Asia-Pol Secret Service - Wang Yu (1966) - View of Victoria Harbour

A big thanks to Peter Nepstad for supplying me with a copy of one of the titles from my Missing Films list of several movies I am having problems getting copies of. This mid-60s title was a co-production between Shaws and the Japanese company Nikkatsu. Apparently it was part of the remastered DVD release by Celestial in the early 00's but I have had no luck tracking down a copy even in Hong Kong. Peter has been kind enough to send me one so we can have a good look at the many locations.

One of the most interesting things about this movie is that two versions were filmed (a bit like Irreversi): a Japanese one starring Hideaki Natani in the main role, and the Chinese version with Wang Yu. The version here is the Chinese one, but if anyone knows where the Japanese one can be found, please let me know as it would be interesting to compare scenes and see if there is a difference in locations.

It's also fitting that this is my next film because Wang Yu just recently passed away on the 5th April. I'm not a fan of his work at all I'm afraid but I appreciate the contribution he has made to the movie industry. I suspect that my opinion of him is coloured a bit by the recent documentary covering the making of The Man from Hong Kong which painted him as rather unpleasant (e.g. deliberately eating flies before his kissing scene with the female co-star), Cheng Pei-pei calling him the trouble maker between Lo Wei and Bruce Lee in an interview for the HK International Film Festival several years ago, oh yes and the general links to Taiwanese gangsters and the murder charge.

Anyway, in this movie a very young and pre-superstar Wang Yu plays a member of Asia-Pol, a of Pan-Asian Police organisation along the lines of MI6 or the CIA. They are out to bring down a notorious Japanese gangster who is smuggling gold into Japan from Hong Kong. It's basically a pretty decent attempt at a James Bond type film with all sorts of twists and turns and even some nifty gadgets thrown in for good measure. The action starts off in Japan before moving to Hong Kong where, in a sub-plot, Wang Yu's long lost biological father is assassinated by the gang after he has been involved in some of their logistical work.

The opening Hong Kong scene is a nice panning shot taken from a moving car driving somewhere along the Peak area. The eagle-eyed will be able to spot points of interest, but for most people it's just a nice view of Hong Kong before it became cluttered with high rises.