Percival Street - Now and Then

One more from the Times Square vicinity as I compare Percival Street from 1956 to 2026 - a nice round 70 year difference. The older images are from Flight to Hong Kong and the camera is located on Percival Street looking up Matheson Street (in the initial image) and then moving slightly left to look up Percival Street (lower images).

In the older, top image you can see the relatively empty space to the right of the tram which is where the old tram depot was located. Today's view shows how the Times Square development now occupies it. Although the roads and surrounding buildings occupy the same spaces they did 70 years ago.

Moving the camera slightly to the left and we are now looking south along Percival Street. The buildings that occupy the block between Percival and Matheson Streets are not the same ones from 70 years ago but, as is often the case with buildings in Hong Kong, the footprint remains the same even if the modern buildings are much taller. Actually, the building that currently occupies that angled corner plot in the foreground is called Percival House and it was constructed in 1959, so the earlier building seen in the older image didn't have long to go before it was replaced.

There are two buildings that can be "just about" seen in both images, however, the angle is a bit too acute to make out any great detail. In the upper image, if you go from the left and follow the Lee Theatre building until the vertical signage, the next two blocks belong to buildings that are currently still intact: 87- 89 Percival Street. In my modern comparison snap below they are the two blocks with the red vertical sign in front of them. They were built in 1954 and so weren't that old when Flight to Hong Kong was filmed.

Flight to Hong Kong - Rory Calhoun (1956) - Haven of Hope Jetty, Junk Bay

Here's another one I forgot to post back in the day despite including it in my Gwulo rundown a couple of years back. I scratched my head for quite sometime before being able to recognise some of the background hills and pinpointing the location of this small pier. There's a little bit more information here, but essentially this wooden jetty/pier was constructed to facilitate access to and from the Haven of Hope Hospital on the west side of Junk Bay back in the 1950s. The hospital was built for the purpose of treating those with TB so the remote location was intentional. Even today, HK sometimes suffers from an outbreak of this disease, largely from being imported from nearby territories where it has yet to be eradicated. The lack of roads meant the only access to the hospital was by sea, hence the pier.

In the movie, this is the undisclosed remote island where the diamond thieves/hijackers force the passenger plane to land before making off on a small motorboat with their haul. The only thing we know is that it is not supposed to be in Hong Kong but somewhere between Hawai'i and the Asian mainland.

The hospital is still around, but the amount of reclamation in Junk Bay and subsequent development means that it is now a major urban area to the west of Kowloon (officially it's part of the New Territories, not Kowloon). The pier is long gone, replaced by Ling Hong Road and I could probably get there in about 30 minutes if I still had my motorbike. In 1956, this was a major outing for the film crew so I suspect this pier scene and the subsequent boat raid sequence were shot on the same day/shoot. The fact that Tony (Rory Calhoun) rides around in the same boat used by the diamond hijackers in this scene seems to confirm that.

Around the World in 80 Days - David Niven (1956) - Cheung Chau

I have to thank Gwulo user, hkspace_wl, who recently posted a screen capture from Around the World in 80 Days showing that it does include some footage, albeit very brief, of Hong Kong and its environs.

The film was shot in 1955 and wiki states that principal photography took place between August and December of that year. It doesn't mention it specifically, but I assume this included all the location footage as well. It's interesting to me because Hong Kong is not listed in the film's page over at the AFI catalog. The history section of the film is an interesting read and well worth a few minutes of your time.

The actors' scenes were obviously shot on a film set and not on location in Hong Kong. Even by 1955 standards, Hong Kong was a modern city and would not have been able to provide the proper period setting for any close up scenes. It's this same reason why Cheung Chau was chosen as the best representation of the Victorian-era colony for the wide angle shots. Sadly it's only two, too brief snippets.

Both images are supposedly of Victoria Harbour, but obviously are looking west from Cheung Chau. The island on the centre left is Shek Kwu Chau where Hong Kong's new waste incinerator is currently being constructed. The second image shows the view further to the right (north) and shows a bit more of Lantau's southern coastline.

The main thing to note from the top photo is that the building bottom centre, with the roof terrace and flag, is still around. You can read a bit more about it on the Gwulo screen capture link I posted above.

Flight to Hong Kong - Rory Calhoun (1956) - Victoria Road, Mount Davis

A couple of scenes from this chase were showdown on Victoria Road on the west side of Mount Davis. In the first sequence, we can see the hairpin bend where Mount Davis Road joins with Victoria Road. The last shot shows the road further north with Green Island in the background.

  

Flight to Hong Kong - Rory Calhoun (1956) - Peak Road, Magazine Gap

Once the bad guys spot their car, a chase begins. This first shot shows the car driving down Peak Road towards Magazine Gap with 40 Peak Road just out of shot in the top right. Similar shots of the area from other films can be found here.

Flight to Hong Kong - Rory Calhoun (1956) - Albany Road, Central

Jean (Dolores Donlon) finally reunites with Tony and Mama Lin in the back of a car parked on Albany Road between the two sections of the Zoological and Botanical Gardens.
  

Flight to Hong Kong - Rory Calhoun (1956) - Hennessy Road, Wanchai

Whilst Jean and Tony are trying to give the bad guys the slip, Tony heads over to a phone booth located at the junction of Hennessy Road and Queen's Road East to make a phone call to Mama Lin.

