Wednesday, December 6, 2023

Desperate Mission - Germán Cobos (1965) - River Jordan Nullah, Kowloon Bay

It does appear that much of the car chase was filmed along various points of Kwun Tong Road, however, this small snippet below is interesting enough to include separately because it shows a piece of infrastructure that seems to have disappeared into the mists of time.

The shots below show Agent Z-55's escape vehicle driving alongside a nullah (in Hong Kong this term refers to what is essentially a former natural waterway that has been concreted for easier control). This was the River Jordan that flowed down from the Kowloon hills, through the Jordan Valley and emptied into Kowloon Bay. This road doesn't appear to have a name but at the time connected Kwun Tong Road with the nearby Jordan Valley Resettlement Estate.

The nullah is actually still around. The aforementioned resettlement estate was demolished and the site now holds the Jordan Valley public swimming pool, and the nullah - now called the Jordan Valley Channel - can still be seen running along the north side of the site. However, it disappears underground by Choi Ha Road and on some maps is marked as continuing under Ngau Tau Kok Park, then under the Kowloon Bay MTR Depot, and then continuing onto somewhere near Sheung Yuet Road. I can only imagine it continues under here until it discharges into Kowloon Bay, but if any local engineers out there know any better please feel free to comment.

For some modern day context, the junction with Kwun Tong Road seen in the last image below - where Kwun Tong road bridges the channel - was located at the point where the footbridge from Exit A of the nearby Kowloon Bay Station now stands.

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