The Taxi Driver - David Chiang (1975) - Waterloo Road, Kowloon Tong

In another scene, Chen and his friend, To Fat (Wang Chung), are stopped at the lights on the junction of Waterloo Road and Cornwall Street. The wall on the right is still there, looks the same and even is still painted the same colours. In the background you can see the former Osborn Barracks (now P.L.A Kowloon East Barracks) and just tucked away on the left is HKT Telephone exchange building on the corner of Junction Road.

The Taxi Driver - David Chiang (1975) - Devon Road, Kowloon Tong

 Chen's first fare for the day is a couple who flag him down as he is driving up Devon Road. All the properties on the right hand side have been demolished and replaced by the offices of the Mormon Church.

The Taxi Driver - David Chiang (1975) - Tsan Yung Mansions, Homantin

The film uses a real life company, The Blue Taxicabs Ltd, as the company for who Chen works for. Formerly based on Nathan Road, the company built and then moved into the Tsan Yung Mansion building in the mid-1960s. The building is still around but the company has long departed - like many other companies in Hong Kong, property development and the vast amount of money to be made doing it lured many away from their traditional industries. Anyway, if you want to read more, Huw Farmer's excellent Industrial History website has an article or two.

The Taxi Driver - David Chiang (1975) - Diocesan Boys' School Sports Ground

Going back many years and I have Neil MacDonald to thank for this identification. When I first did this movie I put this place on my help me page and Neil responded saying that he immediately recognised it thanks to his many years playing cricket on the very same ground. So, another somewhat belated (10+ years) thanks to Neil again for saving me some time.

This is the park where Chen Guang goes to practise his kung fu in the morning before his shift starts. If you are wondering what is in the background now, wonder no more (trigger warning).

The Taxi Driver - David Chiang (1975) - Shek Kip Mei Estate

This next shot, also part of the opening sequence, is a shot between several of the Shek Kip Mei Resttlement Estate blocks. I can even tell you exactly which ones because there is a key location in these images that still exists. At the far distance is a building with what looks to elongated window apertures. They're not windows in fact but just the concrete patterns on the side of St Thomas' Church on Berwick Street. This means we are looking down the gap between Blocks 7,8,9 and 10 of the old estate. This same gap these days is now blocked at either end by newer (circa 80s) buildings.

l-r Block 8, Block 7

St Thomas's Church in the far centre

l-r Block 9, Block 10

The Taxi Driver - David Chiang (1975) - View of Northern Kowloon

I've been waiting a while for the Celestial Shaw Youtube channel to upload this because it was one of the first "local" films I covered on my blog many years ago. Sadly, at the time I only had a VCD version and those things are not very good for decent screen captures. Also, it was at a time when I decided to concentrate on foreign movies only and so, regrettably in hindsight, the posts were deleted (along with some for Shaolin Temple I think).

Well, now that local films are becoming the bread and butter of the blog, it's nice to be able to look at this movie again and perhaps get some locations that I missed the first time around.

The film centres around Chen Guang (David Chiang) a humble taxi driver who is just an honest guy wanting to make some money so he can marry his girlfriend, Lai-ching (Lin Chen-chi). The film has a variety of small stories about the shenanigans that drivers and their passengers get up to, but the main story is how some criminals have decided to rob a bank and intend to kidnap Chen Guang and make him drive his taxi as their getaway vehicle.

The film starts with some scenic establishing shots of various points around the territory. This initial image is a view looking east across northern Kowloon's shanty villages. The "higher" rise on the far left is the old Shatin Pass Estate. The estate it still around but those old buildings have been replaced by taller ones. The other high rise on the right is the Manning Theatre building on Yuk Wah Street. Back then it was the tallest building, these days it's just a baby compared to how the area now looks. The squatter huts between them and the camera correspond to what is now largely the Chuk Yuen Estate and Ma Chai Hang.

Hong Kong 73 - Yueh Hua (1974) - Hollywood Road, Sheung Wan

The last location from this film is Hollywood Road in front of Man Mo Temple as Chan's father returns home from work and learns that his neighbour has committed suicide by jumping off a building. He was a stock broker and suffered a huge loss when he mistakenly bought fake shares. It's one of the weirder subplots for a "comedy" but I guess satire comes in manay forms. Anyway, the scene shows a red minibus driving along Hollywood Road and stopping outside the temple where Mr Chan alights.

