China Rose - George C. Scott (1983) - Cotton Tree Drive, Central

One of the first things on the agenda when they land in Hong Kong is a trip to the US Embassy, which they start out on by heading up Cotton Tree Drive. The 1983 view of this area is vastly different compared to today. At the back we can see (from right to left) Fairmont House, almost brand new after being completed in 1982. Behind that is Bank of America Tower although at the time it was  called Carrian House (a big scandal revolved around it in the 80's). In front of them all is the Murray Road car park that was sold for redevelopment recently and behind that is Hutchinson House.

Now gone is the Furama Hotel and the small building next to it was Sutherland House. What's missing of course is the Bank of China Tower that was eventually built where all the cars are parked. Construction didn't start until 1985 though so this view shows the site after Murray Barracks had been dismantled but before the bank building construction started.

The second screencap shows the view up the road with the Murray Building on the right - currently being turned into a hotel - and the two towers of St Joseph's College further up the hill.

Foxbat - Henry Silva (1977) - Gloucester Road, Wanchai

The next shot of the ambulance is as it turns onto Gloucester Road from Arsenal Street. This is a great picture and it's a shame I haven't got a better quality version because there is a whole bunch of stuff to be seen. As well as the recognisable buildings in the background (which include the Bank of America Tower - then perhaps still known as the Gammon Centre? - Hutchinson House, Furama Hotel and the Connaught Centre - now Jardine House), there is a tantalising glimpse of Caine House in its former red coat of paint as well as the old China Fleet Club (behind the lamppost).

A little further on down the road and the ambulance is passing by the old Luk Kwok Hotel. That's the building with the red signage at the top. It's hard to see from this angle but it was actually a big advert for SANYO (it's the building immediately behind the ambulance in the picture below). I'm not to knowledgeable on the various buildings that can be seen but suffice to say most have already been replaced. I think the only survivors are the PICO Tower (newly built and on the other side of the Luk Kwok Hotel) and the Malaysia Building - the gold-coloured building in the background. Can anyone remember what the white building was on the right hand side?

Codename: Wildgeese - Lewis Collins (1984) - Far East Finance Centre, Central

A highly recognisable Central landmark courtesy of its rather 'striking' (i.e. naff) gold coloured windows. We've seen it on this blog before where it served as the HQ of Jackie Chan's enemy (played by Roy Chiao) in The Protector. In this film it also houses the offices of one of Collins's sponsors. It's featured a couple of times from various angles so here are screencaps from both occasions. The first one taken from the vantage point of ground level along Harcourt Road.

The second time we see it, the camera looks to have been placed on  top of the roof of the neighbouring Bank of America Tower (formerly Gammon House before a corruption scandal saw it sold on). You can see that building's reflection in those lovely tasteful shiny windows.

I'm not so sure that the office that the crew used in the film is actually in the Far East Finance Centre, because given the screen shot below - showing the old Furama Hotel almost immediately adjacent - I would hazard a guess and say it was actually shot inside an office inside Bank of America tower. Comments and corrections welcome, as always.

Soldier, Soldier (TV Series) - Robson Green (1992) - Harbourfront, Hong Kong

Another TV series for the blog and this time one that I missed when it was originally shown back in 1992 - I was grotty student in Leeds at the time spending most of my time listening to music rather than watching the box. Strictly speaking the episodes I am looking at are from series 2, when the so-called King's Fusiliers move to Hong Kong. The first two episodes of the series were still based back in the UK but the remaining 4 episodes were filmed in their entirety in Hong Kong.

One of the first scenes we are shown an army helicopter flying along the harbour front with a few sights to look at including the Shun Tak Centre in Sheung Wan (pic 1), the old vehicular ferry pier (pic 2 & 3) and finally the Bank of China and its surrounding buildings such as the Furama Hotel, the Ritz Carlton (both redeveloped), Hutchison House, Bank of America tower etc.

Yellowthread Street (TV Series) - Bruce Payne (1990) - Queensway, Central

A quick one as we follow an unmarked cop car past the Lippo Centre et al.

