Shek O Beach - Now and Then

I'm currently on some down time while I work on other things and try to find a film to cover, but decided to make a trip out to Shek O today. It's one of the places I had yet to visit (yes, despite nearly 18 years living here and exploring pretty much every inch of everywhere else). Sadly I wasn't very organised for this trip and have to prepare a bit better for next time because I still have a load of images I want to capture - for all the films that have been shot in and around Shek O over the years. In the meantime, here is a comparison of the beach from Kill a Dragon (1967) and a quick snap I took today.

Kill a Dragon - Jack Palance (1967) - Hanoi Road, Tsim Sha Tsui

A  brief shot of Jack Palance riding in a rickshaw along Hanoi Road. The familiar sight of the Kam Lung Company in the background.

Kill a Dragon - Jack Palance (1967) - Aberdeen Dockyard, Aberdeen

If you want to see what the old Aberdeen Dockyard looked like then Gwulo is a good place to start. It looks as though it survived until the early 70's - so not long after this film was made - before falling victim to the usual round of reclamation and redevelopment. The Aberdeen Centre now sits on the same site. The dockyard had two dry docks and you can see them both (albeit partially) in the screen grabs.

Kill a Dragon - Jack Palance (1967) - Queen's Road West, Sai Ying Pun

The sequence when Aldo Ray and Jack Palance are sitting in the back of the truck and chatting was filmed along Queen's Road West just at the part before it meets Centre Street. In fact, the whole sequence also involves the truck turning down Centre Street before we hit and edit point and see the truck go past from an external angle.

Look carefully and you may spot some similar shop frontages that were also seen in The Last Grenade (and identified by Thomas at the time).

 Queen's Road West

Turning into Centre Street

Centre Street

And the final picture showing us looking up Centre Street.

Kill a Dragon - Jack Palance (1967) - Magazine Island, Aberdeen

It's been a few years since I last looked at Kill a Dragon, but I find it useful to go back over stuff every once in a while to pick up the things I missed or forgot about first time round. In this film I just noticed there is a scene at the very start of the film whereby a couple of the bad guys are spying on a junk floating into the west entrance to Aberdeen Harbour. You can see Magazine Island in the background (and Lamma in the far distance) as well as some of the reclamation work that was being done for the construction of the power station that opened the following year in 1968.

Les Tribulations d'un Chinois en Chine - Jean-Paul Belmondo (1965) - Is this the Wan Fu?

I mentioned earlier about my suspicions of the identity of Belmondo's private yacht in the film Les Tribulations d'un Chinois en Chine. I believe it was actually the Hilton Hotel's own Wan Fu wearing a disguise. What do you think? Any old "Hiltonians" out there that can confirm? (Edit: confirmed).

I'm certainly no expert but I think the following comparison between Kill a Dragon (1967) and Les Tribulations d'un Chinois en Chine (1965) provide the best clue. It looks to me like the same boat with the name blacked out in the second picture. Does anyone care to weigh in?

Kill a Dragon

Les Tribulations d'un Chinois en Chine

Kill a Dragon - Jack Palance (1967) - Oriental Ballroom, Pilkem Street

Following on from the last I Spy post where I managed to identify the Oriental Ballroom on Pilkem Street, it was pointed out to me by my good friend and cohort, AP, that the same place was also seen in Kill a Dragon. Although we don't see the outside like in I Spy, we do get a look inside and see the same stairs and red decor, leading us both to believe that the Kill a Dragon crew also came here for this scene with Jack Palance and Aldo Ray as the former tries to convince the latter to come and help him with the villagers. Same red decor, same bannister, same white bannister spokes.

There are two bar scenes in this film, this one and the second one at the "World of Suzie Wong" bar on Tonnochy Road (see this post). The interior of the Suzie Wong bar scene, where Palance plays pool with his girlfriend, I have recently found out was actually filmed at Shaw's Movietown in Clearwater Bay. By pure chance I got involved in a little chat with a lady called Caroline who was actually one of the extras in that scene and she confirmed the set was built over at Shaws. It's interesting for me to hear this because I hadn't realised at the time that Shaws obviously also rented out their studio space - I had always assumed they used them solely for their own productions. Well, you live and learn.

Kill a Dragon - Jack Palance (1967) - Shek O Beach, Hong Kong

Palance and his cohorts head to the local beach in order to resurrect the carcass of the boat that was wrecked carrying its cargo of TNT.

Of course, this being the movie world, rather than the beach being local to the village, it is in fact located about 10 miles to the south on Hong Kong Island. Shek O beach to be precise. Recognisable by the presence of Ng Fan Chau which is the small islet that sits directly off the beach. Here it is on the film in the top picture.

Kill a Dragon - Jack Palance (1967) - Stanley, Hong Kong

Back from my hols (hence the lack of activity here over the past few weeks) and here is one that for a while I was a bit flummoxed with until a penny dropped and then I just felt like slapping myself for being an idiot.

The scene is immediately following the scuffle at the bad guy's mansion (supposedly in Macau but actually close to today's Gold Coast development) when the heroes do a runner and hide in a local market. Only it's not really a local market but one that is actually located - as the crow flies - 30 km away!

It is of course Stanley, albeit a version that is virtually unrecognisable today.

This first shot appears to be the entrance road to what is now called Stanley New Street (perhaps it was always called this?) which leads into Stanley Market Road and Stanley Main Street.

the main. If you have ever visited Hong Kong and done the touristy thing, then chances are you will have walked down this little slip road because the buses drop you off just a little up the slope. In case you need a reminder, here it is today (courtesy of Streetview). Notice the retaining wall at the middle and back - I wonder if some of those large blocks are the same ones that are visible in the film? The slope has been remodeled of course, but there's no reason why the remodeling didn't incorporate existing features. Any experts out there - please feel free to comment.

