Anti-Corruption - Bill Lake (1975) - Hennessy Road, Wanchai

Another street level shot with a bar/cub sign that helps us place the location at the southern end of Fenwick Street where it joins Hennessy Road. The camera is on the south side of Hennessy Road and pans left to right. There's not much still around here other than the white building directly behind the buses on the right hand side in the second image. This building is still standing on the NE corner of the junction. At the time it was the "Hotel Singapore" but now it is the "Kew Green Hotel". This is the same building that was quarantined for a week in 2009 due to a Swine Flu outbreak with images of trapped guests waving out of the windows. It was the Wanchai Metropark at the time. The HK Govt sure seems to enjoy locking people up in hotel rooms (I'm speaking from experience after spending 3 weeks in one following my return from the UK).

Anti-Corruption - Bill Lake (197) - Lockhart Road, Wanchai

Some more street shots whilst the opening credit's preamble describes the state of corruption in the Hong kong police force at the time. The following is the view (looking east) along Lockhart Road between Arsenal and Fenwick Streets. The Pussycat Bar was located on the SW corner of Lockhart and Fenwick Streets where the Empire Hotel now stands.

Anti-Corruption - Bill Lake (1975) - Gloucester Road, Wanchai

The next scene in the opening of the film is a panning shot that starts on the (since replaced) Wanchai ferry pier on the newly reclaimed waterfront north of Gloucester Road. The camera then pans right to align with the road. The location of the camera - in an elevated position above the road, suggests it was placed on the newly built flyover that connected Fleming Road with the new ferry pier. So we are looking east from Fleming Road. If you look closely you can just make out a pedestrian bridge that crossed Gloucester Road at the end of Tonnochy Road.

Anti-Corruption - Bill Lake (1975) - Victoria Harbour, Hong Kong

One of the great encounters I have had over the past few years has been with a local military historian called Bill Lake. I met Bill one evening at a Gwulo.com get-together (pre-Covid of course) and although he now dedicates his time to researching Hong Kong's military past (Bill is an ex-soldier from the Royal Regiment of Artillery) and is one of its pre-eminent historians, he also has a fairly impressive resume of Hong Kong films under his belt.

Anyway, just after leaving quarantine on my return to HK, myself and David Bellis (the man behind Gwulo) headed out to Sai Kung to meet Bill for a coffee and chinwag. One of the things I departed with that day was a copy of one of Bill's larger films roles in the form of an Ng See Yuen film called Anti-Corruption. The film *fictionally* portrays the events surrounding the eventual prosecution of renowned bent copper, Peter Godber, and his fellow corrupt police officers. Bill plays the main character, Taff Hunter, who arrives in Hong Kong as an arrow-straight policeman who eventually gets overwhelmed by the constant pressure to accept bribes.

The film starts off as Taff is counting his weekly stack of bills and then goes into flashback as he reminisces about how it all started. Bill told me that at the time of release, it was really popular with local policeman who, after being kept in the dark about the events surrounding Godber's capture, were keen to see how everything had played out. It appears that the rank and file didn't know that most of the arrests were achieved through confessions taken by senior officers in return for dropping of charges or reduced sentences.

One problem with the film is that it appears to be the only copy available. The picture quality appears to be a pan-and-scan VHS transfer from the 1980s, so the screencaps I have aren't great, but there are some interesting locations so I thought it was worthwhile including here. I don't think this movie has had a release outside of the early 80s? If anyone knows differently, please feel free to comment because it would be nice to get Bill a better version.

The opening scenes start with this zoomed in view of a passenger liner berthed at Ocean terminal, before the camera lens pulls back to reveal the harbour and the main part of Central. Most of the right hand side of the loer image has been redeveloped - the Furama and Hilton Hotels disappearing a while ago. But most recently (whilst I was in the UK it seems) Hutchison House has also been demolished to make way for a more modern one now being constructed.

