Flatfoot in Hong Kong - Bud Spencer (1975) - Junction of Johnston and Luard Roads, Wanchai

A result of a recent rewatch is this post. To be honest, I'm not sure why I didn't post it first time around (back in 2012!) so I guess it was just missed.

This is where Rizzo wanders to whilst looking for an address. He asks a pedicab driver for directions but then reluctantly accepts a ride. As far as I am aware, Hong Kong never had pedicabs, only rickshaws, but I could by wrong. Pedicabs were used in Macau though. They also appear to be a thing in London these days, replete with full volume music being blasted into your ears as you travel (can you tell I don't like them?).

Crossing Hennessy - Jacky Cheung (2010) - Luard Road

After droppping the gifted humidifier back to Loy's shop, and stumbling in on Loy's mum ranting about why he didn't tell her Oi Lin already had a boyfriend, Oi Lin walks off for some introspection. She leaves the shop and can be seen walking down the southern section of Luard Road with the "Pawn" in the background. For those who are unaware the "Pawn" was a former block of four shophouses (60A to 66 Johnston Road) that were 'revitalised' and preserved rather than the usual demolition. The saving was applauded (by me too, as anyone who knows me knows I am a big fan of these pre-war buildings), but the subsequent decision to lease the place to an upmarket restaurant beyond the reach of grassroots locals was a very typical move for Hong Kong. It wasn't helped by the fact that the roof space was designated as public space, but the restaurant took great pains to stop people using it until they were called out in the local (now defunct) press. You can see how the block looked in 1989 here.

SPL - Donnie Yen (2005) - Luard Road, Wanchai

Part of Inspector Ma's (Donnie Yen) backstory is that he once hit a perp and permanently brain damaged the guy. So we get a flashback of the event that starts with Ma running down Lockhart Road and then turning into Luard Road before dragging the guy out of his car and giving him the fateful punch.

Hong Kong (series) - Rod Taylor (1960) - Lockhart Road, Wanchai

A couple more establishing shots from this episode, Murder Royal, were taken at the junction of Lockhart and Luard Roads in Wanchai. They pop up in a sort of montage as Evans tramps around the city trying to find out what is going on from his various dubious sources. It seems most of them frequent the bars in the Wanchai red light district.

Conveniently, both of these bars were on opposite sides of the same junction. The Skyroom Bar was located at 88 Lockhart Road, on the south east corner of the junction and the United Bar was located on the opposite corner.

Strangers - John Simm (2018) - Jaffe Road, Wanchai

After a hard day's sleuthing, David and Jonah are heading home along Jaffe Road before stopping at the junction with Luard Road and deciding to go and share a beer and do some male bonding.

Shirley's World (TV Series) - Shirley MacLaine (1972) - Neon Bar signs

In the Figuratively Speaking episode of Shirley's World, Shirley's assignment is to document the shenanigans of the US Sailors on shore leave in Hong Kong. Cue lots of nightclub neon signs, so here are a few of them that I have been able to track down. Once again, as with the I Spy neon montage, we did a while ago Doug Price's FLICKR album of bar cards have proved invaluable so many thanks to Doug for sharing.

Let's start with the Suzie Wong Bar and Niteclub and the Seven Seas Bar.

The Suzie Wong Bar and Niteclub was seems to have had two locations although they overlap. One location was 99 -103 Hennessy Road, and then it seems to have shifted over a block to 101 - 105 Hennessy Road. The Seven Seas Bar remains a mystery as to exact address, but Doug also has a photo of the same place in brighter light suggesting the Seven Seas Bar was next door. Feel free to comment if you know the exact address or why the Suzie Wong place seemed to shift over.

Next up is the Liberty Bar, 146-148 Lockhart Road. This later version is not to be confused with an earlier same name place that can be seen in this photo, but if you see Doug's bar card you'll notice the same guitar and cowboy boot emblem that can be seen in the neon sign below. It looks like the building this was in is still around and located next to the walkway that leads to Wanchai MTR station.

