Love in Hong Kong - Pauline Teutscher (1983) - Furama Hotel, Central

One of the scenes is set in the Furama Hotel. I have no idea if the interior used was the hotel but we are treated to a shot of the exterior. Neither of these buildings exists anymore because Hutchison House next door was demolished circa 2020 - its even taller replacement is already nearing completion (as of May 2023). AIA Central now stands where the Furama was.

La Fine Dell'innocenza - Annie Belle (1976) - Harcourt Road, Central

Here's a nice view of Harcourt Road as the pair arrive at their hotel (the Furama, see next post). The interesting thing for me can be seen on the left hand side (lower image) where you can see the old dock buildings inside HMS Tamar that were replaced, not long after actually, by the former Prince of Wales building (now known as the "Chinese People's Liberation Army Forces Hong Kong Building"). On the right you can see the lower floors of the (now demolished) Hutchison House and Bank of America Tower (although at the time it was still called Gammon House).

Strangers - John Simm (2018) - Hutchison House, Central

Hutchison House. I seem to remember that this was the establishing shot for the newspaper where the Australian investigative journalist is working.

China Rose - George C. Scott (1983) - Cotton Tree Drive, Central

One of the first things on the agenda when they land in Hong Kong is a trip to the US Embassy, which they start out on by heading up Cotton Tree Drive. The 1983 view of this area is vastly different compared to today. At the back we can see (from right to left) Fairmont House, almost brand new after being completed in 1982. Behind that is Bank of America Tower although at the time it was  called Carrian House (a big scandal revolved around it in the 80's). In front of them all is the Murray Road car park that was sold for redevelopment recently and behind that is Hutchinson House.

Now gone is the Furama Hotel and the small building next to it was Sutherland House. What's missing of course is the Bank of China Tower that was eventually built where all the cars are parked. Construction didn't start until 1985 though so this view shows the site after Murray Barracks had been dismantled but before the bank building construction started.

The second screencap shows the view up the road with the Murray Building on the right - currently being turned into a hotel - and the two towers of St Joseph's College further up the hill.

Foxbat - Henry Silva (1977) - Gloucester Road, Wanchai

The next shot of the ambulance is as it turns onto Gloucester Road from Arsenal Street. This is a great picture and it's a shame I haven't got a better quality version because there is a whole bunch of stuff to be seen. As well as the recognisable buildings in the background (which include the Bank of America Tower - then perhaps still known as the Gammon Centre? - Hutchinson House, Furama Hotel and the Connaught Centre - now Jardine House), there is a tantalising glimpse of Caine House in its former red coat of paint as well as the old China Fleet Club (behind the lamppost).

A little further on down the road and the ambulance is passing by the old Luk Kwok Hotel. That's the building with the red signage at the top. It's hard to see from this angle but it was actually a big advert for SANYO (it's the building immediately behind the ambulance in the picture below). I'm not to knowledgeable on the various buildings that can be seen but suffice to say most have already been replaced. I think the only survivors are the PICO Tower (newly built and on the other side of the Luk Kwok Hotel) and the Malaysia Building - the gold-coloured building in the background. Can anyone remember what the white building was on the right hand side?

Spider-Man: The Dragon's Challenge - Nicholas Hammond (1979) - Central Helicopter Landing Pad, Hong Kong

For want of a better name (please feel free to suggest a more accurate one), this is the former site of the helicopter landing pad in front of Caine House that has since been covered over by construction where Lung Wo and Lung Wui roads meet in front of the CITIC building. You can see the actual place on this previous post courtesy of Yellowthread Street (scroll to the bottom of the post). This post isn't very interesting to be honest, but it sets up the following few posts which all involve aerial shots around the territory and I thought it was interesting to see the Prince of Wales Building over in HMS Tamar as it was nearing completion. The building was finally opened in 1978 and you can see it in the background of the screen grabs below still covered in scaffolding.

You can also spot the upper sections of Hutchinson House and the greatly missed Furama Hotel at the bottom left of the middle picture.