Irreversi - Mei Melançon (2010) - Hung Hom Promenade, Kowloon

This is the location where Lynda starts to get pain in her stomach following the day out at the beach.

Irreversi - Mei Melançon (2010) - Shek O Beach, Hong Kong

This is the beach where the couple go to rekindle their relationship. The recognisable shape of Ng Fan Chau, the small island off the coast, can be seen in the baskground.

Irreversi - Mei Melançon (2010) - Sai Ying Pun Community Complex, High Street

The bin where Adam dumps his trash was located on High Street in front of the SYP Community Complex. You may remember this as the orphange where Van Damme was dropped off as a baby at the beginning of Double Impact.

Irreversi - Mei Melançon (2010) - Nga Tsin Long Road, Kowloon City

The establishing shot for where Adam goes to buy his taxidermy chemicals is Nga Tsin Long Road in Kowloon City. It looks as though the Cambo Pho restaurant seen in the image below is still around.

Irreversi - Mei Melançon (2010) - IFC Walkway, Central

This is the pedestrian walkway that connects the large IFC development with the Central Ferry Piers elevated walkway and Pier 3. This is where Lynda and her bestie, Kat, have a heart to heart about Lynda's marriage.

Irreversi - Mei Melançon (2010) - 1 Chatham Path, Central Mid-levels

The next location is quite a historical one. In the film's plot it is a unique house designed by renowned Chinese architect "E.L Xiong" but in reality it is the equally renowned and thankfully still around  (for the time being) 1 Chatham Path. The house was built in 1927 by John Caer Clark as a private residence, but between 1952 and 1973 operated as an exclusive private school. The building is currently owned by Sino Land and is still listed as a residential property up for lease if you have the wonga. 

In the film, Adam knows it's Lynda's favourite building in Hong Kong and he sneakily buys it for her as a surprise. A significant amount of filming was done at the property and I have far too many screencaps to include, but here are some better ones.

Irreversi - Mei Melançon (2010) - Victoria Peak Garden, The Peak

Adam (Ian Bohen) wants to surprise Lynda (Mei Melançon) and takes her to a riding stables where he has hidden an engagement ring amongst the folds of one of the horse's manes. The opening shot shows a signboard that says "The Peak Stable". Of course, this doesn't really exist and the location on screen is the Victoria Peak Garden. It looks a bit different these days because the central flower garden section has been redesigned and the centre of the square now contains a small pavilion.

I also realised (after already publishing this post) that the final funeral service scene was also filmed at the same location. If you go to the right hand side of the above location, that side of the garden serve as the cemetery with some rather not-so-convincing gravestones stuck into the ground - the scene reminded me a bit of the one from Infernal Affairs. The peak in the background is the top of High West.

Irreversi - Mei Melançon (2010) - The Cairnhill, Tsuen Wan

It's getting increasingly difficult to get hold of copies of some films but thankfully I have managed to procure a copy of Irreversi. Apparently shot in 2006 (but released in 2010) it was made back-to-back with a Chinese version (called Hui Lu) that is the same story reshot with a full Chinese cast. The story revolves around a woman (Mei Melançon) whose brother has recently been killed in a parachuting 'accident' and is swept off her feet by her brother's business partner (Ian Bohen) who has just sold their company and made a fortune. However, things don't quite appear to be as they seem. I haven't seen the Chinese version but am assuming it uses the same locations as this English one? If you know any different then feel free to let me know. Despite the film's age, its website is still around: http://www.irreversi.com/

One of the first proper locations to appear in the film is the couple's pre-wealth condominium apartment which was filmed at a development called "The Cairnhill". It's located at the southern end of Route Twisk and is seperated into two main sections. You can see the link road between the two in the lower screencap.

Young People - David Chiang (1972) - Shek Kong Airfield, Kam Tin

The final bonding event for the new found friends is a Go-kart race around the air strip at Shek Kong in the New Territories. It turns out these were indeed a real thing. I suspect that the film crew hijacked a real event and perhaps shot a few crowd scenes with real crowds before filming their own race sequences in closer detail.