Speaking of the Lippo Centre, we also get a nice fly-by view of the harbour side of the same area showing the gold Far East Financial Centre, the (now) Chinese PLA HK Building (formerly part of HMS Tamar), followed by the Lippo again and ending with a partial view of Bank of America tower.

The Amsterdam Kill - Robert Mitchum (1977) - Connaught Centre/Jardine House, Central

Well, not so much the building, but actually the view from one of its famous circular windows. In the film the US Drugs Enforcement Agency is based inside.

The black and white building we can see through the window is the former Gammon House, now the Bank of America Tower - which was subject to a significant fraud case many year ago. Look carefully on the far left of the lowest picture and you can also make out Hutchison House and the Furama Hotel, the latter quite famous for its revolving restaurant at the top. HMS Tamar is the dockyard in front.

Yellowthread Street (TV Series) - Bruce Payne (1990) - Wanchai Harbourfront, Hong Kong

The whole series of Yellowthread Street uses some great aerial shots of the territory and the next one is from Episode 3: Key Witness. We have a nice sweeping view that starts from the Wanchai Interchange (the big roundabout below) and then pans west towards Central.

The flyover that crosses the main road (Gloucester Rd) towards the sports ground is Marsh Road. Just below we can see the black side of the Sun Hung Kai Centre.

The pool belongs to the Harbour Road Sports Centre and is called Wanchai Training Pool. All seem to have so far survived despite all the current reclamation going on.

This is the interesting bit (for me, at least) because it shows the area that is now occupied by Central Plaza (opened 1992) and where then small semi circle protrudes into the harbour is now occupied by the Convention and Exhibition Centre - the venue where the handover ceremony was held in 1997. The white building behind the Sun Hung Kai Centre is the China Resources Building and in front of that is a bare site which is where Central Plaza now stands. Despite all this redevelopment, I think most of these buildings still stand including the curved structure (next to the semi-circle) which is the Renaissance Harbour View Hotel.

The final few pictures looking over towards a rather misty looking Central, with HMS Tamar obvious (the square piece of water) at the harbourfront and for the more eagle-eyed of you should see the white with black stripes side of the Bank Of America tower and next to it the golden Far East Finance Centre.

Bruce Lee & I - Betty Ting Pei (1976) - View from the Hilton Hotel

Quite unexpected but welcome nonetheless is the following picture. No, this screen grab isn't from the film per se, but is a nice by-product of uploading photos to this Google blog.

In case you didn't know, Google has this funky new algorithm that goes through your photos looking for effects it can apply. It's already found a few of mine that it has automatically ,merged into panoramas etc.

The following picture, as you should know from my last post is taken from a room in the Hilton Hotel where Betty was supposedly staying during the story in Bruce Lee & I. Google took the three screen grabs I uploaded and simply removed Betty! - I think there are probably a few Bruce Lee fans around the world that wish they could do the same, though I'm not one of them.

Anyway the result is a nice clear view over to the buildings and out across the harbour and Betty being abducted by aliens.

Bruce Lee & I - Betty Ting Pei (1976) - Hilton Hotel, Central

Speaking of the Hilton Hotel, as we just were, here is a shot taken from it rather than of it. Betty is staying at a hotel in the film when she starts her liaison with Bruce. In reality she was staying at the Hyatt Regency over on Nathan Road in Kowloon, and Bruce was first introduced to her there, but in the film we have switched over to HK Island and she is shown staying at a nameless hotel, but as we can see from the film it is in fact the Hilton Hotel.

How do we know this? Well, looking out of her suite window we can see several buildings opposite: the yet-to-be-opened Furama Hotel, Hutchison House and what is now Bank of America tower.

The only building tall enough (because I am pretty sure this was not a back projected studio scene) to fit is the Hilton Hotel which was directly opposite the Furama.

Sadly, the Furama disappeared several years ago and was replaced by the AIG building that now stands in its place. Despite walking past it on several occasions I never went in to sample the revolving restaurant nor the bakery on the ground floor(?) that my wife says had the best cakes in HK :-)

Hutchison House (the shorter of the three) and BoA tower are still standing, for the time being.