The Taxi Driver - David Chiang (1975) - Cornwall Street, Kowloon Tong

To Fat is supposed to be parked at the junction with Waterloo Road and Cornwall Street but as you can see, this stationary shot was filmed after they had already turned onto Cornwall Street because that's Hillsea Court at #10 in the background.

This isn't the only time we see Cornwall Street though as there are shots later in the film that were also filmed there. This one below was also shot whilst driving past Hillsea Court. The place stills looks the same, even down to the red trim.

These next few shots were filmed riving back the other direction and show a building on the south side of Cornwall Street. It's #22 Kent Road and at one point in its like was the location for the famous "Take One" nightclub where Anita Mui was slapped by a gangster for not singing. He was then attacked and killed in his hospital bed. It was a very famous story in Hong Kong at the time. It was a private temple for a while but has stood empty for most of the time I have been in Hong Kong, but has recently been sold and is undergoing some renovation right now.

Cornwall Street - Now and Then

After recently covering The Angel Strikes Again, I thought a modern day comparison for the Cornwall Street shots might be interesting. It's a good way of showing just how cluttered Hong Kong is these days compared to back in the 1960s before mass redevelopment took hold (and never let go).

This initial shot shows the view looking towards Waterloo Road and Baptist Hospital from just near to the Cornwall Street Children's Playground. The building in the background is the original block of Baptist Hospital that was demolished just recently (at the end of 2025). The multi-port hydrant was part of the emergency infrastructure for Kai Tak airport in case of a crash in the vicinity. The hill on the left hand side is where the original Baptist College and sports ground were located, and just visible in the background, barely discernable, is the further hill where Broadcast Drive is located. Let's just say there have been some changes.

In my lower image above (taken on 7th May 2026), you can see the sole remaining item from the original film capture is the multi-port fire hydrant. As mentioned, the original block (later renamed Block A) of the Baptist Hospital has now gone. The slope contained the Baptist College is now taken up by more buildings belonging to what is now called Baptist University. Notice that the hydrant is still at the edge of the pavement, however, there is now a second kerb further to the left and the space inbetween is filled with planters and trees. This is the same along this whole stretch of road. Perhaps the biggest change though is the flyover above Waterloo Road which allows traffic to skip the lights at the intersections with Cornwall Street and Junction Road.

Here's the view looking the other way. The current development here is more obvious because there is now a row of mid-rise apartment buildings along the opposite side of the road in the distance. A comparison shot is underneath. You can just make out the old property located at #2 Cornwall Street that was replaced by the rather unsubtle Mormon Church building. I do like the fact that the current view has a lot of trees though. You can see in the lower image where the extended section of the pavement, filled withtaxis in the film capture, now has trees and other plants.

The Angel Strikes Again - Lily Ho (1968) - Cornwall Street, Kowloon Tong

We've seen Cornwall Street a few times in the past few months (e.g Inter-pol, The Young Rebel) but in this film we get to see the Baptist Hospital from a closer angle. Believe it or not the multi-port hydrant is still there, at least for the time being. These "heavy draw off" hydrants were placed strategically underneath the old Kai Tak flight path so that in the event of a plane crash there would be enough water and hoses to deal with any subsequent fire. They're a bit of a dying breed these days and are slowly but surely being removed. Gwulo has an (old) list of the remaining ones here.

The Young Rebel - David Chiang (1975) - Cornwall Street, Kowloon Tong

Our first proper outdoor location is Cornwall Street, and it's a road that crops up multiple times throughout the film, so I have tried to include all its appearances in this one post.

Our first view is along the north side as Gen Lai and Xiao Rong walk along as Rong takes his anger over his father's death out on other people's property. This initial location is next to what is now the Mormon Church at #2 Cornwall Street. For context, Gwulo has a great image of the older property here and you can spot the very same wall seen below. The gateway seen in the third image below is located at the very far left of the Gwulo image and corresponds to #4.

Block A of Baptist Hospital in the background has just been demolished (Dec 2025)

 

The next appearance of Cornwall Street is during a sequence when Xiao Rong attempts his first delivery "up the Peak". The section of the road he is on is the bridge that crosses the old KCR railtrack

Xiao Rong also makes a delivery to "Villa Cornwall", still located at #12 Cornwall Street.

Next we see Xiao Rong trying to bike away from pursuing bike-riding gangsters. This is a similar view (looking east) to one of the first images above showing Baptist Hospital in the background.

The final image below shows Rong fleeing on his motorcycle following his killing of the opposing gangster boss. In the background is Hillsea Court at #10 Cornwall Street (also still around).

Inter-Pol - Tang Ching (1967) - Cornwall Street, Kowloon Tong

It took me a while to recognise this street because it has changed so much...but then again the main property seen here is still around. It's the former "Senior Officer's Residence" at 1A Cornwall Street. It was part of the former British Garrison and still has its War Department "Defence Lot" granite marker stones along the outer wall. It's now supposedly occupied by someone from the PLA but after an external renovation circa 2013 (not long after I moved nearby) it has since become rather scruffy and dirty in the way that buildings do in Hong Kong's harsh climate. Does anyone know who is here? You can just see one of the original Kowloon Tong villas to its right - however, I think this house was replaced soon after this film was shot by the property currently occupying the site.

The red garage door belongs to 22 Kent Road - later famous for being turned into the "Take One" night club where Anita Mui was assaulted by a gangster who was later shot and killed on his hospital bed. This was in the early 90s. Since then it has served as a private temple and for as long as I can remember has been sitting empty awaiting new use. As I write these words some scaffolding has been assembled on the site so it looks like someone may have successfully bought or leased it. Time will tell.

Finally, the building in the distance at the far end of the road is the original Baptist Hospital building. The block still exists but was been subsumed into a much bigger development. Actually, as I speak the hospital is redeveloping that area so the original block will be no more in a few months I think.

Police Story 2 - Jackie Chan (1988) - Shek Kip Mei Park, Kowloon

Little did I know that 30+ years ago when I was watching Jonathan Ross's Son of the Incredibly Strange Film Show on TV, that one day I would be living just up the road from where the famous playground fight was filmed. In the Ross documentary, this scene is shown as the presenter makes a joke about Jackie and his fellow opera students having great fights in the playground.

Anyway, Andi has already done a great scene comparison over on his blog, but here a some choice screen grabs below asa reminder.

Bruce Lee & I - Betty Ting Pei (1976) - Cornwall Street, Kowloon Tong

Here is an interesting scene, for me at least because I travel up here pretty much everyday. It's a shot looking up Cornwall Street very soon after the road was actually completed.

Cornwall Street now runs from Waterloo Road, all the way up to the Chak On Estate near Tai Wo Ping, however, originally it only ran as far as the lower section of Beacon Hill Road (which for some reason is completely disconnected from the upper part where Betty used to live!) - which is basically where the closest traffic bollard is in the above screen grabs. Even by 1973, just a few years before this film was made, the western end of Cornwall Street had been laid out but the Govt had yet to make the two ends meet across the railway track near the Beacon Hill Tunnel - this is essentially the section we can see above. Look closely and you can see where the bridge over the track is/was.

Of course the bridge is still there even though the track has now been moved, but the old trackway still exists and so the bridge still needs to be there. Anyway, here is a modern comparison and yo can see how much has actually changed. That's where Beacon Hill Road (lower section) starts on the right and marks the initial extent of Cornwall Street before its extension.