The Night My Number Came Up - Michael Redgrave (1955) - View towards Lantau Island

There are a couple of brief shots that show the plane both (supposedly) approaching and departing from the airport over a stretch of sea with some islands in the background. In actual fact these very brief shots were filmed most likely from a boat that was positioned somewhere off the western coast of Hong Kong Island.

The shot with the junk below shows the approach shot, with the plane flying 'towards' the airport. You can see Castle Peak on the far right in the distance poking up between the gap that is Penny's Bay i.e. we are looking towards Lantau Island from the south east - definitely not the approach to a landing at Kai Tak by any stretch of the imagination.

The second image shows the plane 'leaving' the airport, commencing its journey to Japan, and shows roughly the same area as the first image but by now the camera has moved to the north slightly and now Castle Peak can be seen distant centre left. The light coloured patch further left is the outline of Kau Yi Chau island. 

The reason I think this was shot from a boat is because there is no land in this vicinity (with this angle of view) on which the camera could be set. This also explains why the view has shifted somewhat between the two takes due to the boat drifting.

Incidentally, there is another over water shot of the plane flying across the harbour with the Kowloon hills in the distance. This most definitely could be the approach to Kai Tak but in the film, as you will see from the next post, the plane approaches the number 13 runway from the west which means it would have had to fly past the airport and then do a 180 degree turn to line up for that approach.

The Peking Medallion - Robert Stack (1967) - Castle Peak Bay, Tuen Mun

In another strange mixing of locations, despite spending 10 minutes zipping around Port Shelter before heading into the dock, the film quickly switches to film the boat coming into the beach at Castle Peak Bay with the original Tai Pak restaurant in the background.

In the film it is supposedly a floating casino owned by a gangster who also wants the medallion.

The restaurant was located right next to the waterfront at Sam Shing Hui - the area was reclaimed, along with a massive portion of the previously picturesque bay, and the Sam Shing Estate now sits on the same area.

Remember that this was the very original Tai Pak - featured in those early films such as The World of Suzie Wong. It was moved from Aberdeen sometime before or in 1962, because by the 1962 release of Heisser Hafen Hongkong, you can see it had already been replaced by the current version still seen in the harbour today.

Look carefully at this end of the restaurant boardwalk and you can see a stone pillar with a white top just centre right. This is the same pillar that can be seen in this photo over on FLICKR. Although the uploader has said it is in Shatin in error.

Die Jungen Tiger von Hongkong - Robert Woods (1969) - Castle Peak Bay, Tuen Mun

In a marvelous feat of pursuit, Woods catches up with his target (a foreign doctor who has been administering drugs to his subdued victims) only a few minutes later but in a location that is on the other side of the new territories (you may remember Weiße Fracht für Hongkong achieving something similar, although in that film they walked it!).

Similar to that film as well, Woods eventually gets hold of his enemy on what looks to be the Kadoorie Pier. Again, this scene was still part of the "excursion to Singapore" portion of the film.

Castle Peak Bay before it was reclaimed for development

 In the last picture you can just see  a small portion of Boulder Lodge - the private mansion owned by the Kadoorie family (after who this pier/beach area is named) who are perhaps most famous in Hong Kong for owning and running the Hong Kong and Shanghai Hotels company (owner of the Peninsula) and China Light & Power etc.

Weiße Fracht für Hongkong - Dietmar Schönherr (1963) - Kadoorie Pier, Tuen Mun

Much of the film's finale takes place inside the grounds of a ship building company. I'm still in the process of figuring out the exact position but just after the bad guy escapes he can be seen running down Kadoorie Pier with a great view of Castle Peak in the background. The pier is still around but now has a canopy. The map lists it as Castle Peak Pier, I think the Kadoorie name has been attached because of its proximity to the Kadoorie villa on the headland and the eponymous beach next door. 

Weiße Fracht für Hongkong - Dietmar Schönherr (1963) - Castle Peak Bay, Tuen Mun

And then after a few more steps we suddenly arrive in Tuen Mun. Even as the crow flies it's nearly a 50km trip in the space of 30 seconds. Not bad. I know Brad Harris is famous for being a super fit bodybuilder (he is currently still going very strong even in his 80s) but even this takes some beating.

Look closely and you'll see the original Tai Pak behind Harris. It was a new addition to Castle Peak Bay and had only been here after for a year or so after being towed from Aberdeen to make way for the current replacement. It's likely the top picture was also filmed inside the old Tai Pak because it looks as though the window frame on the right is the same green colour used for the roof and the view over to Castle Peak has a similar angle.

L'Inconnue de Hong Kong - Dalida (1963) - Morrison Building, Tuen Mun

This one took some tracking down but I'm pleased to announce it is still standing although, sadly, it is not open to the general public. The place is actually a declared monument and goes by the English name of the Morrison Building. It's a great example of one of Hong Kong's many art-deco style buildings but you can only really catch glimpses of it these days through the railings of the school whose grounds it now sits within. You can read the link above for its historical significance.

It lies on the opposite side of (what was Castle Peak Bay) Tuen Mun to Tsing Shan Monastery but this scene was no doubt filmed at around the same time as the previous visit to that place.

L'Inconnue de Hong Kong - Dalida (1963) - Tai Pak Floating Restaurant, Castle Peak

Some time around 1962 (not sure on the exact year) the owners of the Tai Pak Floating restaurant in Aberdeen Harbour decided to retire their old restaurant and replace it with a brand spanking new one. The original (that can be seen in films such as The World of Suzie Wong and Love is a Many-Splendoured Thing) was moved out of Aberdeen and towed all the way over to the Sam Shing Hui area of Castle Peak Bay (Doug has lots of great pictures of it, including this one) where it sat for many years.

