Shirley's World (TV Series) - Shirley MacLaine (1972) - Great George Street, Causeway Bay

The final scene where our friendly taxi driver manages to set up his own tailors along Great George Street in Causeway Bay.

In the lower picture, - at the back, underneath the red sign - is the Great George Building, once home to the much talked about Daimaru department store that closed in 1998 after nearly 40 years.

Edit: I forgot to include the other shots of Great George Street when I first posted this. Filmed outside Daimaru with a view to the other side of the street and the various shops there.

 And finally a clip of the taxi pulling into Paterson Street. The building at the back is the one that Thomas mentioned in his comment (see comments below) most likely being the former Dairy Farm Depot. That small section of Paterson Street is now closed off and pedestrianised and the Hang Lung Centre sits on that site now.

Shirley's World (TV Series) - Shirley MacLaine (1972) - Tiger Balm Gardens, Tai Hang

Shirley finally manages to get her subject to pose for pictures at the Tiger Balm Gardens. The gardens have of course since been demolished (let's face it, the CCP were never going to let that place - riddled with pro-Nationalist symbolism - go unmolested following the handover) and replaced by "The Legend". Fortunately, the mansion was spared (nothing overtly anti-Communist on it I expect) and is currently being renovated to be used as some sort of conservatoire.

You can never have too many pictures of this place, so here's a whole bunch.

Shirley's World (TV Series) - Shirley MacLaine (1972) - Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui

There's a brief shot of Shirley climbing into the taxi outside the Peninsula Hotel (though we don't see the hotel in this episode) and driving off eastwards along Salisbury Road. The colourful hoardings on the wall opposite were the various adverts stuck on the side of the old Kowloon Train Station area.

Shirley's World (TV Series) - Shirley MacLaine (1972) - Thomson Road, Wanchai

Back to the taxi drivers house and a look at some of the old buildings that used to stand along Thomson Road. All the buildings seen on film have since been demolished and redeveloped.

Shirley's World (TV Series) - Shirley MacLaine (1972) - Lower Wong Tai Sin Estate, Kowloon

There is also some footage of one of the old Govt Housing Estates. It's often difficult to discern between various estates due to the common use of the "H" block design of the earlier ones. However, this particular sequence is most definitely of Lower Wong Tai Sin Estate.

The sequence starts looking down on Ching Tak Street. The building at the end of the road, along Tung Tau Tsuen Road, is now the CCC Kei Heep Secondary School - whether it had the same name back in 1972 I don't know, but at least it is still there and allows the positive identification of this location. 

Autostitch has done a pretty good job at merging these screen grabs considering the camera was panning in a rather weird angle (up and to the left). The whole estate has since been redeveloped into high rise accommodation. The carpark seen in the lower picture has since been turned into a couple of school campuses and a community centre.

Shirley's World (TV Series) - Shirley MacLaine (1972) - Public Square Street Playground, Yau Ma Tei

The playground scene when Shirley is snapping pictures of the band's singer playing on the slide and roundabout with the local kids was filmed at a playground right next to the famous Yau Ma Tei Police Station. You can see the back wall of the station in the first screencap. The playground is still there but the childrens' rides have long gone and now it is more of your typical Hong Kong-style rest garden (i.e some planters and seats and not much else other than a view obscured by the flyover)

Also quite prominent in the background is the Ferry Point Estate which can be seen in almost its full glory in the lower picture. That waterfront ceased to exist about 20 years ago. It has since been reclaimed and redeveloped.

Shirley's World (TV Series) - Shirley MacLaine (1972) - Johnston Road, Wanchai

There's a nice big clue for this next location in the form of a street sign. You can just barely make out the words Lun Fat Street. The curvature of the road and the fact that trams are on it pretty much seals the deal as to where we are. Look carefully at the background and you will just catch a glimpse of the old shophouse block that was turned into the rather nice looking "Pawn" restaurant.

The car pulls across the street and then turns into Thomson Road where the taxi driver lives.

Shirley's World (TV Series) - Shirley MacLaine (1972) - Aberdeen Harbour, Aberdeen

Back to Aberdeen for this next post, but this time we are over at the old restaurant pontoons by the old town. Regular readers of these blog posts will know the reclamation of the waterfront filled in most of this area and it is now where the main bus terminus stands along Wu Nam Street.

Shirley's World (TV Series) - Shirley MacLaine (1972) - Magazine Gap Road, Mid-levels

There are quite afew nice shots of Magazine Gap Road in one of the driving sequences. It starts off at the junction with Peak Road with the very obvious curved podium edge of #27 Magazine Gap Road.

We then see the car moving downhill. The black and white stripes mark the hairpin bend just past the junction with May Road. The markings are still there as are a couple of the buildings in the background including Borrett Mansions (far white building) and Bowen Mansion which is the lower building directly above the car.

Moving a bit down the hill and this looks as though it might be the precursor to today's "Regence Royale" development (these stupid names really make me chuckle sometimes). Back when views were more important than plot ratios.

We then get a few shots of driving around some bends before finally ending up just a few metres from the initial junction at the driveway to #26 Magazine Gap Road.