Flight to Hong Kong - Rory Calhoun (1956) - Caine House, Arsenal Street

Our next movie is Flight to Hong Kong, made at the tail-end of 1955 and released in 1956. It gets a mention in the 1955 Hong Kong Report saying it was one of 3 overseas productions to film in the colony that year (the other two being Soldier of Fortune - which was actually shot at the tail end of 1954 - and Love is a Many-Splendored Thing). Apparently, Sabre Productions (the production company of the director Joseph M. Newman) arrived in Hong Kong in December to shoot on location. What a shame then that the only copy I can find is a black and white VHS transfer (that was originally recorded off the Turner Classic Movie channel) that has rather poor picture quality. 

Anyway, the movie starts off as a sort of docudrama as we are given a voice over about the state of modern international crime. The voice over is supposedly provided by a member of the Hong Kong Police Force and describes how the colony's force is at the forefront of combating international crime. At the same time we get some nice proper shots of Caine House as it used to look back in 1955.

Caine House is still around of course, despite the HQ site being redeveloped. Anyway, here is an interesting comparison from thirty years later courtesy of China Rose.

China Rose - George C. Scott (1983) - Police HQ Arsenal Street, Wanchai

Just on the cusp of the line between Central and Wanchai is Arsenal Street where the Police HQ stands. The one that stands there now is new and the older version (pre-1990's redevelopment) can be seen below. Although the main site has been completely redeveloped, the building in the last picture is Caine House which is still standing.

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?

Foxbat - Henry Silva (1977) - Arsenal Street, Wanchai

We're just on the cusp of Wanchai District with this next shot. Although the ambulance turns left into Canal Street West in the previous scene, it actually ends up popping out by the waterfront along Gloucester Road by the Police HQ.

Sadly most of the screen grabs I have are badly interlaced and my efforts to fix them have resulted in an equally eye-crossing blockiness, so I just have one that is okay to look at. The shot below is looking south back along Arsenal Street from the elevated lane that goes into the eastbound direction of Gloucester Road. At the right of the screen you can see the old Police HQ that has since been replaced by the current version. 

Seeing as this is Arsenal Street, it's interesting to note that the compound had an extra couple of white painted watchtowers along that stretch of road before they were knocked down during the redevelopment. The compound still has two on the wall facing Gloucester Road as well as a big one on top of one of the roofs.

You may recall Robert Mitchum walking along that same stretch of wall during The Amsterdam Kill.

The Amsterdam Kill - Robert Mitchum (1977) - Caine House, Wanchai

A brief look at the older building, Caine House, that forms part of the Wanchai District Police HQ on Arsenal Street. Here we see Mitchum walking along by the outer wall that fronts Arsenal Street before turning through the (now gone) main entrance. You can just make out the underside of one of the watchtowers as Mitchum walks underneath. This along with another was removed when that part of the site was redeveloped, but there are still two left along the wall on Gloucester Road.

Yellowthread Street (TV Series) - Bruce Payne (1990) - Various aerial pictures of Central, Hong Kong

No specific locations here but some nice aerial views taken from the opening section of Episode 6: Fan Tan Man. The quality isn't great (remember, these are screen grabs from a DVD that was made from a VHS copy that was done when the original series was shown in the UK back in 1990/91 (can't remember when it was exactly - I just wish ITV would release a proper restored DVD...)

The first two pictures give us a nice view across the Central harbourfront. The little bit of harbour water seen on the lower right on the bottom picture has now all been reclaimed and those piers you can see have completely gone.

The above picture shows the area around the (now named) Lippo Centre. We can see Hong Kong Park being created from the old Victoria Barracks and the tall building on the left is the Queensway Govt Offices. Just to the left of that is the shell of what was to become the Island Shangri-La (2 Pacific Place). Eagle-eyed readers may also spot the Hongkong Hilton just behind the B.O.C tower.

Again, another shot that is now be water-less courtesy of the reclamation that the IFC sits on top of. Of course we can see the old (and better located) Star Ferry piers and to the right of there is the last incarnation of Blake Pier. Actually, until I saw this I wasn't too sure where it was but now I can see it started right next to the GPO in front of Jardine House. I guess Man Yiu Street occupies some of that now.

The last few shots show the old helicopter landing pad that used to sit on the waterfront in front of Caine House (that's the low-rise building we can see at various distances on all three snaps, but is at the background on the lower picture) - it's better known as being the Central Police HQ. The are where the landing was is now partly occupied by the intersection of Lung Wui and Lung Wo roads. The site is largely empty still but slowly being redeveloped (into what?). The basin on the right in the top picture was originally part of HMS Tamar and now has the new Central Govt Offices on it.