Hong Kong 73 - Yueh Hua (1974) - Clearwater Bay Road

Now unable to go to either Stanley, or back to Fanling, the group instead decide to head into Sai Kung Tai Au Mun. This is basically the area where all the Clearwater Bay beaches are located. To get there they have to drive back into Kowloon and get on Clearwater Bay road. The images below show the section where it joins Fei Ngo Shan Road (you can see the signpost for Gilwell's Camp). In the film, they are stopped once again, this time by the police who tell them the road ahead is blocked by a truck.

Inter-Pol - Tang Ching (1967) - Clearwater Bay Road, Tai Hang Tun

The final truck chase is a mixture of shots taken along Route Twisk and Clearwater Bay Road - two routes quite distant from each other - and edited together to make a single sequence. The shots below are from the scene where the pursuing police cars all run into each other and was shot at the very southern end of Clearwater Bay Road at Tai Hang Tun. The area down the slope to the right is the carpark. The large hill in the background (Tin Ha Shan) of the top two images is actually located on the opposite side of the (Clearwater) bay. In the middle ground to the left you can see the pavilion that marks the kite flying area, it's the same pavilion still there today and was featured in Yellow Emanuelle.

Inter-Pol - Tang Ching (1967) - Clearwater Bay Road

009 eventually decides to pull over on Clearwater Bay Road where he is harrassed and then gets into a fight with the police. The bad guys look on as he is arrested and it seems to allay their suspicions that he is some sort of secret agent.

Anyway, the location for this squabble is where the Hang Hau Road and Clearwater Bay Road roundabout now stands. The first image shows us looking more or less north, as the cars and bikes drive down the road towards the turnoff for Silverstrand Beach Road.

We can actually identify a few of the buildings even though they no longer exist in this form. In the top image on the left we have a building that was called "Villa Placida". This place is also called "Chocolatier" on some maps and has been sitting empty for a long time - making it popular with Urbex peeps. (see here). 

In the second image the camera has panned slightly to the right showing a blue trimmed building on the right hand side. This is the original house located at 1 Silverstrand Beach Road. On older maps it's marked as P.I.M.E House, which makes me think it might be owned by the Catholic Church. However, this building was redeveloped - so perhaps it was sold and redeveloped privately? If you know, please feel free to comment.

In the last image we are looking the other way, down the road with the beach turnoff on the left. There are three properties that are (almost visible). On the left we can see what looks to be the car port of a property that was called "Clearview". It has since been developed into a small development called Sussex Lodge. Sitting on the hill in the centre is the previous version of a house that with no name or number. I only know it occupies Lots 281, 282 and 282EXT of DD224. This might be enough for the postman, but it does make you wonder who lives there. The final house on the right is the former property occupying 836 Clearwater Bay Road. This place has long gone and been replaced by a massive house and perimeter wall.

Once again my Google marker is snapping to nearby buildings, it's not intentional and is beyond my control it seems.

A Cause to Kill - Ivy Ling Po (1969) - Choi Hung Estate

Some scenery to take in during a driving home scene as Hsin Li's husband, Li De (Kwan Shan) and Su Su (Chiao Chiao) take a taxi home from the airport. Su Su has just arrived from Singapore to help with the screenplay for Hsin Li's new comeback film.

The scene starts with a view of the Choi Hung Estate from the view point of the adjacent road, but then we follow the couple for an in-car scene that was shot as the car drove along the first section Clearwater Bay Road that starts at the estate.

Savour the view because it was announced last year that Choi Hung Estate would be redeveloped very soon bringing an end to its 60+ year lifespan, although the latter stages of the plan won't be implemented until the 2040s.

A Cause to Kill - Ivy Ling Po (1969) - Clearwater Bay Road, Pak Shek Wo

Up next is another from the Celestial Shaw channel on Youtube called A Cause to Kill. It's about a retired actress (Ivy Ling Po) who plots to kill her husband (Played by Kwan Shan - Rosumand Kwan's father) because he had a secret affair with one of their friends (Chiao Chiao). Apparently it's a Shaw version of Dial M for Murder but because I haven't seen (or read) it in about 40 years then I can't possibly comment, but suffice to say it's a great plot and the film showcases some nice spots in Hong Kong from the late sixties, some of which have changed beyond recognition and some that haven't.

The opening scene shows Hsin Li (Ivy) driving her car along Clearwater Bay Road through the section that goes through Pak Shek Wo (i.e. not far from Pik Uk prison). She's supposed to be driving home, but as you'll see in the next post, she is actually driving in the opposite direction.

It's hard to reconcile the images below with the modern day road which is a dual carriageway, but this is how it used to look.

A sign for Wah Lok Yuen (華樂園), a local eatery

This last image has some writing on the slope on the left. It says "Lot 1098 Pak Shek Wo". This relates to the current 1098 Clearwater Bay Road which helped me narrow down the location. Sadly, we don't see the property on film.

The Merry Wife - Li Ching (1971) - Good Hope School, Clearwater Bay Road

The school that becomes the focus of the film, because it's where Lin Min teaches and where Zhenzhen chooses to go to finish her schooling, is the Good Hope School at the bottom of Kowloon Peak on Clearwater Bay Road. Although originally a co-ed school (and it is also shown as being that in the film) the school has since become girls only. I believe the version we can see in the film, which is still around although greatly expanded, was built in 1964.

This bottom image shows the rear wing of the central part of the building, it has since been extended significantly with an extra two wings constructed parallel to the small road you see on the right hand side. Despite its location , the school is still within the district boundary of Wong Tai Sin.