The Cave and the Round Up Bar- both were at 20 Luard Road - again another identification courtesy of Doug's bar cards. The Cave was in the basement and the Round Up Disco was on the first floor (in Hong Kong this could also mean the ground floor so I'm not sure which it was).

Next up is the Pussy Cat Bar. This just happens to be one of the first cards in Doug's collection and it gives an address of 34 - 38 Lockhart Road. But even better is also one of Doug's pictures taken in 1970 that shows the same neon signs during the daytime. It looks like that address is now filled up by the Empire Hotel.

Finally we have the Mikado Night Club and Bar. Again, Doug has a card, although we can't see an address on it he has added a comment saying it was at 3 - 7 Fenwick Street. This screenshot must be looking south because on the far left you can see partial signs for the Diamond Kitchen and Playboy Club which were near the junction with Hennessy Road.

Anyway, once again a big thanks to Doug for sharing all his cards on FLICKR (plus the hundreds of other Hong Kong pictures he has put up there over the years).

Yellowthread Street (TV Series) - Bruce Payne (1990) - No.60 to 66 Johnston Road, Wanchai

No.60 to 66 Johnston Road, or as many people in Hong Kong now know it - The Pawn. Before it became a rather posh restaurant - much to the disappointment of those who felt it should have been converted into something a bit more accessible to the general public - The Pawn was in fact a block of four old shophouses including a pawnshop called the 和昌大押 or Wo Cheong Pawnshop.

Anyway, it gets a brief background role in its former shambolic splendour as Pak & Co drive away down Luard Road.

And below is a recent snap from Streetview. Note you can also see Trust Tower in both the film grabs and the Streetview picture - it's the building on the left of the pictures.

I Spy (TV Series) - Robert Culp (1965) - Lockhart Road, Wanchai

Strictly speaking we are talking about the block on the northern corner of where Lockhart joins with Luard Road. Again, I have Thomas Ngan to thank for this rather excellent bit of spotting.

The scene involves Cosby and Culp moving across the rooftop of a block of shophouses in Danny was a Million Laughs. Not surprisingly, the block has largely been redeveloped but afew of the columned shophouses can still be found. The closest I can do is provide you with a shot of the same corner from street level as well as a quick piccie of the remaining shophouses I mentioned earlier.

Here are the screen caps.

Believe it or not there is still plenty of illegal rooftop occupation going on in HK, largely thanks to its ridiculously expensive real estate. But anyway, this particular set of illegal occupancies have long gone. At the far left is the gap in the buildings that forms Jaffe Road. I suspect the block was redeveloped piecemeal because the various current building dates are not uniform (plus the fact that a small portion of the old block still exists). For example, the Yen Men Building at 98-108 Jaffe Road was built in 1984, the corner block (89 Lockhart Rd) was replaced by the Wanchai Central Building in 1997, Beverly House (93 - 107 Lockhart Rd) was built in 1984, Hing Bong Mansion (107-11 Lockhart Rd) was built in 1985, One Capital Place (corner of Luard and Jaffe) was built in 1991. Such is the way of private development in HK. If it was the Govt doing this they would just get the U.R.A to completely eradicate the whole block and several streets (in the same way a nuclear bomb would) and then build a high end mall.

Anyhow, Thomas also found a comparative street level picture (courtesy of Doug) that shows us what was written on those signs.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/58451159@N00/7190016127

So we know that the corner building that we can see in the bottom of the top screen grab housed the "Mini Nightclub" (yes, either a night club for cars or midgets, can't decide which one yet), the partially obscured "Canadian Club" sign can also be seen a can the "United Night Club" which was almost completely obscured in our I Spy screen grab and was making me guess Red or Ted when I should have been thinking in terms of longer words.

Anyway, here is the modern Streetview, looking at the same corner that housed the "Mini Nightclub" all those years ago.

And finally, here is what I believe to be the sole remnant of that old block - situated at 109 - 111 Lockhart Road.