Bonham Strand street sign.

The above image shows the view looking north up Morrison Street, where the car is. The actor who plays A-Cheung (Yi Lui - 伊雷) is walking along Bonham Strand and in the background behind the car you can see a no right turn sign on Wing Lok Street. Wing Lok Street at the time continued behind the toilet block, but that part is now part of the rest garden.

Finally, the last shot below shows us looking back the other way up Morrison Street with the toilet block on the right. The brightly lit shop in the background was the "Kam Yuen Store". It occupied the ground floor of a building that still stands on the corner of Bonham Strand and Morrison Street. The current occupant of that space - at least the last time I was there - is a branch of Rich Harvest, a real estate agent. The ramshackle hoardings on the left are where Harmony Court now stands.