Percival Street - Now and Then

One more from the Times Square vicinity as I compare Percival Street from 1956 to 2026 - a nice round 70 year difference. The older images are from Flight to Hong Kong and the camera is located on Percival Street looking up Matheson Street (in the initial image) and then moving slightly left to look up Percival Street (lower images).

In the older, top image you can see the relatively empty space to the right of the tram which is where the old tram depot was located. Today's view shows how the Times Square development now occupies it. Although the roads and surrounding buildings occupy the same spaces they did 70 years ago.

Moving the camera slightly to the left and we are now looking south along Percival Street. The buildings that occupy the block between Percival and Matheson Streets are not the same ones from 70 years ago but, as is often the case with buildings in Hong Kong, the footprint remains the same even if the modern buildings are much taller. Actually, the building that currently occupies that angled corner plot in the foreground is called Percival House and it was constructed in 1959, so the earlier building seen in the older image didn't have long to go before it was replaced.

There are two buildings that can be "just about" seen in both images, however, the angle is a bit too acute to make out any great detail. In the upper image, if you go from the left and follow the Lee Theatre building until the vertical signage, the next two blocks belong to buildings that are currently still intact: 87- 89 Percival Street. In my modern comparison snap below they are the two blocks with the red vertical sign in front of them. They were built in 1954 and so weren't that old when Flight to Hong Kong was filmed.

Matheson Street - Now and Then

Following on from my Times Square post, here is a comparison from the back of the development courtesy of Bloodfight (1989). The top two images show a 1989 v 2026 comparison of the view from Matheson Street looking up Sharp Street East (to the east).

I also took a quick picture from the same place that used to be a noodle shop but is now some clothes/fashion store. As you can see, most of the former open space of the tram depot (and the view to Russell Street behind it) is now obscured by the Times Square building.

Benson - Robert Guillaume (1984) - Matheson Street, Causeway Bay

Unfortunately many of the shots in Benson that might be quite interesting are flashed quickly and due to the poor quality of the image, I doubt I would be able to identify most any, however, one of the shows this view of a tram trundling along what is now the northern section of Matheson Street next to the old Russell Street tran depot sheds (seen in the background). This place is now, of course, filled up by Times Square and the surrounding plaza.

Bloodfight - Yasuaki Kurata (1989) - Matheson Street, Causeway Bay

Next up is an interesting view of the area around what used to be the Sharp Street Tram Depot - where Times Square now stands. The place was demolished not long after this film was made.  The view in the top image is from a small cafe located on the NE corner of  Sharp Street East and Matheson Street. The gang have just walked down Sharp Street East and you can see one of the old buildings in the tram depot on the right hand side behind the street sign. Here is the same view today. The second image shows the view looking NW towards a row of old buildings that used to be on Russell Street. Only a couple remain today, the rest being redeveloped into high rises. The building with the cafe is still around though. 

This is where Ryu first encounters the gang and uses his natural fighting abilities to completely beat them all up - attracting the attention of Masa.

Flight to Hong Kong - Rory Calhoun (1956) - Percival Street, Causeway Bay

During a car chase, the pursuer's car is blocked by a tram pulling out from what I believe to be the old tram depot in Causeway Bay - where the Times Square development now stands. That would make this the angled junction between Percival Street (on the left) and Russell St/Matheson St on the right.

Confirmation seems to come from the dome that can be just seen around the top left of the top image (directly above the car). This is the dome of the old Lee Theatre where Percival Street joins Leighton Road. The hill at the far end of Percival Street (past the dome) is Leighton Hill.