   

Flight to Hong Kong - Rory Calhoun (1956) - International Funeral Parlour, Lockhart Road

I'm not sure if the funeral parlour was officially on Lockhart Road or Fenwick Street because it appears the main entrance was bang on the NW corner of the junction. I did add this screengrab to Gwulo a while back and some helpful comments have been added to the Gwulo page. The parlour was later replaced by the East Town Theatre and now the East Town Building. 
  

The film crew also shot some scenery of Lockhart Road as well by just turning the camera a little to the right at the junction. The view down Lockhart Road shows a section of the funeral parlour wall on the left before the columns of the tenements start. This was used for a back projected scene whereby Mama Lin (Soo Yong) reports someone following her to a traffic pagoda policeman (played by James Hong!).

Flight to Hong Kong - Rory Calhoun (1956) - former Junk Bay, Tseung Kwan O

The attempted cargo heist scene was filmed in the, then unreclaimed, northern section of Junk Bay -essentially what is now the Po Lam area of Tseung Kwan O. Of course it's completely unrecognisable now and even the mountains you see in the screencaps below are now very difficult to catch a glimpse of from ground level because of all the high rises blocking the view.

The first image below shows the view looking almost directly northwest between Razor Hill and Tai Sheung Tok. The ridgeline in the distance is Kowloon Peak. This image is actually a stitch of several screen caps from a camera pan. It's hard to believe that all of this area covered by water is now solid land and has high rises built on it. 

The next image shows Razor Hill.The flattish area on the left side of the hill is Pik Uk Au where Rise Park Villas now stands. Old readers may remember that flat area was used for filming A Queen's Ransom, so you can see the reverse view (back down into the bay) here.

The next image shows the view towards the mouth of the bay with the top of Tung Lung Chau just visible in the distance and Junk Island on the right of frame.

Flight to Hong Kong - Rory Calhoun (1956) - 21 South Bay Road, Repulse Bay

Tony (Rory Calhoun) lives in a rather lush property, supposedly in Macau, but the exterior shots for this place were filmed at a large property located at 21 South Bay Road. The property has since been knocked down and replaced by "Villa Corniche", a development of several luxury townhouses, but the road up to the house doesn't appear to have changed that much since the film was shot nearly 70 years ago.

Flight to Hong Kong - Rory Calhoun (1956) - Sham Shui Po Waterfront, Tung Chau Street

My memory has just been jogged by some posts over on Gwulo that feature various shots of the old Tsim Sha Tsui Star Ferry terminal taken from Flight to Hong Kong. I did a deep dive on this film a few years ago but also went back over it during the slow months of the pandemic and found quite a few more locations that I forgot to post about. So here is the result of the second look starting with an almost unrecognisable old waterfront in Sham Shui Po on what is now Tung Chau Street near Kiu Kiang Street. The big clue to the location here is the balconied building in the background. This was the Jubilee Buildings, a private tenement block that was later acquired by the army and incorporated into the Sham Shui Po Army Camp. It later became a transition centre for Vietnamese refugees awaiting approval for emigration overseas. The street corner where the car is parked is the entrance to what is now the lower section of Kiu Kiang Street.

Flight to Hong Kong - Rory Calhoun (1956) - Percival Street, Causeway Bay

During a car chase, the pursuer's car is blocked by a tram pulling out from what I believe to be the old tram depot in Causeway Bay - where the Times Square development now stands. That would make this the angled junction between Percival Street (on the left) and Russell St/Matheson St on the right.

Confirmation seems to come from the dome that can be just seen around the top left of the top image (directly above the car). This is the dome of the old Lee Theatre where Percival Street joins Leighton Road. The hill at the far end of Percival Street (past the dome) is Leighton Hill.

Flight to Hong Kong - Rory Calhoun (1956) - The Peak Tram, Central

Xmas must have addled my brain a little bit because I forget to put up a few of the remaining posts for Flight to Hong Kong. This is a scene when Dolores Donlon is being followed by a gangster and she hops on a tram at the lower tram terminus, and then rides it to barker Road before hopping off again and running away.

Flight to Hong Kong - Rory Calhoun (1956) - Pottinger Street, Central

The two girls flee their pursuers down Pottinger Street before heading into a cafe. Right now I am finding it hard to place which section of Pottinger Street but I suspect it's the bit between Stanley and Wellington Streets. Any higher up and I would expect to see side of the old Central Police Station at the top.

Flight to Hong Kong - Rory Calhoun (1956) - Tiger Balm Gardens, Tai Hang

This has been a long time favourite for foreign film makers in HK and it's just a shame that we only get to see a black and white version for this film. I wonder if there is a colour version of this film somewhere? If anyone knows please let me know.

Anyway, it's where the lead man (Rory Calhoun) meets up with his friend (played by Soo Yong). One of the images is a back projection studio shot. I've included it because it has an angle on the old swimming pool I haven't seen before. It's a weird shot because all it involved was Soo Yong rubbing the front of a Buddha statue (in a rather dodgy looking fashion) for good luck. I don't remember there being any Buddha statues at this place (it's been nearly 25 years since I went though) so I guess the film makers threw it in there because they had seen it going on at various temples and thought it added a bit of authenticity.

Another back projection shot filmed in the studio

Flight to Hong Kong - Rory Calhoun (1956) - Aberdeen, Hong Kong

A shot of Tony (Rory Calhoun) standing at the waterfront in Aberdeen, where he's been hiding since he arrived back to Hong Kong from San Francisco.