Following on are a few shots of the small alleyways and streets that made up this part of Stanley. Looking at the white gate below I think I can just make out Stanley's Chinese name (赤柱) in small letters underneath the arch, but that just be my poor eyesight...!

The gang escape their pursuers by boarding their boat that is tied up, conveniently, on a little spur of rock that is still around but on the side we see below (as they are running down the steps) has been completely redeveloped to create the new seafront area.

This was when Stanley Bay had a proper beach. All the sand has pretty much been built on by now to facilitate the extension of the road and seafront into the bay. Anyway, the opposite headland that we can see in the shot below is part of the Chung Hom Kok peninsula. Still looks pretty much the same in terms of shape but of course has the inevitable addition of residences now.

And for the shot below we can see the Stanley Peninsula behind Jack Palance's head. There's a big residential complex there now called Regalia Bay and beyond that (hidden from view) is the Stanley Fort barracks - now a PLA barracks.

Kill a Dragon - Jack Palance (1967) - Tonnochy Road, Wanchai

Jack Palance's character has a girlfriend who works at "The World of Suzie Wong Ltd" nightclub - in fact a real place that was situated on the corner of Tonnochy and Jaffe Roads. The truck is Leyland FG, apparently.

Anyway, Palance decides to pay her a visit at the bar and finds her trussed up by the baddies, but before we get there we catch some great late 60's glimpses of the area.

Red truck. Apparently a Leyland FG

Yes, it was a real bar. Gilman Motors next door along Jaffe Road

Now, Doug Price, possibly the world's expert on Wanchai girly bars and sometime poster on this blog, has a great little map from one of his many matchbook/bar card pictures on FLICKR that show a nice map of this place: https://www.flickr.com/photos/58451159@N00/13232118423/

The change that has undergone this whole area is, as expected, huge. The girly bars as well as general drinking establishments are still to be found, but the whole character of the area has changed and all these older buildings have been replaced. Check out the modern view of Tonnochy Road courtesy of Streetview.

And here is the view of the space once occupied by the bar and Gilman Motors next door. Note that the Gilman Motors place is now a Volvo showroom, it's more than feasible that the same company that owned Gilmans also owns the local Volvo franchise - that tends to be how things work here in HK.

By the way, does anyone know why Jaffe Road was blocked off in the screencap? I am guessing it may have been a temporary precaution related to the proximity of Wanchai Police Station and the 1967 communist riots in HK?

Kill a Dragon - Jack Palance (1967) - Hongkong Hilton, Central

As mentioned in a previous post, Aldo Ray's character is a tour guide for the Hilton Hotel and so we get to see him taking some hotel guests on a boat trip followed by bus journey back to the hotel. In this post we get to see the bus arrive back at the hotel.

Kill a Dragon - Jack Palance (1967) - Nathan Road, Kowloon

On their way back from their boat trip to Aberdeen, the hotel guests are on a tour bus taking what must be the worlds longest detour, because they are actually travelling down Nathan Road (in Kowloon) on their way back to a hotel that was on HK Island.

How do we know it's Nathan Road? Well, one of the buildings we pass is the instantly recognisable Sun Ya Hotel. We've seen this place before on this blog courtesy of Golden Needles. It was located at 639 Nathan Road.

Kill a Dragon - Jack Palance (1967) - Aberdeen Harbour and the Wan Fu

More nostalgia for those of a certain age who may remember the boat owned and operated by the HongKong Hilton Hotel. It was called the Wan Fu - apparently a reproduction of an 1840's British Brigantine - and used to take hotel guests on fully-catered harbour and island tours.

It seems as though the film makers of Kill a Dragon couldn't be bothered with organising their own boat tour and instead decided to hijack an existing one. I guess it is fair enough though because the character played by Aldo Ray in the film is actually a tour guide for the hotel.

Yes, the Wan Fu was a real boat and it was operated by the HongKong Hilton - no need to create fake boat names and signposts for these shots.

A few familiar shots of Aberdeen Harbour above (that's Also Ray with the red blazer). In the following shots we catch a small glimpse of both the Sea Palace and Tai Pak floating restaurants.

Here are a couple of further pictures that show the Wan Fu circa 1990 - just a few years before the Hilton was demolished. The boat still exists - albeit landlocked - at Nansha Marina near Guangzhou.

http://www.hkmemory.hk/collections/hkplaces/All_Items/images/201107/t20110722_41676.html

http://www.hkmemory.hk/collections/hkplaces/All_Items/images/201107/t20110723_43123.html

Kill a Dragon - Jack Palance (1967) - Tsing Bik Villa, Tuen Mun

This next place's Chinese name - 青碧別墅 - pronounced Tsing Bik Bit Seui - roughly translates as "Blue/Green Villa". However, I believe the proper English name it was given was "Green Jade". 

A few years ago a picture of it was posted up on Gwulo.com and IDJ, the poster, was asking if anyone knew anything about it. It was only when reviewing these locations for Kill a Dragon that the penny dropped and I realised it was the same location used in this film as the bad guy's (played by Fernando Lamas) HQ. It was a rather attractive building, I feel, built in the "Chinese Renaissance" style. If you follow the comments on that page you will know it also features in Tragic Hero, after which is was demolished.

As you can see it was a nice looking place. It's a real shame most of these former grand mansions are all gone. In this case the property and its extensive garden were redeveloped into a residential development called "Bayview Terrace". I'm sure that it's no coincidence that the Chinese name of the new development (碧翠花園) uses the same Bik character that can be found in the villa's original name: 碧

I was wondering if the chase scenes set around the building were also filmed at the same location and it seems, judging from the following screencap, that it was. Look carefully in the picture and you can see Pearl Island with its causeway in the background.