Blade in Hong Kong - Terry Lester (1985) - Eucliffe, Repulse Bay

Blade follows Key Tam to Eucliffe in Repulse Bay and this is where we find out who the real bad guy is. The film used the property's interior extensively including a summer room which I have seen before in China Rose therefore confirming that this was indeed a real room and not an elaborate studio set.

The film visits this location on several occasions. Blade does go back later and is caught on the roof by the bad guy's henchmen. The state of the grounds at this time indicates that the property had most likely been abandoned for quite some time. I believe the eventual demolition took place in 1988, just afew years after this film was made, so this may have been the last time a film crew went inside. This is also the scene where Nancy Kwan makes an appearance as Lily - Blade's ex-flame.

China Rose - George C. Scott (1983) - Eucliffe, Repulse Bay

In a nice little surprise, Eucliffe - the famous castle like mansion that once sat above Repulse Bay - makes a showing. In the film it is the house of a triad boss whose daughter knew Scott's son. The scene starts with a view from Repulse Bay Road looking back towards the Repulse Bay Apartments.

 The old driveway of Eucliffe seems to coincide with the modern day entrance into the development that replaced it (which goes by the rather bland- for HK at least - name of "56 Repulse Bay"). The old entrance can be seen in the next shot.

Once inside the driveway we can see the front entrance. I have no idea whether or not the place was still being lived in when this film was made, but it looks as though the small centre garden in the middle of the circular driveway was still being tended to (or quickly fixed up by the film crew?). The building still had a few years of life left before demolition, so it's feasible it was still being lived in at this time.

We even get a quick glimpse inside the hallway as the maid opens the door to let them in, and what looks to be a conservatory in the next scene - although , I must admit, I am only guessing that it was filmed inside the building. It would be great if anyone could confirm.

Weiße Fracht für Hongkong - Dietmar Schönherr (1963) - Eucliffe, Repulse Bay

This one is a real treat because this iconic building disappeared a long time ago and it's rare to see decent closeups of the place. It's the Eucliffe mansion that once stood on the western side of Repulse Bay. The residential development that stands on the site is called Royal Cliff and was completed in 1994 but I believe the building itself was demolished in the late 1980's.

The building is famous for being one of Eu Tong Sen's three large HK castle-like mansions (the other two being Euston in the mid-levels and Sirmio on the north shore of Tai Po), all of which have been redeveloped. Eu was the founder of the large herbalist store Eu Yan Sang which can still be found in HK but perhaps the building itself is more infamous for being the location of a gruesome massacre of Allied troops (one of many, unfortunately) by invading Japanese troops.

Anyway, in the film it is supposedly a prison where Dietmar Schönherr and Brad Harris are locked up in before managing to escape. This is one of those posts that deserves a few more pictures than just the usual one or two, so here they are.

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.

That Man Bolt - Fred Williamson (1973) - Tin Hau Temple, Repulse bay

This place has cropped up a few times here on this blog under various guises. In this film it's supposed to be somewhere called the Fan Tan Bath House.

Actually, for me the most interesting picture from this little sequence is the following one that shows the view to the west across the beach to the headland opposite. Until the 1980's this area had a large expansive mansion on it built by Eu Tong Sen called 'Eucliffe'. It was a castle-like construction that was also the scene for a particularly barbaric atrocity committed by Japanese troops (one of many, I hasten to add) against Allied defenders on Hong Kong in December 1941. Multiple prisoners who had surrendered to advancing troops were rounded up, tied, bayoneted, beheaded and cast down the cliff onto the rocks below. The site is now occupied by a large luxury mixed development called "Royal Cliff". Anyway, you can see one of Eucliffe's towers in the background behind Fred Williamson below.