Bullet for Hire - Simon Yam (1991) - The Lido, Repulse Bay

The exclusive club that Han always goes to, but where Shan is initially refused entry because of his attire, was located in what was the old Lido building along the beachfront in Repulse Bay.

Information on the history of this place is a bit patchy, so I've had to guess afew things, but what is known is that it was built by the Kadoorie family in 1935 as a sort of beachside resort building containing bathing booths, a restaurant and at some point a nightclub. It was a standalone building, designed in the art-deco style that was popular at the time (and for quite a while afterwards) in Hong Kong. Located at the eastern end of the beach, it was later joined by a second, similarly low-rise, building immediately to the west. I think (I'm guessing again) that may have been built when the when the site was bought and redeveloped by the Lido Development Company circa 1976. The two buildings may or may not have been referred to as the "Lido Complex", please feel free to comment below to correct any mistakes.

You can see in the images that Han's car drives along Beach Road with a white building in the background with curved roof edge. I think this is the east tip of the later development I just mentioned. Han stops outside what was the original Lido building. The sign above the door says "Lido International Resort Club" but I have no idea if it was known by this at the time or whether it was a film prop. I suspect it was the real name though.

The Lido building(s)/complex were later bought by Emperor Group (circa mid-90s) and redeveloped into a single long mall building called "The Pulse". This new development appears to take up the same footprint as the previous two buildings combined. Apparently there were some legal issues because Emperor were only given permission to build a three-storey structure and instead they slapped an additional three floors on the top, breaking their lease conditions. They got away with it by paying an additional land premium of close to HK$800 million. In HK, all problems go away with a big bag of cash.

The area we can see on the film below is in front of a traffic island that itself sits in front of 49-53 Beach Road. Both of which can be seen in the third image.

The curved wall in the background belongs to 49-53 Beach Road

Dallas - Victoria Principal (1985) - Tin Hau Temple, Repulse Bay

The 'temple' building behind the Tin Hau Statue at the eastern end of Repulse Bay beach is actually the Hong Kong Life Guard Club, but it seems that most people still refer to it as the Tin Hau Temple, so I shall continue that convention. This place has been in so many films and shows over the years due to its quirky, mosaic-tiled statues and sculptures. I've still never been so perhaps I shall make a big effort in the new year and try to get as many comparison shots as possible.

Anyway, in this final Hong Kong-based episode of Dallas (Season 8 Episode 23: Trial and Error) this is where the two friends meet to decide what to do now that the truth about "Mr Swanson" has been revealed to Pam.

The Magic Crystal - Andy Lau (1986) - Belleview Drive, Repulse Bay

Our introduction to Andy's abilities comes when he and his buddy, Snooker (Wong Jing, also director) raid a criminal's house to obtain evidence from his voice activated safe. The house used, at least for the exterior - I have no way to confirm the interior - is located at #10 Belleview Road in Repulse Bay. Looking at Streetview, I think the house has been remodelled at some point. It still bears the same general shape but a few bits have been added over the years. The ornate gate for the neighbouring property leads to a famous property that Gwulo has a decent picture of here.

Yellow Emanuelle - Chai Lee (1977) - Repulse Bay Tin Hau Shrine

A popular location for foreign films due to the quirky nature of the place, adorned with oversize statues and tile covered oddities. It took me along to to realise that the large building in the back is not a temple but the training HQ of the Hong Kong Life Saving Society. It blends in well with the surroundings and over the years has served (in film) as a private house and even a bath house. In Yellow Emanuelle it appears to be a restaurant or cafe where Emy goes with her "saviour" following her attempted suicide.

Yellow Emanuelle - Chai Lee (1977) - Repulse Bay Road, Hong Kong

On the way to the hospital following his discharge, we see George driving along Repulse Bay Road near to the entrance to the "Clinic of Flowers" i.e. the Repulse Bay Hotel. This is quite an interesting shot because it shows what looks to be the constructionof the Repulse Bay Apartments on the right side of the screen. They were completed and ready for sale by June 1977, so we know the film was shot prior to that. In the background is the already completed Repulse Bay Garden (completed 1973) and look on the left and you will see a rather grand Chinese-style private house at 12 Belleview Drive - owned by Lee Shiu-kee (李兆基).

Yellow Emanuelle - Chai Lee (1977) - Repulse Bay Hotel

The hospital where George convolesces is called the "Clinic of Flowers". The location used for the hospital exterior is the Repulse Bay Hotel. We see a few angles of the hotel that are new to the blog including the long driveway up from Repulse Bay Road. The place was demolished in the early 80s and a facsimile of the main entrance (seen in images 1-3) constructed on the same location. There are claims that the facsimile was created using the same bricks/blocks from the original building. I'm still doubtful.

Flight to Hong Kong - Rory Calhoun (1956) - 21 South Bay Road, Repulse Bay

Tony (Rory Calhoun) lives in a rather lush property, supposedly in Macau, but the exterior shots for this place were filmed at a large property located at 21 South Bay Road. The property has since been knocked down and replaced by "Villa Corniche", a development of several luxury townhouses, but the road up to the house doesn't appear to have changed that much since the film was shot nearly 70 years ago.

Blade in Hong Kong - Terry Lester (1985) - Eucliffe, Repulse Bay

Blade follows Key Tam to Eucliffe in Repulse Bay and this is where we find out who the real bad guy is. The film used the property's interior extensively including a summer room which I have seen before in China Rose therefore confirming that this was indeed a real room and not an elaborate studio set.

The film visits this location on several occasions. Blade does go back later and is caught on the roof by the bad guy's henchmen. The state of the grounds at this time indicates that the property had most likely been abandoned for quite some time. I believe the eventual demolition took place in 1988, just afew years after this film was made, so this may have been the last time a film crew went inside. This is also the scene where Nancy Kwan makes an appearance as Lily - Blade's ex-flame.

Hong Kong (series) - Rod Taylor (1960) - Repulse Bay, Hong Kong

Episode 25, The Innocent Exile, is another of those single location episodes where most of the program was set within studio sets or if outside locations were required then some remote looking part of Los Angeles (this was a Fox TV show so it was highly likely to have been filmed at the Fox Ranch - now Malibu Creek State Park).

Anyway, the single Hong Kong location is a shot looking towards Repulse Bay from the vicinity of Deepwater Bay. It was an establishing shot for a beach scene. There is a similar view seen in Love is a Many-Splendored Thing taken from Middle Island which makes me think this shot for Hong Kong was filmed slightly closer to HK Island given the angle on the hills in the background.

Harry's Hong Kong - David Soul (1987) - Tin Hau Temple, Repulse Bay

One of Harry's clients has hired him to find her missing husband and he meets up with her in Repulse Bay in front of the Tin Hau temple, which is masquerading as a cafe.