Ein Sarg aus Hong Kong - Heinz Drache (1964) - Sha Chau, Outlying islands

Once at sea, our baddie escapes but not before setting his own junk alight with the heroes inside. We've moved a fair distance from Aberdeen at this point because the burning junk scene was filmed near Tuen Mun in the waters around what is now known as the Sha Chau and Lung Kwu Chau Marine Park.

The angle might be a bit confusing but we are actually looking east in the top two screen shots. The triangular island on the left in the top picture is actually nameless but is the northernmost islet in this small cluster around Sha Chau. Sha Chau itself is split into two parts joined by a submerged sandbar. The middle picture shows all the constituent parts of Sha Chau - they look separate but are actually all connected by what looks like a beach or tombolo. I guess this is enough for the responsible people to classify it as a single island.

The lower picture shows the view over towards the north Lantau coastline. The hill on the left of that picture is actually Lantau Peak with Nei Lak Shan the slightly smaller one in front of it.

Ein Sarg aus Hong Kong - Heinz Drache (1964) - Aberdeen, Hong Kong

The main bad guy has a junk tied up in Aberdeen Harbour (don't they all?) so we get some brief scenes of the various boats that were once tied up around the harbour. Aberdeen still has fishing boats of course but not as many as there once was.

Ein Sarg aus Hong Kong - Heinz Drache (1964) - Castle Peak Hotel, Siu Lam

So I mentioned in the last post that the film makers cheated a bit with regards to Repulse Bay. The scene below is interlaced with the previous Repulse Bay establishing shots (the wide angle pictures at the beginning of that post) giving the impression that the chaps are staying there. However, we are actually looking at a scene filmed instead on a terrace at the Castle Peak Hotel.

The background in the following shot is the (seemingly nameless) body of water between Lantau Island and the New Territories mainland near to Tuen Mun. The headland in the background with the white building is current location of the Siu Lam Marine Police HQ (the HK Observatory also has a station there now) and the pointy ridge behind that culminates in a place called "Brothers Point" (Tai Lam Kok). The distant hills are actually hills on the eastern part of Lantau Island - Fa Peng Teng and Tai Yam Teng.

The reason for filming here is anybody's guess. The fact that there are later scenes filmed on the driveway of the Repulse Bay Hotel seems to indicate it wasn't down to permission or budget, so maybe the Repulse Bay location just didn't quite fit the script requirements? Answers on a postcard...

Anyway, if anyone remembers this terrace at the Castle Peak Hotel, please feel free to get in touch.

Ein Sarg aus Hong Kong - Heinz Drache (1964) - Repulse Bay, Hong Kong

A fair bit of the story is based around a brother and sister who live in Repulse Bay, however, the film makers cheated a little bit as you will see in the post after this one. In the meantime, here is a nice view of the beach and surrounding area - including the Repulse Bay Hotel - before rampant development.

The camera focuses on the Repulse Bay Towers/Mansions (last seen on this blog in Spiderman) and so we are led t believe - courtesy of the establishing shot - that this is where Drache and his buddy are staying. This is a bit odd because we are later treated to views from within the grounds of the Repulse Bay itself. If you think you recognise the top picture below, you do. But this is proof that that particular shot was indeed filmed for this movie because the camera pans to the right to reveal our heroes.

 And what is that we can see in the background of the lower shot? It's Eucliffe.

Ein Sarg aus Hong Kong - Heinz Drache (1964) - Jordan Road, Kwun Chung

Here is a place we have seen before. It's the Lung Yu Restaurant along Jordan Road at the junction with Battery Street. We saw it for the first time when I was researching locations for I Spy - filmed the following year in 1965.

Ein Sarg aus Hong Kong - Heinz Drache (1964) - Granville Road, Tsim Sha Tsui

On Heinz Drache's walkabout we also catch a brief glimpse of Granville Road in TST at the junction with Carnarvon Road.

The giveaway in this case is the sign for the Kaiser Restaurant which stood on the north east corner of the junction. On the right hand side of the film grab (on the south east corner of the junction) is a sign saying "Heung Bun". This building was still there just a few years ago and I believe was recently renovated and turned into a jewelers - but if you use Google Maps to view the same building back in 2009 you can see it was still the same (other than the signs of course).

Ein Sarg aus Hong Kong - Heinz Drache (1964) - Shanghai Street, Yau Ma Tei

A couple of posts ago we saw Market Street on the southern side of the public square in front of Yau Ma Tei Tin Hau Temple. In this post we see the other end of it where Public Square Street joins with Shanghai Street at the northern side of the square.

Look carefully and you can see the building behind and above Heinz Drache's head is the same one today that houses the famous Mido Cafe on the corner of Temple Street.

Ein Sarg aus Hong Kong - Heinz Drache (1964) - Hennessy Road, Causeway Bay

Just before our intrepid heroes head off for their drinks at a dodgy bar called the "Green Snake" they meet up along Hennessy Road. The only real survivor that can still be seen is the apartment building at the back left - it's called Hennessy Apartments (Chinese name: 軒尼詩大厦).

