Shirley's World (TV Series) - Shirley MacLaine (1972) - Pilkem Street, Kwun Chung

Many thanks to Bunce for the identification of this formerly hard to find location from Shirley's World. It's from the Figuratively Speaking episode and is just a quick shot of Shirley out and about taking pictures. The slatted building on the left is Pilkem House, so this means we are looking north from somewhere close to the junction with Bowring Street (around where exit C2 of Jordan Station is these days). The angle makes me think Bowring Street is behind her though.

Sai Kung Waterfront - Now and Then

Seeing as this place has cropped up a couple of times over the last few weeks - in Shirley's World and Weiße Fracht für Hongkong - I figured a trip out there was in order. It's a long time since I went to Sai Kung and the weather was nice and sunny over the bank holiday weekend (yes, we get the Monday off in Hong Kong too), so I thought I would head in and try to get some shots of some film locations.

Actually, the waterfront was more of a consolation prize because my main objective for the day was to head up Chuk Yeung Road and try to find the area where the final fight of The Young Master was filmed, and after about an hour of walking (uphill in some rather tiring heat) I came to the spot where I believed it to be (about 200 metres further north from the fire lookout). Sadly, the walk up there was a bust because not only is the area vastly overgrown, but also the AFCD have roped it all off (not just there but a whole swathe of the hilltop) in some sort of native species re-plantation project. So, until I can get some proper access, this one will remain an unconfirmed piece of guesswork.

The waterfront area in question is right in the town centre and despite the many years that have passed since both Shirley's World and Weiße Fracht für Hongkong were filmed, the place is still quite recognisable.

Here's the reminder for Shirley's World. It was from the episode Evidence in Camera and Shirley (with co-star John Gregson) are in a boat in the small harbour after visiting the family that pinched her camera.

Remember that the village opposite is called Tui Min Hoi (which literally means "opposite side of the sea"). Anyway, here is how it currently looks.

 Following on from that is a brief glimpse of the same area, only this time ten years earlier as Dietmar Schönherr and Brad Harris wander around almost the whole of Hong Kong in about 5 minutes flat. The bumpy ridgeline at the back is Fu Yung Pit and Buffalo Hill.

The view of the hills at the back is now obscured by the covered fish market and a development called Lakeside Garden (can you tell which is which? ;-))

This final shot is looking east along the waterfront. I had to take my picture a bit further back from the pier (because it was a bit too busy and most of that area is now under cover due to some awnings for the harbourside restaurants) but you get the idea.

Shirley's World (TV Series) - Shirley MacLaine (1972) - Sai Kung Waterfront, Sai Kung

Another spot from Thomas, this time from Shirley's World when Shirley has her camera stolen and we are led to believe that the thieves live on a boat in Aberdeen Harbour. The terrain just didn't look right to me and I figured it must have been elsewhere with a lively waterfront. Thomas has managed to identify the spot as the waterfront in front of Sai Kung town along Sai Kung Hoi Pong Street. The concrete jetty seen in the TV show is still there although the bit of land on the opposite side of the bay is now vastly more crowded with new development over in Tui Min Hoi.

One particularly recognisable land,mark is the small church over the right shoulder of actor John Gregson in the lowest picture. It's the Chinese Full Gospel Church (Chinese name: 中華完備救恩會, although, sadly, I notice the link I have just given uses Simplified Chinese) over in Tui Min Hoi.

Shirley's World (TV Series) - Shirley MacLaine (1972) - Hennessy Road, Causeway Bay

A mystery location from Shirley's World cleared up again thanks to Thomas and Arthur. In Figuratively Speaking we see some sailors patronising the various shops in Hong Kong and one of them was the Wing Hung Photo Supply Company.

Thomas was able to read that this branch was in Causeway Bay, and Arthur was able to track down the exact address courtesy of an old advert on a Facebook page (at the bottom is a list of branches, the second one from the bottom is the Causeway Bay branch which has the address of Ground Floor, 452 Hennessy Road).

