This is Block/House 11, or "Tip Choi Villa" as it is also known on local maps. The house was constructed in 1962 and so is of an erain Hong Kong when houses were very much still being influenced by art deco and the like. I can only assume the interiors are real because I'm not sure a production like this would have gone to the expense of creating an interior in a studio. We also get to see lots of the garden. The garden terrace backs directly onto the sea here, which is convenient for when they all head off to Macau on Ah Chai's boat (see image 6). The property is still around and doesn't appear to have changed much. If you watch the sequel, Tragic Hero, you'll see that the house was also used for that movie - not surprising given that the films were made back-to-back - and in the scene where Chai escapes from the house on a speedboat, you can see the chimneys of the adjacent Lok On Pai Desalination Plant in the background. Coincidentally, I just posted about that place earlier this week.
You can see the boat beyond the garden
3 comments:
'I read that the entire 16 house lot was first purchased in '57 and subdivided in '59, so it seems all houses have the same No. 9 Lok To address and just the house/block numbers are different.'
I wrote that in the comments for another location, so I thought I'd add it here if anyone is interested. I would have expected each house to have its own number on Lok To St.
This entire cluster of houses is so interesting, starting with that name. Was it a famous BBQ pit for lovebirds before the houses went up? The desalination plant didn't exist yet when the occupational permit for the first house was given in January '60, so they didn't name it because they were expecting to be barbecued by that. How I wish I had the money to afford one.
As I remember from seeing it on TV, the interior had an art deco staircase and a fireplace in one of the upstairs bedrooms. Alex Man climbed the large tree close to No. 9 in 'Feud of Two Brothers' to save a cat, only for his partner to run that same cat over with his police Land Rover.
Thanks Rodney. I wonder if its history is linked in any way to the Castle Peak Hotel that was next door? As far as I know the hotel was set upin 1949,so perhaps the area where the estate is was once part of a BBQ section of the hotel grounds? I'm guessing of course, but it might also explain why this place was popular with stars and starlets - just around the corner from one of their favourite places to hobnob with each other.
It seems the Lands Department took action against owners of 15 of the houses in 2017 because part of their lots were on crown land. However, another source claims the owner of one such property challenged the action and won, so was able to redevelop.
Betty Loh Ti's old house was Block/House 3, which has been rebuilt. Her original house was still in the 2009 streetview. Adam Cheng's Instinct property at Block/House 4 is currently being redeveloped. It looks to me like Houses 2,4,6,8 initially had the identical 'Kowloon Tong' design. House 10, 12 shared another design. Clearly, House 10 is still in its original form, albeit possibly uninhabited for the past few years.
Oh, Lung Uk is another TV house(s), but as usual I don't know the series. I didn't recognize it at first, but then I saw the screencap of the general going to #2 and remembered the angle from an ATV or TVB series I've skimmed through recently. I also saw Eddie Maher's gym in the credits for something, likely not the same series as Lung Uk. This time I really am going to start writing down the series names/episodes and even nicked a bunch of betting slips from a JC branch to do it.
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