Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold - Tamara Dobson (1975) - Shaws Movietown, Clearwater Bay

Next up in the 'missed/forgotten first time round' category is this rather extravagant casino set from Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold. This set was constructed at the back of Movietown on the area now occupied by the Lee Shau Kee Business Building of the HK University of Science and Technology. Large areas of Movietown that once supported semi-permanent sets have since been redeveloped.

Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold - Tamara Dobson (1975) - Shek Pai Wan Estate, Aberdeen

Many thanks to Arthur and Thomas for helping solve this long standing mystery about the location of a couple of scenes from Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold. I had sort of already figured out the first one but lacked the confirmation I needed to be certain and the existence of an edit point between the two scenes meant I wasn't confident they were connected as portrayed on screen.

The first section of the sequence shows a long straight stone staircase leading from what looks like a Govt housing estate.

The existence of similar steps in HK is quite limited, so the location was narrowed down to a few places and the fact that a lot of filming for this movie had gone on in Aberdeen meant that the steps from Shek Pai Wan estate were the main contender. My problem, as always, is that the area has changed enough to make a 100% confirmation difficult. In the case of the Shek Pai Wan estate, the original estate was demolished and subsequently rebuilt in the late 1980's. Coupled with the amount of redevelopment around Aberdeen in general (copious additional roads, not just buildings) meant I wasn't confident enough to post. Thomas has subsequently provided some decent aerial comparisons here and here which show the staircase in the hillside and the estate buildings at the top - under construction in the colour picture and top centre left in the black and white one.

Anyway, in response to Arthur's investigation's regarding a screen grab from the next part of the sequence (see below), it has made me confident enough (99%) to say I have the right place. The sequence follows the children running down the steps and then there is an edit point where they then arrive at Cleopatra Jones and her buddy waiting for them. The edit point could've meant this second scene was filmed elsewhere but it turns out Arthur was able to identify the location as Lok Yeung Street looking towards Tung Shing Street in Aberdeen - a few metres away from the bottom of the Shek Pai Wan steps.

Here are Arthur's comments:

The [second] photo shows "務實中學" [mou6 sat6 jung1 hok6] at the back...the site is currently occupied by Port Centre of 38 Chengtu Road, Aberdeen. 

For the "美樂電器行" [mei5 lok6 din6 hei3 hong4 - this is the shop on the corner next to the "No Right Turn"s sign]...the same site was later occupied by Yu Lei Tai - one of the earliest "cha chan teng" in HK - ...it was at the end of Tung Shing Rd, near the petrol station.

So the camera was on Lok Yeung Street, right next to the current petrol station, looking west towards the junction with Tung Shing Road and it turns out that the block behind the actors is still around (built in 1953). The shop that was once 美樂電器行 is now a space selling bric-a-brac.

Anyway, a big thanks to Arthur and Thomas once again for some great location spotting.

Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold - Tamara Dobson (1975) - Carpenter Road, Kowloon City

I was confused about this one at first and thought it may have been Temple Street in Yaumatei before realising thta the structure in the backgrpund, behind the taxi, is the Lee Kee Memorial Dispensary facing Carpenter Road.

Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold - Tamara Dobson (1975) - Blenheim Avenue, Tsim Sha Tsui

Returning to Cleopatra Jones for this post to update one of the locations I was having trouble identifying. This one again found by Thomas who had located the dry cleaners as still being around the same area (although he has since told me it looks to have now gone...).

It's actually the end of the motorcycle chase that started in the hotel on the opposite side of the road.

This is actually the corner where Blenheim Ave joins Minden Avenue. Despite the fact that Centamap has this block as being 62 years old, the Govt Rating and Value dept notes that the building here on the corner, called Rich Towers, was in fact built in 1986. But actually, looking at the next building along, this does seem to be the original with the same concrete steps built around the windows, so I guess it was just the end corner section that has been replaced. Currently the corner has a restaurant called Brick Lane. Here is the Streetview, the angle isn't so great.

Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold - Tamara Dobson (1975) - Hong Kong International Airport, Kai Tak

A final look at Cleopatra Jones 2 (well, until I get a few unknown spots identified) as she bids farewell to HK at its famed airport.

We get a quick glimpse of the old terminal building before moving over to her Singapore Airlines flight.

Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold - Tamara Dobson (1975) - Shek O

During the scene when Cleopatra is being pursued from the casino (the casino set was actually constructed at Shaw Bros because the famous pagoda, used in so many Shaw productions (fans will know which one I am talking about), was part of the rather extravagant set.

Anyway, one minute we are at the casino set and the next we are next to the Tin Hau Temple in Shek O.

 I don't have my own copy, but have uploaded and image from wikipedia (link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tin_Hau_temples_in_Hong_Kong#/media/File:HK_ShekOTinHauTemple.JPG).

From what I can see in the Cleopatra Jones screen grab, the temple has definitely undergone a renovation and it looks like the pictures at the front wall of the building have been changed. I think they might be tiled mosaics so I guess it's not too much of a job to change them - but the positions of the pictures haven't changed and neither has the general appearance of the place.

Just after she leaves the temple, Jones heads down the nearby street, in reality it's not too far away at all on Shek O Village Road. It's a night time shot, so not the clearest but some recognisable buildings can be seen.

The Streetview grab below shows the same place with the Chinoiserie-style white building on what, I think, is 405-407 Shek O Village Road (corrections welcome).

After this, Jones is cornered in a courtyard that, actually, could be anywhere but I have a sneaking suspicion it might still be in Shek O. The reason I say this is because one of the shots of the courtyard shows an archway at the back that looks like it says Ming Yuen. The Chinese characters are: 明苑 and you can see them at the back in the picture below (read R->L).

Now, there is still a building in Shek O that goes by that exact name. It's at #23 Shek O Headland Road but the area around it is rather now more developed so I can't confirm either way. So if there are any Shek O old-timers that can shed some light on this place it would be greatly appreciated and I have included a few more pictures of the courtyard below.

Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold - Tamara Dobson (1975) - Ladder Street, Sheung Wan

Not just Ladder Street but several parts of it including the area around Man Mo Temple. This, believe it or not, is still the same foot chase that started in Tsim Sha Tsui.

The above pictures are of the junction with Hollywood Road above. The antique shop with the round door/window is still there. The shots below though I'm not so sure - I think they might be the part of Ladder Street that joins with Caine Road - however, the block at the back has recently been redeveloped so I can't confirm.

However, if I'm right and the above bit is the Caine Road section, then this bit below, where the steps get quite wide, could be the section of Ladder Street between Caine Road and Bridges Street.

Anyway, after all that the sequence ends up back at the junction with Hollywood Road with Man Mo Temple making yet another film/TV appearance. I think it must be one of the most-filmed places of worship in HK.

Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold - Tamara Dobson (1975) - Hanoi Road, Tsim Sha Tsui

Following on from the beginning of the chase scene at Blenheim Avenue, the bad guy next runs up Hanoi Road. Fans of Bloodsport will remember a very similar scene with JCVD and Forest Whitaker.

If you click through to the Bloodsport link you'll see a Streetview capture of how the road has changed. Unfortunately this is one street that looked much better before redevelopment. The trees and colourful signs have all gone to be replaced by fairly sterile looking glass.

Here are the Cleopatra grabs.

If anyone has any recollections of the shops that used to be here, please feel free to share in the comments.

Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold - Tamara Dobson (1975) - Lyton Building, Blenheim Avenue

At the start of one of those crazy movie chases that start off in one part of Hong Kong and inexplicably jump to another we find our intrepid agents following a baddie from a hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui. Luckily for us the building involved is still around - it's the Lyton Building on Mody Road, but the entrance we are interested in is the side one on Blenheim Avenue.

Our first clue is the image of John Cheung waiting patiently outside with a sign behind him saying 'Chow Bar Kee'. As luck would have it the business as well as the building is still around - this is the Mody House on the southwest corner of the Blenheim/Mody junction, which puts John well and truly in Blenheim Ave.