Hong Kong 73 - Yueh Hua (1974) - Statue Square, Central

While Chan's dad and his buddy are walking around town they come across what looks to be a share certificate, only to realise it is fake. Sadly, this is another of the issues that apparently faced investors in the early 1970s. This takes place in Statue Square as you can tell by the concrete canopy. The place is currently undergoing some "renovation" due to the nearby Central Yards development. Who knows what it will look like afterwards. Watch this space.

Hong Kong 73 - Yueh Hua (1974) - Castle Peak Hospital, Tuen Mun

Opened in 1961 as Hong Kong's main psychiatric hospital, it replaced the old one on Eastern Street (you will remember it from this) which was repurposed as an outpatient clinic. The hospital is still around on the same site, but has been extensively redeveloped into a much larger facility. The one we see below was quite small. One thing to note though is that despite all the change, the hospital still uses its original engraved name stone with its Chinese name (青山醫院). You can compare the name stone image below with the same one that currently sits outside the main entrance.

Hong Kong 73 - Yueh Hua (1974) - Carnarvon Road, Tsim Sha Tsui

A general shot from the film (I don't remember the context) that shows a very famous junction between Carnarvon Road and Granville Road in Tsim Sha Tsui. The Kaiser Restaurant was a long standing eatery here (between 1955 - 1977) on the NE corner of the junction. The building it was on was demolished soon after and replaced by the current Taurus Buildingh. However, on the oppiste corner, containing "Heung Bun" (on the right) is one of the buildings still around. Granville Road itself has one of the greatest concentrations of 50s era tenements along both sides of the road. However, they arec all slowly being replaced one by one. 

Hong Kong 73 - Yueh Hua (1974) - Monmouth Terrace, Kennedy Road

Chan goes to find his car after the friends borrowed it and turns up to find it is a wreck and about to get a ticket. This scene was filmed on the service/petrol station layby off Kennedy Road where Monmouth Terrace stands. The structure with the windows on the right of the top image is still there and is the service station building. Behind the policemen is a road sign that says "Monmouth Path". The path starts just behind them and goes down to Star Street area in Wanchai.

Hong Kong 73 - Yueh Hua (1974) - High Street, Sai Ying Pun

 When the whole group goes to the police station to report afew issues, Chan parks his car outside but is called back out to remove his car as it's illegally parked. He then discovers his headlights have been stolen and gets a ticket for driving with no lights. This whole scene was filmed outside the old No.8 police station on High Street and you can see the old psychiatric hospital building, of which the facade still remains, as Chan drives down the street to park again around the corner on Eastern Street.

Hong Kong 73 - Yueh Hua (1974) - View from Hotel Lisboa

The group are staying at a hotel and return to their room after hitting it big. I can't say for sure if the room is real or a set, but the view from the window is definitely the view you would have seen from the original Hotel Lisboa block back in the 1970s. It's a view that disappeared in the 1991 when the second hotel block was completed. The initial image shows a close up of the top of the St Paul's Church facade peaking out above the main block of the neighbouring "Colegio Mateus Ricci". That angle gives us a triangulation point that points all the way back to the Lisboa.

I'm not sure what the long yellow building in the second image is, but I believe it was removed to make way for the visual atrocity that is known as the Grand Lisboa. This latter construction, that I used to refer to as "Stanley Ho's catheter", is the main reason for the lack of a view today, but it was also blocked by the second, round block of the Lisboa mentioned earlier.

In the lowest image, Ching Li has the Club Militar behind her head. It's painted a pastel red colour these days and has had a bit of a facelift. Despite the mess that is the Cotai Strip, Macau in general has a bit more veneration for its built heritage.

So, is it a real hotel or just a studio set with back projection? I'm still unsure.

Hong Kong 73 - Yueh Hua (1974) - Rua das Lorchas, Ponte No.16

Another of the Macau establising shots is an oblique angle of the famous Ponte No. 16 along Rua das Lorchas. This structure was built in 1948 (by Fu Tak Iam I believe - the controller of the original gambling monopoly before he was ousted by Stanley Ho and Henry Fok et al). Thankfully it's still around, or at least was the last time I was here about 3 years ago.

Hong Kong 73 - Yueh Hua (1974) - Avenida do Dr. Oliveira Salazar, Macau

This road isn't known by this name anymore - it has since been split into Avenida Doutor Mário Soares and Avenida da Amizade, I'm just not sure what year that happened. The section youv can see below is now the Avenida da Amizade part. Anyway, the group of friends decide to head to Macau for some gambling and end up losing all their money before pawning their watches and winning it all back again, and then some. I'm not convinced how much of the Macau scenes were actualy filmed there but this image below is one of the shots in the middle of the sequence. The silhouetted building in the distance is the Hotel Lisboa. For a comparison of the same view before the hotel was built, you can see this page (second image down showing a similar aspect).

