Spitfire - Lance Henriksen (1995) - Pedder Street, Central

After catching a taxi at the "airport", the cab is filmed driving around various streets in Hong Kong including the area below. This footbridge connected Worldwide House, in the background, with what was Swire House on the corner of Chater Road/Pedder Street. Actually, the footbridge lasted longer than the building because the footbridge remains whereas Swire House was demolished in the late 90s and replaced by the current Chater House. Despite the poor picture quality, you can just make out the words "Swire House" on the right hand side of the top image below.

Legacy of Rage - Brandon Lee (1986) - Chater Road, Central

The exchange goes down on Chater Road so we get some views of the Supreme Court Building.

City on Fire - Chow Yun Fat (1987) - Statue Square, Central

The location where Ko Chow initially meets with Tiger (Danny Lee) is Statue Square in Central. The inital shot shows a view along Chater Road before focussing on Ko Chow dancing around in front of the former Supreme Court building (it's now the Court of Final Appeal which was previously based in the former French Mission building).

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

Righting Wrongs - Yuen Biao (1986) - Chater Road, Central

After leaving court, Rothrock pulls up beside Biao at a traffic light and threatens him with a gun. The lights are on Chater Road at the junction with Jackson Road.

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.

The Yin and Yang of Mr Go - James Mason (1970) - Sutherland House, Chater Road

As a little break between Strangers episodes, here is a real tough one finally identified by Arthur Yau, who, along with Thomas Ngan, has been instrumental in identifying some really obscure locations over the past few years. The location is the Bank of Tokyo and it had some very large characters on its road side wall identifying it as such. The screen images below show what appears to be the entrance.

 

I really had no idea where this was but Arthur found an obscure old picture here, which places this at the ground floor of what was Sutherland House, at the corner of Chater Road and Club Street. Sutherland House was the building that for many years had the circular "BAYER" advertisement at the top. It was a prominent advert that featured on many a night time panorama.

Anyway, I believe Sutherland House was demolished in the early 90s to make way for the former Ritz Carlton hotel. The latter was one of the shortest lived buildings in Hong Kong's history and only lasted for 15 years between 1993 and 2008 before once again being demolished to make way for the current CCB Tower.

Das Mädchen von Hongkong - Joachim Fuchsberger (1973) - Xmas Decorations 1972, Central

Although released in 1973, the filming of Das Mädchen von Hongkong took place in December of 1972. So it's not surprising that the film maker caught some footage of that year's Xmas decorations. Here is a couple of shots taken in Central that show the old HSBC HQ and Chater Road (with Prince's Building on the left and the Mandarin Oriental on the right). I think the both shots were taken from the same location but the camera just swiveled right to get the shot looking up Chater Road.

The Road to Hong Kong - Bob Hope (1962) - Hong Kong Club, Central

In a rather weird use of stock footage, the Hong Kong Club is used to establish a shot that was obviously meant to still be in India. I guess this colonial style of building is one that can be found in many of the tropical and sub-tropical places the Brits decided to invade during their empire building. In the film, we see it, and the Cenotaph, from the direction of the southern side of Chater Road near to the Supreme Court building.

Ein Sarg aus Hong Kong - Heinz Drache (1964) - Chater Road, Central

A while back when I was researching locations for The Million Eyes of Sumuru, I came across a few clips that had been reversed in the editing process. This always confuses me because I never know if it is done deliberately or just out of ignorance. Anyway, it turns out that I think it was done deliberately because those very same clips have cropped up in Ein Sarg aus Hong Kong and (until I find out otherwise) I think they may have been originally shot for this film and then perhaps bought/licensed by the makers of Sumuru as stock footage for use in the latter (and later) film. I'll explain my reasoning in a later post but for the time being here is the clip of the Hong Kong Club from this film (and the correct way round).

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.

The Million Eyes of Sumuru - George Nader (1967) - Chater Road, Central

The following screencap is the first of several that have been flipped during the editing process. This has happened in several of the films I've covered on this blog and I just think it boils down to a lack of knowledge on the part of the people responsible for splicing it all together at the end. Not really a big issue for most people, but for me it can sometimes cause a bit of confusion if I am trying to figure out the angle of an image.

Anyway, this is one of the establishing shots that confirms we are indeed in Hong Kong. The shot is along Chater Road looking at the old Hong Kong Club (and what looks like the old annexe building sticking out behind it).

There are a couple of pointers as to why this is flipped, the most obvious is then reversed writing on the vehicle on the far right. But look behind and you can also see the City Hall building in the gaps between the vehicles. Here's how it should look in reality.

According to Gwulo, the Hong Kong Club annexe was knocked down circa 1966. I'd be very surprised if this wasn't stock footage though and not shot specifically for this film at the time. I need to confirm the shooting dates but I was under the impression the film was late 1966. 

Hong Kong 97 - Robert Patrick (1994) - Des Voeux Road Central, Central

Although the tram is blocking the left hand side of our view in the following screencap, there is still enough information to locate this quick scene as the junction between Chater Road and Des Voeux Road in Central. Streetview reveals that the south side of the road (we're looking west here) seems to have remained unchanged in the last twenty or so years.

Oops! I just found a couple of extra grabs from the same place but looking south towards the Entertainment Building where the film's main company, Sherwood Industries, is based. Here they are...

Hong Kong 97 - Robert Patrick (1994) - Chater Road, Central

Well, the view from Chater Road rather than Chater Road itself. We can see The HSBC HQ, one of the MTR exits, The Mandarin Hotel in the background before finally stopping right next to the entrance to the Hong Kong Club.

Largo Winch - Tomer Sisley (2008) - Chater Road, Central

Central features a fair amount in this film, this is one of the first scenes as we see one of the execs cars as it makes its way to the Winch building. This is Chater Road at the junction where it joins with Pedder Street. We then follow the car down Chater Road to the old Supreme Court Building (formerly LegCo and now the home of the Court of Final Appeal as of 2015).

Knock Off - Jean Claude Van Damme (1997) - Various shots around town.

It seemed pointless to me to add a separate post for each of these seeing as they occupy so little time on screen. It's a little montage of around town shots, at the beginning of the film,  just to establish that we are in Hong Kong (and it's 1997). Starting with...

China Hong Kong City in Tsim Sha Tsui

A view across Central

Driving along Chater Road past HSBC

Along Connaught Road next to Admiralty Station

A view (also used again later in the film) across to Wanchai

The Lippo Centre

and finally a view across Kai Tak airport.

Actually, that last one is a cheat because it is seen well into the film and is a quick shot looking up Pedder Street (you can see the famous Pedder Building on the right with the archway) but I figured it was too small a shot for its own post.