The next two shots are less helpful despite the Manna Korean restaurant showing us an address on 32B Mody Road. It turns out that the B refers to the fact that this small  business is actually behind number 32 Mody Road, even though its front entrance is on Blenheim Ave.

Not to worry, here is a recent Streetview (captured in 2009 because it was the clearest picture) which shows that the girls were running out of the Lyton Building entrance. The Manna Korean Restaurant was located in the shop with the black front and as you can see the entrance the girls run from has since had some brown tiling put on it.

Of course the clincher though was the next shot which shows our chasee (is that even a word?) running up Blenheim Towards Mody and the junction where several roads meet - Hanoi Rd, Hart Ave, Mody Rd and Blenheim Ave all meet at the odd junction. Look at the background below and you will see the building that used to sit between the meeting point of Hanoi and Hart. We've seen this building before and regular readers may remember it from Bloodsport a while back. Coincidentally, the Bloodsport scene also involved a chase on foot.

Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold - Tamara Dobson (1975) - The Peninsula Hotel, Kowloon

Unlike Susan Hayward's experience of the Peninsula Hotel lobby for the film Soldier of Fortune back in 1955 (it was a US studio set), Tamara Dobson actually gets to walk through the real thing in Cleopatra Jones 2.

Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold - Tamara Dobson (1975) - Blake Pier, Central

Although not the original (which has been recreated/reconstructed in Stanley next to the recreated Murray House) the 1970's version of Blake Pier (actually built in the mid-60's) was angled and had an open air restaurant at the end. We've seen it several times on this blog already - though that's not surprising given its prime waterfront location. The view was nice, as you will see, but apparently the food left a lot to be desired.

Several things to note on these few screen caps. The first thing of note is the vehicular ferry in the background. We know from those previous blog posts that the ferry was right next to the old Central Vehicular ferry pier. In the second picture the things that stands out for me is the old Central Fire Station - the white building in the background. A very grand affair that has now, sadly, been replaced by the Hang Seng HQ building.

The approximate location of where these guys were sitting is currently around where Man Cheung Road passes the southern side of the IFC2.

Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold - Tamara Dobson (1975) - Ferry Street, Mongkok

There's a car chase in the film that takes place along the former waterfront in Yau Ma Tei. Of course these days the waterfront has been extended significantly west (nearly 1km in places) courtesy of the West Kowloon Reclamation - the change is quite astonishing. Ferry Street marks the former waterfront and the location where some of the chase takes place and we know this because despite all the changes there are still some reasonably old buildings around. The first picture below was the most helpful in pinning down the actual location because just to the right of the kid's head is a building with some characters written vertically at the edge.

This is the Yuen Fat Building on the northern corner of Ferry Street and Nelson Street and can be seen on the following Streetview with the same writing down the side. It's had a change in colour since the film though.

Looking south we can see another building that is still with us, although I can't explain what has happened to some of it - it looks as though some remodeling has occurred. It's the yellow building below and it's called the Kwong Wing Building.

This northern end of it is barely recognisable today because the lower storey windows have all been remodeled and it looks like some of the exterior wall has been removed. However, I can assure you it is the same building.

This is the junction with Shantung Street and the building extends the whole block down to Soy Street.

The car chase moves into Yau Ma Tei territory as the vehicles speed down the road and we get a quick glimpse back up the road where both the Yuen Fat Building and Kwong Wing Building can still be seen.

I'm not sure quite how far down the road this later screen grab was made but I will say that all the buildings on the right hand side have well and truly long gone. Just looking at the Streetview below you will see that the road itself now has the West Kowloon Corridor running over the top of it.

To illustrate how much this place has changed, the following shot from the same road shows the former unfettered view down to the Ferry Point Estate - a familiar set of buildings on this blog - but this view is impossible from ground level these days and the Streetview show that follows had to be grabbed from a spot high up on the flyover and you can only just make out the buildings in the middle - now completely surrounded by all kinds of mess.