Hong Kong 73 - Yueh Hua (1974) - Fei Ngo Shan Road

The group decide the only thing for them to do is to go up Fei Ngo Shan Road. However, it's here where they suffer a double puncture and have to push the car all the way back into town. I walked this road just a few weeks ago as part of the Wilson Trail Stage 4 (which is why I was able to make this post, it's basically the same road even though the name changes at the junction with Jat's Incline).

Hong Kong 73 - Yueh Hua (1974) - Clearwater Bay Road

Now unable to go to either Stanley, or back to Fanling, the group instead decide to head into Sai Kung Tai Au Mun. This is basically the area where all the Clearwater Bay beaches are located. To get there they have to drive back into Kowloon and get on Clearwater Bay road. The images below show the section where it joins Fei Ngo Shan Road (you can see the signpost for Gilwell's Camp). In the film, they are stopped once again, this time by the police who tell them the road ahead is blocked by a truck.

Hong Kong 73 - Yueh Hua (1974) - Lion Rock Tunnel Road, Shatin

After turning back on their journey to Stanley, the group then head back through the Lion Rock Tunnel towards Fanling. It's here where they are told there is also congestion in that direction as well!

The initial image below shows Lion Rock, but it's a view not many people are familiar with because it's from the Shatin-side of the hills. As the camera zooms out, you can see that we are at the tunnel toll booths. The booths are still marked on Google Maps but were removed circa 2023 when the Govt implemented a fully comprehensive electronic tagging system for vehicles entering/leaving the tunnel. The same system has been applied across Hong Kong which is why you no longer have to stop to pay a toll on the way to/from the airport.

This last image was taken on the Shatin-end of Lion Rock Tunnel Road where it intersected with Tai Po Road. Turn left and you head back to Kowloon, turn right and the road takes you past Shatin. The cars in the backgrpund are on the Tai Po Road, but behind them would be where the KCR rail line ran alongside the road. For modern context, this area is more or less the same one where Lion Rock Tunnel Road ends today, at the junction with Tai Po Road - Tai Wai section, but closer to the "Scenery Court" development. 

Hong Kong 73 - Yueh Hua (1974) - Cross Harbour Tunnel Road

The group of friends decide to go to Stanley for the day, only to have to turn back due to congestion. This image is interesting because it shows the beginning of the construction work that would become Hung Hom Station. The ramp on the right is the ramp that connects Hong Chong Road with the podium/bus terminus area of the current station. So this 1973/74 image fits nicely with the 1975 opening of the new station. The camera is located on a pedestrian bridge. The bridge is still there but has been heavily developed since then. It's the one that connects the station to the PolyU site.

Hong Kong 73 - Yueh Hua (1974) - Tai Lin, Nathan Road

Chan's (Yueh Hua) dad is the manager at the Tai Lin Radios store on Nathan Road. This was a real place and a real business that sadly went into administration following the 2008 financial crisis. Despite this the large Chinese sign outside the shop stayed in place for many years and was a sort of local landmark - knowing its location (at #310) has certainly helped me locate a few places on the blog in the past.

Hong Kong 73 - Yueh Hua (1974) - Star Ferry Pier, Tsim Sha Tsui

Following on from his huge success with The House of 72 Tenants, Chor Yuen (perhaps known better to people who come here as the head bad guy in Police Story), Hong Kong 73 was a follow up that includes one of the biggest ensemble cast I have ever seen in a movie. The roll call is so large the film is still introducing them (via on screen titles of their names) right up until the end. The film is a satire  and the plot follows a closeknit group of residents along "Hong Kong Street" and sees them dealing with a variety of issues in Hong Kong at the time: gambling, the stock market, poverty, success, hospital queues, poor housing, suicide, typhoons etc. As a current Hong Kong resident, a lot of these problems resonate with modern Hong Kong as well, so they are not really things that have ever gone away. A film like this could never be made today. If it was the cast would be blacklisted, the director would be tried for endangering National Security and the film would never get through the current censorship regime.  

Yueh Hua and Ching Li star as the main characters. A couple who work as a security guard and high school teacher respectively, and the story revolves around them and their various family members and acquaintances. The film starts off with some nice views of the Kowloon Star Ferry pier in Tsim Sha Tsui as seen from the rooftop carpark of Ocean Terminal.