RIP Bill Lake

I was saddened this week to learn of the passing of Bill Lake. As most of your will know, Bill was one of the earliest foreign actors in the HK movie industry and had quite an extensive list of roles to his name over the years (HKMDB) including a few TV roles in the early 80s as well.

I first met Bill at a Gwulo dinner circa 2015 and we had fairly regular meet ups in the intervening time, often with David Bellis (Gwulo head honcho) and myself heading over to Sai Kung to sit in Bill's favourite venue (the Duke of York) for a large pint of lemonade. He was definitely a bit of a raconteur and shared lots of stories with us about his time in Hong Kong and the various roles he was involved in during the 1970s and 80s. His later life was dedicated to researching the history of Hong Kong during the Japanese occupation and is why Gwulo became a shared point of (historical) interest.

Bill posing at the Duke of York

Back in 2022, smack in the middle of Covid, I persuaded him to partake in an interview about his film career with my good buddy Arnaud (see here) and it was not long after this that he found out he had cancer. Despite this he was fairly stoic about it all and never complained about his predicament. In fact he was very matter-of-fact with me about it in our various updates over the past few years. This also seemed to give him the impetus to get a book written about his life and he was able to send me a copy a few weeks back.

Anyway, rest in peace Bill.

The Brain Stealers - Lily Ho Li-li (1968) - Shui Hing House/Prestige Tower

Another Inoue Umetsugu film here in the shape of The Brain Stealers, one of the many spy-oriented movies that Shaws produced in the 1960s. This one stars Lily Ho as a judo expert, Li Chiu-lan, daughter of a famous scientist who has just invented a process to boost plant growth and yield to help solve food shortages in the light of the earth's ever increasing population. The problem is there is a nefarious megalomanic called Dr Zero who want the obtain the secrets so he can use it on humans and create superhumans to help hm rule the world. Dr Zero has been kidnapping scientists from around the world and forced them to invent a machine that can swap peoples' minds (hence "Brain Stealers"), and he uses the machine on Chiu-lan's brother to swap his mind with one of his henchmen.

The plot is hilarious but good fun and although supposedly shot in Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan and Thailand (according to the excellent HKMDB) it is mainly a studio-based film with the odd location thrown in here and there.

The film opens with a panning shot of the harbour from Tsim Sha Tsui as the camera moves towards a judo class taking place on a nearby rooftop. This is where we first see Chiu-lan's prowess at chucking people around. The building they are training on is what is now called Prestige Tower but back in the 1960s was Shui Hing House. It's a nice view though because we also get to see the upper floors of the former Peninsula Court/Marco Polo hotel, the "Rolex" sign on top of Hotel Merlin and the brand spanking new Hankow Centre in the background (completed 1968 - it's the very clean building in the abckground of the third image).

The Peninsula Court Hotel rooftop (behind the titles)

The sign says (r-l) 香港大川柔道學院 (Hong Kong Great River Judo College)

Edinburgh Place - Now and Then

Whilst snapping some images for a City Hall comparison, I also took the opportunity to do the same for some stills from Weiße Fracht für Hongkong (aka The Mystery of the Red Jungle). Also shot in 1963, this movie was filmed in colour and shows the area around the soon-to-be-demolished Star Ferry multi-storey carpark.

Honestly, just looking at the background of the first images below is enough to make me depressed. Apparently it's called "progress".

City Hall high block as seen from Edinburgh Place

City Hall - Now and Then

City Hall was opened in 1962 and was fairly new when the French production, L'inconnue de Hongkong (aka Stranger from Hong Kong) arrived to film here in 1963. The movie was shot in black and white which adds a nice bit of atmosphere to these images shot under the covered walkway between the low and high blocks of the building. I was here today to visit the library and took the opportunity (in the absolutely sweltering heat, I hasten to add) to try and get some modern day comparisons.

The sequence shows Mitzi (Tania Béryl) walking along the walkway silhouetted by the bright sunshine behind her.

I couldn't quite get the angle right for the next comparison because there is a fast food restaurant in the place where I needed to stand. So you can see the Supreme Court Building (now the Court of Final Appeal) is in full view rather than being partially covered by the pillar.

The 5 Billion Dollar Legacy - Margaret Hsing Hui (1970) - Nathan Road, Yau Ma Tei

The establishing shot for the film's introduction to the third sister, Rongrong (Mona Kwok), is a view of some buildings along Nathan Road at the junction with Waterloo Road. Many of the buildings you can see are still around, including Lai Kee Mansion on the far right. Current view.

The 5 Billion Dollar Legacy - Margaret Hsing Hui (1970) - Kowloon Government Offices

The Kowloon Goverment Offices in Yaumatei also contain the Kowloon Central Post Office and this is the next location we see on film as the letters are sent to the sorting office. The establishing shot shows a couple of buildings, the one in the background has the name 平安大樓 (ping on dai lau) which, for those who don't know, is the Chinese name of the Alhambra Building on the corner of Nathan Road and Kansu Street. The building in front with the grey paint is the Govt office. Both buildings are still around.

The 5 Billion Dollar Legacy - Margaret Hsing Hui (1970) - Kai Tak Airport

 There are some really fun titles being put out on the Celestial/Shaw Youtube channel (https://www.youtube.com/@ShawBrosCinema). Even though there aren't many Hong Kong locations to be had in this next movie, The 5 Billion Dollar Legacy, it's worth watching for the twists and turns in the plot if you like that sort of thing. The film stars Margaret Hsing Hui as Peifang, one of three illegitimate daughters of a reclusive Hong Kong businessman who has a huge business empire in Tokyo.  He's writing up his will and has tracked down his only family, the three women, with a desire to let them share in his vast fortune.

The girls meet up for the first time on their way to Japan and once there find everything is not quite as it seems. Although most of the film appears to have been shot either in the studio or at a location in Japan, the opening scenes show the father's letters to his daughters as they travel from Japanese postbox to HK via the airport and then a local sorting office, were filmed in Hong Kong.

The film was directed by Japanese director, Inoue Umetsugu (he also directed a few other films on the blog e.g. Sunset, The Yellow Muffler and Operation Lipstick).

These first few images show the Royal Mail truck leaving Kai Tak after picking up the mail delivery.

Temple Hill Lion's Club Pavilion - Now and Then

I remember watching Shatter for the first time many years ago with my grandad - most likely in the early 80s - and being fascinated by an ornate pavilion that features in the film. As a youngster I used to think it would be cool to go there but had no idea at the time that, one day, I would be living not that far away from it. Life can be funny sometimes. What I didn't realise until today is that it is another of the pavilions in Hong Kong funded by the Lion's Club (there are other Lion's Club pavilions on the Peak - the famous one - and another in Shatin). 

Anyway, the pavilion marks, more or less, the end of the Wilson Trail Stage 4/start of stage 5 and so was my destination for a hike this morning. Absolutely tired out from walking up hills in hot, humid weather, I took the opportunity to grab a few comparison snaps for a Now/Then.

The Lady Professional - Lily Ho Li-li (1971) - Yau Ma Tei Police Station

The end of the film sees Tian-li turn herself in at the local police station. In this case it's the oft-used Yau Ma Tei Police Station on the corner of Canton Road and Public Square Street.

The Lady Professional - Lily Ho Li-li (1971) - Kai Tak Airport

Tian-li finally catches up with the mastermind behind Shi's assassination and the subsequent attempts to kill her. She knows he is leaving Hong Kong for Europe and goes to the airport in disguise.