If you are wondering where this would be in a modern context, to the right of the frame would be along the side of the current SOGO department store.

Ein Sarg aus Hong Kong - Heinz Drache (1964) - Market Street, Yau Ma Tei

I had no idea that the latrine block along Market Street in Yau Ma Tei had been around for quite so long but here it is back in 1964 (on the right hand side of the frame). You can see part of the covered hawkers market that used to occupy the square in front of the Tin Hau Temple. This is another scene that was used in Sumuru but I didn't post about it back then because I wasn't sure where it was at the time. The old building in the background would have been on Temple Street where the Kowloon Govt Offices now stand. Actually, I think the Sumuru print has better colour.

Ein Sarg aus Hong Kong

The Million Eyes of Sumuru

Ein Sarg aus Hong Kong - Heinz Drache (1964) - Nathan Road, Kowloon

Next up in our bus journey is the junction of Nathan and Jordan Roads in Kwun Chung. This one shows a few things of interest.

The first thing I notice is the appearance of New Lucky House on the right hand side replete with its still very recognisable paint scheme. This building was opened in 1964 (the same year this film was made) and it looks as though the cameras have captured it just prior to being ready - it still has to have its windows installed.

Next up is the yellow sign at the far end of New Lucky House. Locals will already recognise this as a sign for Tai Lin electronics, but I had no idea that the company was in that same spot all the way back in the 60's. Sadly Tai Lin became a victim of the 2008 financial crisis and closed shop but the sign (or at least the most recent version of it) was still there the last time I looked. It was a fairly iconic bit of neon (we last saw it on this blog when I was researching locations for Albert Pyun's Hong Kong '97).

Finally, on the left hand side you can see there is a fair amount of space between the pavement and the building that sits just next to it. These days the place is occupied by the Champion Building (built 1977) and all that open space is gone, but prior to that it was the site of a grand old building called Wong Tong Kee (黃棠記) mansion. You can read a little more about it here on Gwulo.com where you can see a picture of it in more detail including the perimeter wall enclosing the private garden (hence the extra space).

Sadly, when the mansion was demolished, the Champion Building was constructed right up to the plot boundary and the area these days has a much more closed in feel as you can see from the Streetview picture below.

Ein Sarg aus Hong Kong - Heinz Drache (1964) - Choi Hung Estate, Choi Hung

Here is the next of our previously seen clips, this time it is the one filmed outside the Choi Hung Estate. You can see how it appeared in Sumuru here, but in this film (made 3 years earlier) it also appears in the correct orientation.

One of the reasons I believe that Ein Sarg aus Hong Kong is the original source of this footage is that this same bus appears in several more scenes directly after this one as we follow its journey through Kowloon - some of those later scenes, but not all, were also included in Sumuru.

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).

Ein Sarg aus Hong Kong - Heinz Drache (1964) - Kai Tak Airport, Kowloon City

There's a whole host of Kai Tak images in this film so I shall break them down into bits, starting of with the approach over the roundabout at the end of Argyle Street and Prince Edward Road.

Next up we have the view from the side of the runway looking back west towards the checkerboard above Kowloon Tsai Park (top) and then east with Kwun Tong in the background (bottom).

Then there are some great shots of various planes sitting on the apron and a quick glimpse of the old terminal building.

We also get a nice south looking view (perhaps shot from the observation deck on top of the terminal building?) as a plane takes off with the hills of Hong Kong Island in the background across the harbour.

And we finish off with a couple of snaps taken outside the arrivals lounge. The lower picture contains a view that we saw very recently (albeit in black and white). Here is the reminder (top picture in the link).

Ein Sarg aus Hong Kong - Heinz Drache (1964) - Caroline Hill, Hong Kong

Welcome to the year of the Rooster and here is a new film to kick start it all off. Ein Sarg Aus Hong Kong (English title: Coffin From Hong Kong) starring German film icon, Heinz Drache. Lots of good locations to be found in this film but we'll start off with this nice panorama taken from the hills above Caroline Hill. My guess - from the angle - would be somewhere near to the modern day "No.111 Mount Butler Road" development, but better informed answers are welcome. Of course, this view encompasses several distinct areas including So Kon Po and Tai Hang, but seeing as the Caroline Hill stadium is the most prominent thing in the first picture, that's the title I've gone for.

You can just about see the old incarnation of the Govt stadium at So Kon Po in the bottom centre of the first picture but the South China Athletic Association Ground is more obvious to its right. Scrolling to the right (east) you can see the open area of Victoria Park fronting the harbour and finally in the last picture on the far right is the former cottage/squatter area along the slopes of Lin Fa Kung Hill and Mt Butler. Autostitch has mapped them together into a nice panorama below (click to enlarge).