Golgo 13: Assignment Kowloon - Sonny Chiba (1977) - Lee Garden, Fanling

Here's a quick post from Golgo 13: Assignment Kowloon that I had a bit of trouble trying to identify. The problem was that it was inserted directly before the Bethanie sequence giving the impression that it was in or nearby the Bethanie grounds. By pure coincidence I saw a snippet of an old Cantonese movie and saw the same place and it turns out that it was located in On Lok Village in Fanling. This is the same village that once had the Fanling Babies Home.

The village still exists - it's located quite close to  Fanling East Rail station - but the section containing all the large European-style villas was turned in to a factory estate. I'm not sure how many villas were demolished but just one or two would have been a sad sight to see. The villagers at the time agreed and about 200 of them staged a massive protest to try and prevent the demolition. Sadly it was in vain, although apparently the protest took a serious turn when tear gas was fired and around 20 or so people were arrested. Anyway, its beauty meant it was popular with film and TV companies as a filming location. The only thing I can't find is the exact location of this place and how it relates to the modern layout of the estate.

Golgo 13: Assignment Kowloon - Sonny Chiba (1977) - Lion Rock, Kowloon

Golgo finally gets his man as he attempts to flee his impenetrable fortress island. Golgo has sneakily climbed up to the top of a nearby hill and is dangling from ropes as he lines up a shot for the bad guy's fleeing helicopter.

In reality the peak is in fact, Lion Rock, and it really looks like Chiba went the whole distance and was personally hung up on there just for this scene. So, big props to the man from Japan. One of the last times we saw this rock was when Aussie stunt supremo, Grant Page, did an impressive forward facing rappel down it for Kung Fu Killers back in 1974.

Golgo 13: Assignment Kowloon - Sonny Chiba (1977) - Bethanie, Pok Fu Lam

The diplomat is hiding away in a rather nice looking Gothic building where he is protected by his sidekick, Gaston (played by long time Hong Konger Bill Lake). The building is in fact a former sanitarium called Bethanie and is still located down in Pok Fu Lam on the west coast of Hong Kong Island. These days it is part of the HK Academy for Performing Arts and often used for student recitals, but it is also possible to visit as a tourist. It's been cleaned up since this film was made and looks to have had some of the decoration removed from the top of some walls. For a nice modern day comparison, check out Andi's recent blog post here.

Golgo 13: Assignment Kowloon - Sonny Chiba (1977) - Ninepins, Sai Kung

The main establishing shot used for illustrating the island where Golgo's enemy is hiding is a long shot of the Ninepin group of islands that lie in the far southeast of Hong Kong's waters. It also happens to be one of my favourite dive spots in HK so I am quite familiar with the location. 

Golgo 13: Assignment Kowloon - Sonny Chiba (1977) - St Paul's Church Facade, Macau

The ultimate target of Golgo's wrath is a slippery diplomat who takes refuge on an island fortress. The film wants us to believe that the island is somewhere near Macau so we are presented with some establishing shots of the famous church facade and some views from the nearby fort. I suspect it's stock footage but you never know.

Golgo 13: Assignment Kowloon - Sonny Chiba (1977) - Repulse Bay Hotel, Repulse Bay

There is a brief scene that appears to have been filmed in the garden of The Repulse Bay Hotel as Golgo's rather pompous British client talks to him about his predicament. Pity we don't get to see the rest of the building, but perhaps it was filmed without permission?

Golgo 13: Assignment Kowloon - Sonny Chiba (1977) - Garden Road, Central

Some car action around Central takes in some of the sites along Garden Road including the US Consulate and the old Govt offices East Wing where the road joins with Lower Albert Road. The interesting thing about the Consulate is that in the 1977 it still had the external balconies - no doubt removed for security purposes and to give the place a rather more imposing appearance.

Looking up (south) Garden Road

 

The old front of the US Consulate

The view to Lower Albert Road and East Wing

Looking down (north).