Soldier, Soldier (TV Series) - Robson Green (1992) - Harbourfront, Hong Kong

Another TV series for the blog and this time one that I missed when it was originally shown back in 1992 - I was grotty student in Leeds at the time spending most of my time listening to music rather than watching the box. Strictly speaking the episodes I am looking at are from series 2, when the so-called King's Fusiliers move to Hong Kong. The first two episodes of the series were still based back in the UK but the remaining 4 episodes were filmed in their entirety in Hong Kong.

One of the first scenes we are shown an army helicopter flying along the harbour front with a few sights to look at including the Shun Tak Centre in Sheung Wan (pic 1), the old vehicular ferry pier (pic 2 & 3) and finally the Bank of China and its surrounding buildings such as the Furama Hotel, the Ritz Carlton (both redeveloped), Hutchison House, Bank of America tower etc.

The Man from Hong Kong - Wang Yu (1975) - Central Waterfront

Some scenes of the Central Harbour front as the hand glider moves over to the island. Prominent in all the screen caps is the Connaught Centre (now Jardine House) which Grant Page mistakenly refers to (in his rather entertaining memoir Man on Fire: A Stunt of a Life) as the 'Conodcentre'. Anyway, apparently this particular flight was launched from the Mt Austin area of the Peak before doing a nice big circle of the building.

There are some brief glimpses of various buildings including the Furama Hotel, Hutchison House, City Hall and the old version of HMS Tamar and below we can just see the tops of both the Mandarin Oriental Hotel as well as Prince's Building.

The Amsterdam Kill - Robert Mitchum (1977) - Connaught Centre/Jardine House, Central

Well, not so much the building, but actually the view from one of its famous circular windows. In the film the US Drugs Enforcement Agency is based inside.

The black and white building we can see through the window is the former Gammon House, now the Bank of America Tower - which was subject to a significant fraud case many year ago. Look carefully on the far left of the lowest picture and you can also make out Hutchison House and the Furama Hotel, the latter quite famous for its revolving restaurant at the top. HMS Tamar is the dockyard in front.

Bruce Lee & I - Betty Ting Pei (1976) - View from the Hilton Hotel

Quite unexpected but welcome nonetheless is the following picture. No, this screen grab isn't from the film per se, but is a nice by-product of uploading photos to this Google blog.

In case you didn't know, Google has this funky new algorithm that goes through your photos looking for effects it can apply. It's already found a few of mine that it has automatically ,merged into panoramas etc.

The following picture, as you should know from my last post is taken from a room in the Hilton Hotel where Betty was supposedly staying during the story in Bruce Lee & I. Google took the three screen grabs I uploaded and simply removed Betty! - I think there are probably a few Bruce Lee fans around the world that wish they could do the same, though I'm not one of them.

Anyway the result is a nice clear view over to the buildings and out across the harbour and Betty being abducted by aliens.

Bruce Lee & I - Betty Ting Pei (1976) - Hilton Hotel, Central

Speaking of the Hilton Hotel, as we just were, here is a shot taken from it rather than of it. Betty is staying at a hotel in the film when she starts her liaison with Bruce. In reality she was staying at the Hyatt Regency over on Nathan Road in Kowloon, and Bruce was first introduced to her there, but in the film we have switched over to HK Island and she is shown staying at a nameless hotel, but as we can see from the film it is in fact the Hilton Hotel.

How do we know this? Well, looking out of her suite window we can see several buildings opposite: the yet-to-be-opened Furama Hotel, Hutchison House and what is now Bank of America tower.

The only building tall enough (because I am pretty sure this was not a back projected studio scene) to fit is the Hilton Hotel which was directly opposite the Furama.

Sadly, the Furama disappeared several years ago and was replaced by the AIG building that now stands in its place. Despite walking past it on several occasions I never went in to sample the revolving restaurant nor the bakery on the ground floor(?) that my wife says had the best cakes in HK :-)

Hutchison House (the shorter of the three) and BoA tower are still standing, for the time being.

Flatfoot in Hong Kong - Bud Spencer (1975) - Chater Road, Central

We are suddenly spirited back to Hong Kong-side as Rizzo and the Japanese boy walk along Chater Road with the old Hong Kong Club building behind them, as well as the Cenotaph, City Hall and the Supreme Court Building. Rizzo sits the kid down on the side of one of the Statue Square pools.