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) - Queen's Road Central, Hong Kong

Immediately after Garden Road we see the vehicles - in a rare show of movie geographical accuracy - pull out onto Queen's Road Central. This was before the right turn (towards Wanchai) was replaced by a flyover.

This shot actually captures the former Hong Kong cricket ground (closed in 1975) undergoing its transformation into the now rather bleak and overly-concreted Chater Garden, which I believe opened the following year in 1978. Sorry, but in my Western-oriented foreign-deviled mind I am forever destined to associate the word "garden" with things like grass and the colour green rather than a drab grey and a proliferation of concrete. In Hong Kong, as long as it was built using Li Ka-shing's "Green Island" cement than that is about as green as it needs to be.

Anyway, note the very elegant and still standing Hong Kong club in the background. That was to stick around fora few more years before its eventual redevelopment. You can also spot the lower floors of the Furama Hotel at the back. And a little further along the road (see below) we get to glance back and can see the Hilton Hotel as well as what looks like a newly constructed Murray Road car park on the right.

That Man Bolt - Fred Williamson (1973) - HSBC Building, Queen's Road Central

The bank for which Bolt has to do his couriering is an anonymous place by all accounts and staffed by none other than Geoffrey Weeks who also played the Braithewaite character in Enter the Dragon.
On an aside, Chaplin Chang told me Geoffrey Weeks was a radio host with RTHK (Radio Television Hong Kong). I went and asked Annemarie Evans (an RTHK presenter) about this and she confirmed he was.

Never having seen (up until this post, at least) this side of the old HSBC building before, I wasn't even sure this was filmed in Hong Kong at all. I just didn't recognise the place. It has since popped up in a few more films but for a while I was confused. This building - the 3rd version at this address - was built in the 1930's and lasted up until 1984 when it was replaced by the current Norman Foster-designed HQ.

This is the entrance that fronts Queen's Road and its not often seen. Thankfully, the photographer Harrison Forman did get a decent picture of this side in the 1940s giving me the conformation I required. I can't seem to embed the picture here so please follow this link:

http://collections.lib.uwm.edu/cdm/ref/collection/agsphoto/id/18301

Anyway, here's how it looks on film.