You can just catch a glimpse of the Murray Building's columns in the lower picture. This former office block is currently being turned into a hotel.

Golgo 13: Assignment Kowloon - Sonny Chiba (1977) - Chinese Permanent Cemetery, Tsuen Wan

This is where the gang boss is buried after being assassinated at the swimming pool opening ceremony. Golgo was trying to kill him but was beaten to it by a female assassin hired by the man's mistress.

I'm fairly certain this is Tsuen Wan cemetery because of the proximity to water and the terracing in the background. Also, this place seems to be the easiest for film makers to use (maybe because it has a road running through the middle of it).

Golgo 13: Assignment Kowloon - Sonny Chiba (1977) - View from Checkerboard Hill, Kowloon

Checkerboard Hill was once a favourite vantage point for viewing planes flying in on their approach to Kai Tak. The hill sits on the northern end of Kowloon Tsai Park and got its name from the two red/white painted checkerboards that acted as a visual marker for pilots coming in to land. It was at the arrival of these markers that the pilots would have to execute a 40 degree turn in order to be correctly lined up for the runway.

One of the checkerboards is still visible on the south facing slope of the hill - although it is in bad need of some restoration before it completely fades (so come on then, HK Govt). I'm guessing that the western facing checkerboard is still there but is now obscured by significant tree growth.

Anyway, for those who wish to go the the top of the hill it is part of Lok Fu Park and is accessible from Junction Road. The vantage point is a public space built over the hilltop reservoir and it's usually deserted. Obviously there are no planes to watch anymore, but it's a shame the place can't have some sort of small gallery built up there so people can see what the view was once like.

In the meantime you will have to settle for these few screencaps from Golgo, taken at the exact same spot above the southern checkerboard. The building in the immediate foreground of the third picture is the Holy Family Canossian College. In fact many of the buildings in that shot are still around thanks to the low amount of redevelopment in that part of Kowloon City/Kowloon Tong.

The squatter village in the last picture is the same one occupying the Carpenter Road Park that can be seen in Roaring Fire - filmed 5 years later and starring Sonny Chiba's famous protege, Hiroyuki Sanada.

Golgo 13: Assignment Kowloon - Sonny Chiba (1977) - Causeway Bay Typhoon Shelter, Wanchai

I was a bit confused about this one at first because I initially thought it was Yaumatei, but after close inspection it turned out to be Causeway Bay, in this case the background was more of a clue than anything. Anyway, it's where Golgo goes with the prostitute after he has saved her from her abusive boyfriend/pimp.

Look carefully at the bottom right of the lowest picture and you can see the elevated road that curves from Victoria Park Road around onto Gloucester Road by Victoria Park.

Golgo 13: Assignment Kowloon - Sonny Chiba (1977) - Kai Tak Airport, Kowloon

The old airport appears a couple of times in the film, the first time is as a showcase of Golgo's skills when he takes out a target with his trademark bullet between the eyes. We also catch a brief glimpse of the airport at the end of the film when Golgo leaves HK.

Golgo 13: Assignment Kowloon - Sonny Chiba (1977) - Lung Cheung Road, Tai Wo Ping

This next one shows Lung Cheung Road next to the Shek Kip Mei Service Reservoir Playground in Tai Wo Ping. I live close by so I have been able to replicate the lower shot almost perfectly courtesy of a pedestrian bridge that crosses the Lung Cheung Road.

Look carefully and you can spot some circular objects at the far end of the playground (to the left of the brown hut). There were once some 1960's-style circular canopied seats (like the ones still found at the nearby Lung Cheung Road Lookout). These were removed when the road system was enhanced and there is now a flyover connecting Tai Po Road to Lung Cheung Road zooming overhead.

Golgo 13: Assignment Kowloon - Sonny Chiba (1977) - King's Road, North Point

Another of many establishing shots that show various parts of Hong Kong, this time we are on King's Road in North Point, not far from the North Point tram terminus.