Anyway, it's the original version in Castle Peak Bay that can be seen in L'Inconnue de Hong Kong. Note that when it was relocated to Castle Peak (today's Tuen Mun) it had a wooden board walk linking it to land (very similar to the old floating restaurant in Shatin that some people confuse it with).

L'Inconnue de Hong Kong - Dalida (1963) - Tsing Shan Monastery, Tuen Mun

After the rather blurry colour screen grabs from The Yin and Yang of Mr Go, here is the next film with some rather sharper black and white images. It's L'Inconnue de Hong Kong starring Dalida and Serge Gainsbourg shot in 1963. There are some great images in this film and it's a pity I can't understand French because the story looked quite good too. All I can gleam is that it's a story about diamond smuggling and how some unwitting touring cabaret girls get mixed up in it all.

The film starts off with an illicit exchange taking place seemingly in the middle of nowhere, but anyone who has visited the area in question will no doubt immediately recognise it as the road that leads up to Tsing Shan Monastery in Tuen Mun. Back in 1963 it was the area still referred to as Castle Peak and had yet to be develop into Tuen Mun new town and this was a full ten years before Bruce Lee would make the place famous in Enter the Dragon. 

Note the background in this lower picture. It shows Castle Peak Bay as it was before the massive reclamation project filled it all in. This whole view is now of high rises. However, you'll be pleased to know that the ornamental gate is still the same. Here is a picture I took of it a few years ago, although I was up the road looking down - the same side the two lower screen grabs were done on.

Later on in the film, one of the main actors returns to the monastery looking for someone. I suspect the scenes were filmed on the same day but the lower screen grabs were from much later in the film.

It's not easy to tell from the black and white pictures but it looks as though the main entrance gate we see above might be the same yellow colour that still adorns its wall. The picture below is also from a few years back.

I Spy (TV Series) - Robert Culp (1965) - Castle Peak Bay, Tuen Mun

The I Spy team really did manage to make it to almost all corners of our humble abode, so it's of no surprise to find out that they also made it all the way out to what is now Tuen Mun new town, but in 1965 was still the unreclaimed Castle Peak Bay. This one had me scratching my head for a while because I just couldn't place it. However, despite the blurry glimpse of the mountain (see picture 4 below) there was enough detail for me to think it may be Castle Peak (Chinese name: 青山 Tsing Shan).

Actually, it looks as though this scene was used in two separate episodes: No Exchange on Damaged Merchandise and Carry Me Back to Old Tsing Tao (the latter, if you remember also used nearby Dragon Garden as a location).

I've been informed by a helpful person on Facebook called Vincent that this road is the stretch of Castle Peak Road that currently sits next to Chi Lok Garden. Of course, it is completely changed and unrecognisable now (you can't even see the lower hills in the distance due to development) to the point that it's exact location is impossible to pinpoint and putting a Streetview picture up for comparison will show you nothing but buildings.

However, I do believe that the bit of land we see sticking into the water behind the car in the first picture is the (now landlocked) hill that contains the Sam Shing Temple.

Enter The Dragon - Bruce Lee (1973) - Tsing Shan Monastery, Tuen Mun

The location for one of Bruce's most famous scenes involving the 'pointing finger' lesson. This place, other than the greenery being cut back, hasn't really changed at all. It's a hell of a traipse up the hillside to get to the location (best to get a cab if you are a bit of a wimp) and you'll be sweaty when you get to the monastery, but arriving at the filming location is well worth the effort.

Let's look at the locations as they are today. First off (top photo) we have the area where Bruce teaches the young Lao (played by Tung Wei) the finer points of emotional content.

Although a slightly different angle to that seen on film the area, including the wall and the tree you see above, are both original elements that can be seen on screen at various points. Pretty much unchanged but as mentioned much of the tree growth has been cut back either due to it becoming uncontrollable or perhaps due to the effects of HK's notorious typhoons that blow through most summers (the location is fairly exposed on a hillside). Anyway, moving left in the above shot we have a flat area where Lee had earlier taken tea with Mr Braithewaite (some tea, Mr Bwaithwaite?) played by Geoffrey Weeks (Weeks can also be seen in the WB produced That Man Bolt, but in reality he was a radio presenter at Radio Telecom Hong Kong).
 

In the film you don't get to see much other than the roof top of a temple/shrine behind Lee, but actually from this vantage point is a great view across the Tuen Mun valley. Again, lots of greenery now missing due to the ravages of time. Moving on up the hill to the next terrace up we go to the location of the reinstated (for the 25th anniversary release) scene involving Lee's dialog with the ubiquitous Roy Chiao playing the head monk.

Coincidentally, Lee's dialog on the DVD release was provided by John Little doing a not-bad impression of Bruce and Roy Chiao re-looping his lines via satellite phone from HK. When John was here filming in August 2009 it was the first time he had visited the location so I guess it must have been nice to see the place his voice 'virtually' went to several years before :-)

Anyway, as you can see, other than a huge tree that went missing in the background the concreted pathway remains virtually the same including the small stone table and stools which can be seen on film. The green railings are fairly new.

2019 Update: I went back recently with a German friend to wonder at the Bruce Lee Club plaques and standups. Here are a few images from that return trip. The first image shows that the concrete table nd stools are still there! Please note that even though I live in Hong Kong, getting to this place is a pain in the arse when you don't have a car (I got rid of my motorbike afew years ago).

Below is the lower terrace with a better view of the area used in "Lao's time". Note the concrete benches are still there (not to be confused with the concrete table on the upper terrace).