Young People - David Chiang (1972) - Silverstrand Beach Road Car Park, Clearwater Bay

I haven't got much to add beyong what has already been covered by Andi on his blog post other than the fact that in the film this carpark is supposed to be just up the hill from the college campus and the houses you can see have all been replaced. Also, the hill area where Ti Lung and his cohorts are training is now taken up by the rather funky curved Silverstrand Shopping Centre.

Young People - David Chiang (1972) - Shaw Villa, Movietown

Inevitably in Shaw Bros movies we see a lot of the buildings that were on the Movietown backlot, but it's not often that we catch a glimpse of Sir Run Run's villa located at the very rear of the lot. However, in Young People the house is used as David Chiang's home and he takes his friends back there to train them up in some kung fu moves. They vault the main gate and then run up the famous sweeping driveway to the front door.

Judging by recent changes to the redevelopment plans for Movietown, it looks as though the Shaw Villa as well as Shaw House - located at the front of the site - might be preserved and incorporated into the new development. I hope so because it would be a shame to lose everything from this historical part of Hong Kong cinema.

Young People - David Chiang (1972) - Cafe Galano, Earl Street

In the scene where David Chiang is followed by Agnes Chan from a cafe, the venue was a place called Cafe Galano (嘉蘭娜餐廳). This appears to have been a popular "al fresco" cafe located at 284 Prince Edward Road West opened in 1961 and frequented by the Hong Kong glitterati of the time.

The bit we see in the film appears to have been a side exit on Earl Street and it is here where Chiang turns north and walks towards Boundary Street with Agnes in close pursuit. Pretty much all of the buildings around here have been redeveloped and, coincidentally, the last screen cap shows a construction site hoarding for what I believe was the construction of "Earl Gardens" (completed in December of 1972).

The site of the cafe was redeveloped into a residential block called Prince Garden a few years (circa 77/78) after this film was shot.

The Earl Street side entrance for Cafe Galano

Looking towards Prince Edward Road West

Looking towards Boundary Street

Agnes Chan looking towards the construction site of Earl Gardens

Young People - David Chiang (1972) - Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin

I was walking around Sham Shui Po the other day and noticed a video vendor had some old Shaw Bros films for sale (the Celestial DVD releases from the early 00's) and decided to have a look at Young People. It's a contemporary (relatively speaking) Chang Cheh film about a bunch of students who overcome their conflicts to become best of friends. It's not his best film but at least there are some nice clear shots of some familiar locations including the main exterior location at CUHK. If there are any alumni from this place (CUHK or the earlier established Chung Chi College) feel free to leave a comment about the buildings seen below.

The film starts with a view of the campus from the vantage point of Tai Po Road, which runs along the hillside above the campus.

The next part of the sequence (it's filmed from a moving vehicle and so is a bit bouncy at times) sees us going under the arch of the Chung Chi College pai lau and then down the hill into the campus grounds.
  

The car drives down the road and we get a brief glimpse of what is now called the CUHK ELizabeth Luce Moore Library and the two halls of residence (background right hand side) which are called "Hua Lien Tang" and "Ming Hua Tang" (according to Centamap). All these buildings are still around.

The library gets a bit more of a closeup as Agnes Chan runs out to tell off Ti Lung for whacking a baseball through a window. She looks across to the Lingnan Sports ground where they are playing baseball.

The final building to show is the Chung Chi Tang building with its triangular structure. There are some scenes supposedly filmed inside, but I think the interior was actually a very convincing studio set constructed at Shaws because the scale and details are slightly off. But anyway, here is the gang as they leave the main entrance.

The is basically the extent of the are used for filming, but obviously there are a lot more angles on the film that are too numerous to include on the post. Anyway, if at some point the universities here get reopened to the public (they were ALL secured following the student demonstrations in 2019) I will go and get some modern comparison shots.