Operation Lipstick - Cheng Pei-pei (1967) - Clearwater Bay Road, Sai Kung

In a scene following the discovery of the statuette contains the microfilm, the main characters head back into town to inform the police. Their car is stopped at a junction between two roads.

This scene was filmed at the junction between Clearwater Bay Road and Hiram's Highway. This area now has multiple lanes criss-crossing each other but, as you can see, back in the mid-60s (and later) it was a simple T junction with Clearwater Bay Road heading off to the left and Hiram's Highway curving down the slope towards Sai Kung. It looks like there was a roundabout here but that was just a grass island separating the up and downhill lanes of Hiram's Highway.

Just Heroes - David Chiang (1989) - Pik Uk Prison, Sai Kung

The exterior shot for the prison where Jacky is being held is Pik Uk prison on Clearwater Bay Road.

Just Heroes - David Chiang (1989) - Caltex Garage, Clearwater Bay Road

It seems to be a month for including petrol stations on the blog. This one, where the gang boss is executed along with his bodyguards, is located right outside the old Shaw Movietown complex in Clearwater Bay. It's still a Caltex outlet.

Crossing Hennessy - Jacky Cheung (2010) - Pik Uk Prison, Sai Kung

Oi Lin's boyfriend is Xu (Andy On) and has a bit of a temper, hence why he is locked away and also why they are going out - he came to her aid when she was assaulted on a bus one day. Anyway, he is incarcerated in Pik Uk prison until his release later in the film. Incidentally, Andy On and Tang Wei would be filming together again a few years later for Blackhat.

Election - Simon Yam (2005) - Clearwater Bay Road, Clearwater Bay

It's a bit hard to locate the scene where Gordon Lam - driving the stolen truck with the baton inside - is stopped by a police cordon whilst being following in a car by Louis Koo. However, one part of the road I do recognise is the roundabout where Clearwater Bay Road splits off into Lung Ha Wan Road and Tai Au Mun Road. It's reasonable to assume that the police cordon scene was also filmed nearby (but, obviously, not a dead cert).

The old structure that can be seen in the lower images is still in that location but is now completely covered by foliage. There is a clearer view of it over on Andi's excellent site where the same location is seen in The Angry Guest.

The Vengeance of Fu Manchu - Christopher Lee (1967) - Shaws Movietown Temple Set, Clearwater Bay

Well, back to normal service and here is the same temple set seen a little later in The Vengeance of Fu Manchu. You'll notice that for this film they superimposed some rather spectacular looking mountains in the background (in reality, the back of Movietown is/was just open sea). I'm still trying to figure out where that ridge line is from, I'm sure it will pop up later at some point. In the meantime...

Note Razor Hill in the background of this lower picture proving that we are indeed in Clearwater Bay and not the Chinese hinterland. The hill is due (almost) west from the former Movietown site.

The Million Eyes of Sumuru - George Nader (1967) - Shaws Movietown Temple Set, Clearwater Bay

I'm in the process of going through The Vengeance of Fu Manchu and was just about to post about the temple set when I realised I had neglected to post the same location for The Million Eyes of Sumuru. So here it is. This set used to stand around where the Clearwater Bay ESF school currently stands near to the entrance to Movietown.

Incidentally, if you are a member of Facebook, you can see a picture of this set at the following link within the Hong Kong in the '60s group (well worth joining for some nice pictures of HK). The owner of the photo (Brian Avery) puts the date at either 1966 or 1967. Given the state the place is in I suspect it was before these films were made, so more likely 1966. But there is enough detail in the picture to see it is the same set and of course, those are the Shaw dormitories at the back.

The Million Eyes of Sumuru - George Nader (1967) - Shaw House, Clearwater Bay

The next time we see a bit of the old Movietown is when Nader bumps into the British intelligence officer (played by Wilfred Hyde-White, who I remember best from the 1980's Buck Rogers series). The venue of the meeting is the front courtyard in front of Shaw House with its famous blue-tiled arch.

There has been recent talk about Movietown being redeveloped which is inevitable in HK these days. Many of the buildings have been given heritage listings but in reality unless they are made a gazetted monument they can all easily be ripped down without any repercussions for the instigator. Actually, in HK I think even if a gazetted monument was "accidentally" destroyed there would be little the Govt would do to deter it happening again. Such is the way HK Govt works.

Anyway, let's hope that any future redevelopment would at least keep the iconic and stylish Shaw House as some sort of clubhouse, or hand it over to the Govt (or me ;-) ) and turn it into a Shaw Museum.

Bons Baisers de Hong Kong - Les Charlots (1975) - Shaws Movietown, Clearwater Bay

Saving the best for last and the film's finale was shot in and around the Shaw Movietown plot over in Clearwater Bay in Sai Kung. Any self-respecting Shaws fan should be able to recognise a lot of what follows including the main gates, the old Chinese village set including the famous wooden bridge and also the lovely views from the back of the lot towards the hills and mountains surrounding Sai Kung and Port Shelter. As a result, this post probably has far too many screencaps.

Those same yellow gates are still hanging at the front entrance and the wall at the side hasn't changed much. Thankfully Shaw House still stands on it little hill but entrance into the place is as difficult as it was in the film. Without prior arrangement you just can't get in anymore. The 3rd picture shows the view looking back towards Clearwater Bay Road from the front gates. Here is the current Streetview.

Moving inside the complex and there is a chase scene across much of the Shaw Chinese town set. Some familiar sights to be seen for any Shaw fan as mentioned earlier. I enjoy Shaw films but I have no idea how many times these sets were reused...no doubts tens and possibly hundreds.

Finally the views over Port Shelter from the far back of the studio lot. The island in the bottom screencap is Sharp Island, a very popular local dive spot.