It actually looks as though the same building is still there, although it's hard to confirm. Anyway, the same space was occupied by a 3D-Gold shop back when the Google car did its rounds.

So a big thanks to both Thomas and Arthur for once again finding the needle in the haystack.

Shirley's World (TV Series) - Shirley MacLaine (1972) - The Peninsula Hotel, Tsim Sha Tsui

Having previously cropped up in the episode Figuratively Speaking, The Peninsula Hotel also makes an appearance in Evidence in Camera.

Hong Kong film fans might recognise the chap in the bottom screen shot. It's Ho Li-yan who was a prolific local actor throughout the 50s/60s/70s and is perhaps most recognisable from playing Angela Mao's chaperone in Enter the Dragon when they are attacked by Han's henchmen. In this episode, he plays the fisherman father of the thief who stole Shirley's camera.

Shirley's World (TV Series) - Shirley MacLaine (1972) - Former Marine Police HQ, Tsim Sha Tsui

When Shirley has her camera stolen, she goes to report the theft at the Marine Police HQ in TST.

Shirley's World (TV Series) - Shirley MacLaine (1972) - Connaught Road, Central

This is the section of Connaught Road in front of where the old Star Ferry pier used to be. You may remember it from The World of Suzie Wong, but by the time Shirley's World was being filmed the old Queen's Building had already been replaced by the Mandarin Oriental (seen in the background on the left).

Shirley's World (TV Series) - Shirley MacLaine (1972) - Kowloon KCR Terminus, Tsim Sha Tsui

We haven't had this building for a while. For those who don't realise, this was the train station that used to stand along the Kowloon waterfront and whose sole remaining artifact is the famous clocktower.

In Evidence in Camera we get to see a fair bit of the place, mainly from the inside which I don't think I have seen on this blog before.

Shirley's World (TV Series) - Shirley MacLaine (1972) - KCR railway, Tai Wai

The opening scene of Evidence in Camera is a really nice shot of the northbound KCR train rumbling through what is now Tai Wai in the southern part of Shatin District. Some examples of these old green carriages can still be found at the Hong Kong railway Museum in Tai Po. It's still my favourite HK museum despite being quite small, so if you get the chance to go then I recommend you do.

From the angle of the track and the fact that I can't see the old bridge that used to cross Keng Hau Road, it looks as though the camera was positioned somewhere along Tai Po Road near the Shatin heights section.

Shirley's World (TV Series) - Shirley MacLaine (1972) - Hong Kong & Kowloon Wharf and Godown Company, Tsim Sha Tsui

We just saw it in the last post because Shirley's destination is the Wharf and Godown offices that used to line the waterfront in Tsim Sha Tsui. So far the place has popped up once before when we looked at Golden Needles a few years back. The rather nicely designed main building use to stand pretty much where Harbour City stands today.

Look carefully at the bottom picture and you can see where Ocean Terminal (in the background) is relative to the old building. You can still access this area along Gateway Boulevard, but of course these days the buildings are all part of the aforementioned Harbour City development and Ocean Terminal has also had the car park spiral exit/entry ramp built on the side.

Shirley's World (TV Series) - Shirley MacLaine (1972) - Ocean Terminal, Tsim Sha Tsui

Shirley's friend is being blackmailed by a gangster whose shipping office is located over in the old Kowloon dockyard. As she walks over there we catch a glimpse of it in the background from the vantage point of the open space at the end of Ocean Terminal. I have no idea what is here now but was certainly still a piece of open yard just a few years ago.

Shirley's World (TV Series) - Shirley MacLaine (1972) - Humphrey's Avenue, Tsim Sha Tsui

Speaking of bars as we just were, Shirley meets a girl in a bar and finds out she is being blackmailed by a local criminal. The bar was the Apollo Bar and in the following screenshot we are kindly given the address in Humphrey's Court at 6 - 6A Humphrey's Avenue in Tsim Sha Tsui. The building is still around even if the bar has long gone.

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).