Erotic Journey: Love Affair in Hong Kong - Hirokazu Inoue (1973) - Des Voeux Road Central

Sumio (Hirokazu Inoue) wanders around Hong Kong looking for his estranged wife and eventually goes into his company's office - located in the old Gloucester Building on the corner of Des Voeux Road Central and Pedder Street. The building was demolished in the late 80s and Gloucester Tower now stands on the site. During its time, the Gloucester Buiding was quite a highly recognisable landmark because of the clocktower on the roof.

The bottom images are from later in the film as Sumio's sister-in-law tries to convince him to return to Japan. He wanders off in front of the Gloucester Building and walks past the old Alexandra House.

Amaya - Kaori Momoi (2010) - Various views around Central

Quite a few of the opening scenes were shot in and around Statue Square in Central. But there are also afew shots along Des Vouex Road Central, such as the reflection of Alexandra House in the windows of Chater House (image 3) and a view looking west towards the Yat Fat Stationers sign (image 5). The latter is still there as far as I know, despite all the recent sign removals carried out by the Govt.

Tokyo Gang vs Hong Kong Gang - Ken Takakura (1964) - Des Voeux Road Central

One of the rendezvous points, where Kitahara has planned to meet Chang, is at the junction of Chater Road, Pedder Street and Des Voeux Road Central (DVRC). We can see the DVRC entrance of the General post Office in the background of several shots. I hadn't realised there was more than one entrance to the old GPO so that was a nice surprise. Other buildings include the former Jardine House on the south west corner of Pedder Street and DVRC.

GPO on the right, (old) Jardine House on the left. View is looking west

Looking east with the corner of (old) Alexandra House on the left

Hong Kong (series) - Rod Taylor (1960) - Alexandra House, Central

Another major building in the central area, this time the original Alexandra House that stood at the junction between Chater Road and Des Voeux Road Central. This art deco style version was built in the 1950s and lasted until the mid-70's before being demolished and rebuilt into the current version. I prefer the older one.

In the background on the left you can see the end of the old Prince's Building which was demolished a few years after this for another modern, less inspiring, replacement. The same can be said for the other side of the background. The Chartered Bank building lasted slightly longer (in to the 1980s) before being redeveloped.

Les Tribulations d'un Chinois en Chine - Jean-Paul Belmondo (1965) - Des Voeux Road Central, Hong Kong

Moving a few streets over from the last post and this time we are at that rather large and open junction in Central formed by the intersection of Pedder Street, Des Voeux Road and Chater Road. From this angle we are standing on Des Voeux Road looking down Chater Road.

There's actually only one building in this scene that is still around and that's the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in the distance. The smaller more ornate one next to it is the original St George's Building. This is possibly one of the last times it was captured on film because the building was knocked down in 1966 and replaced by the current version. You can also see the former Union House (on the left, it was later renamed Swire House but has since been replaced by Chater House) and on the right is the former incarnation of Alexandra House. The junction itself looks very similar despite the buildings all being replaced.