The top picture shows us looking west from the north side of King's Road towards the curve in the road where the State Theatre is situated. You can't see that rather interesting building on screen but the buildings at the far end (Nam Tin Building and Southern Building) are right next to it. The camera then pans left so that it faces the opposite direction. The older buildings next to the "Shell" sign have been demolished and replaced by a pedestrian walkway over the road.

Golgo 13: Assignment Kowloon - Sonny Chiba (1977) - Braemar Hill, North Point

A long shot of some high-rises was taken from Kowloon-side looking over towards the area of North Point and Braemar Hill. The most prominent buildings are perhaps the white collection of high-rises centre and right. These are up on Cloud View Road: Broadview Terrace (centre) and Evelyn Towers (to the right). You can still see Evelyn Towers but Broadview Terrace is now largely obscured by an even taller development that has been built in front. It's a common occurrence in Hong Kong...Caveat Emptor

Golgo 13: Assignment Kowloon - Sonny Chiba (1977) - Fenwick Street, Wanchai

A fair amount of action goes on around Fenwick Street. It's the location of the night club from where Golgo's crimelord-target runs his network. There are some nice shots showing the various neon signs for the clubs and topless bars that were once more prolific. The location can be identified by the fact that we can see the "Back Door Club" in the background. As previously discovered, this was located at 42-50 Lockhart Road - on the corner of Lockhart Road and Fenwick Street.

There is also this shot taken at the junction of Lockhart and Fenwick looking south. The columns in the picture belonged to a building that stood on where the Empire Hotel now stands.

Golgo 13: Assignment Kowloon - Sonny Chiba (1977) - Nathan Road, Mongkok

Another establishing shot that shows a road junction with the prominent restaurant sign in the background for the San Ah (i.e. New Asia) Restaurant or 新亞大酒樓. As far as I can tell this restaurant was almost directly opposite the Mayflower Restaurant which Thomas was able to help locate when I was looking at locations for You Only Live Twice. This means the junction we are looking at is most likely to be the one where Shantung Street meets Nathan Road on the east side of Nathan.

I've only been able to find references to the restaurant being along Nathan Road and not the exact address, so if anyone can confirm or deny it would be helpful.

Golgo 13: Assignment Kowloon - Sonny Chiba (1977) - View from the Sheraton Hotel, Tsim Sha Tsui

We don't get to see it from the outside, but some scenes in Golgo 13 appear to have been filmed on the top floor of the Sheraton Hotel. Although I can't confirm 100%, the scene where Chiba is sitting in a lounge when a bellhop comes to tell him he has a delivery looks to have been shot from there. The only evidence I have is the view which you can see below.

If you look closely at the very bottom right-hand corner of the lowest picture, you should be able to make out the small round tower that is part of the former Marine Police HQ. Just next to it looks to be the roof of the west wing of the Peninsula Hotel. Also the angle on the KCR Clocktower also indicates the general view from the south west corner of the Sheraton Hotel.

Couple with this shot from the lounge showing the corner upright of the building behind Chiba, it is the same design as the Sheraton - although I can only confirm this from the exterior.

It's a bit odd anyway, because when Chiba goes to open his delivery in his hotel room, the address on the boxes says the Hotel Merlin. So, was the entire sequence filmed inside the Sheraton, or was the room scene actually filmed in Hotel Merlin? I suspect it was all the Sheraton simply due to the view from the hotel room. The Hotel Merlin was situated directly behind the Peninsula Hotel and so wouldn't have had a harbour view, and yet we can quite clearly see it from the bedroom window. I don't think Hotel Merlin was any taller than the Peninsula, so I don't think this view would've been possible from there.

For those who don't know, the Hotel Merlin and Peninsula Court Hotel/Marco Polo were both demolished to make way for the Kowloon Hotel that currently sits on the north side of Middle Road directly behind The Peninsula. Anyway, I'll finish this post with the panorama courtesy of AP.