Sai Yeung Choi Street South - Now and Then

Following on from my recent post for The Angel Strikes Again, I thought I would take a quick trip down to the junction of Sai Yeung Choi Street South and Soy Street to try and grab a comparison photo. Bear in mind that this area in Mongkok is one of the busiest places in Kowloon these days, not just for people but also for traffic, and so getting an exact match of the angle seen in the screen capture was a bit of a faff.

The Hollywood Theatre, where much of this scene played out, was off camera to the right. It closed in 1980 and the building was demolished and replaced by the current one, Hollywood Plaza - HK loves to maintain names of older buildings for their newer replacements - was completed in 1984. You can see in the image below though that the new building has a similar square canopy over the pavement area. 

The Angel Strikes Again - Lily Ho (1968) - Hollywood Theatre, Mongkok

Someone posted online somewhere (can't remember where) that they were really impressed with the street mockup used for the cinema sequence in this film. Granted, much of the on street sequences were filmed on the (very obviously) fake Movietown lots, however, the cinema sequence was shot at a real place. It was the Hollywood Theatre on the corner of Sai Yeung Choi Street South and Soy Street. The cinema is long gone (it closed in 1980) but note that at the time of filming it was showing the 1967 Shaw film, Susanna (Chinese title: 珊珊). Hollywood Plaza stands on the site now (not to be confused with "Plaza Hollywood" above Diamond Hill MTR station).

This is where agent 009, posing as a buyer, agrees to meet the gang to pay for some explosives. 

This last image is great because it shows the view looking south down Sai Yeung Choi Street South, with Soy Street crossing in front. In the distance is part of the old Kwong Wah Hospital site.

Expired - Ryan Kwanten (2021) - Kam Lam Street, Mongkok

Jack appears to live on Kam Lam Street, because at the end of the film he leaves his apartment and is immediately followed by what turn out to be a couple of androids. He is approached by the brother of one of his victims, intent on revenge, and manages to avoid all projectiles as the androids engage the brother in what has to be the lamest gunfight in the history of cinema. This was all filmed at the junction with Soy Street. I believe the tree mural is still there.

Expired - Ryan Kwanten (2021) - Alleyway off Soy Street, Mongkok

As Jack is being followed by the mysterious bald guy, he heads down an alleyway between Soy Street and Changsha Street to lose him, but when he turns around to confront him in the alleyway, he has disappeared. The Sun Ming Building can be seen on Soy Street in the background. If this place rings a bell it might be because it is the building that replaced the famous Wan Loi Tea House that was used in Hard Boiled.

Expired - Ryan Kwanten (2021) - Soy Street, Mongkok

I'm going to finish up 2025 with a film I had heard about afew years back but then forgot about. I was expecting to hear more about it but, after watching it, I realise it sank into obscurity because it's just a bit of a dull film. Originally called Loveland, the film was renamed to Expired. Quite fitting because that's what happened to my interest about ten minutes into it.

To be fair it is a low-budget independent Australian movie. That doesn't excuse the confusing plot and uninspiring dialogue though. The locations are all over the shop, making it a real pain to post about them in any sort of linear fashion but the cinematography is nice. I just wish they had saved their money on the Hong Kong airfares and put it into some better "futuristic" effects though. You'd think shooting in Hong Kong would offer the opportunity of some great locations, but the vast majority are just the rather shabby looking streets of Mongkok, making me wonder what the point was. They could've just saved their dosh and filmed it in Australia, at least at street level. The film was released in 2021 but it looks like a pre-Covid Hong Kong on view. 

Anyway, the film centres around a hitman called Jack (Ryan Kwanten) who stalks, and then forms a friendship with, April (Jillian Nguyen), a girlie bar singer/performer. Jack's ill because he is the product of some sort of corporate experimentation and the company want him back for tests. But then all of a sudden he is better again and I have no idea why.

The film opens with Jack walking along Soy Street on his way to meet a policeman who tells him who to kill, and gives him the info and money. Soy Street is probably the most used location in the film and keeps cropping up from a variety of different angles throughout. I think I got them all, more or less, in the screencaps below which are from multiple points through the film.

The robot thing in that lower image (above) used to stand outside a cafe called "Double Happiness Cart Noodles" - 旺囍車仔麵. I think the place was a victim of Hong Kong Covid policy because it closed soon after the film was shot. The shop sign outside had a huge bowl of noodles stuck to it which also made it into the film (below).

Soy Street also pops up in a scene when Jack is being followed by a mystery bald man (Andrew Ng).

The west side of Soy Street also pops up later in the film as Jack tracks down and follows Dr Bergman (Hugo Weaving).

Awarapan - Emraan Hashmi (2007) - Nathan Road, Mongkok

Once again back on Nathan Road as Shivam continues his introspection. This time we are at the point where Soy Street used to intersect with Nathan Road, however, the junction has been pedestrianised and now a subway allows pedestrians to cross under the road here. Sadly, all the neon you can see in these images has been removed.

Bloodfight - Yasuaki Kurata (1989) - Wan Loi Tea House, Mongkok

Just when you thought Hard Boiled was the only movie to shoot in this now-demolished teahouse in Mongkok, there is a brief scene in Bloodfight where Ryu is partaking in what is known as "Yam Cha" in the local vernacular. Literally meaning to "drink tea", it is the Cantonese term for eating dimsum. The restaurant was demolished quite soon after Hard Boiled filmed there and I recently did a modern day comparison.

Wan Loi Tea House (雲來大茶樓) - Now and Then

I was in Mongkok yesterday and took the opportunity to grab a current picture of the block where the Wan Loi Tea House (雲來大茶樓) was located. As mentioned in my original post, the building was demolished immediately after the filming was done and replaced by the Sun Ming Building seen in my current image.

Hard Boiled - Chow Yun Fat (1992) - Wan Loi Tea House, Mongkok

Actually, I'm not sure if this place had an 'official' English name, but the Chinese is 雲來大茶樓. This is the traditional style teahouse (with overhead poles for hanging your pet bird cage) where the shootout takes place at the beginning of the film.

There's a locations feature uploaded onto Youtube (from an old Dragon Dynasty release) which places the restaurant where the Langham Office Tower is today, but this is incorrect (one of several fudges on that short feature). The restaurant was in Mongkok but was located one block to the south, at the junction of Shanghai Street and Soy Street. The Sun Ming Building now stands on the site.

Sun Ming was completed in 1993, and wikipedia notes that the location was chosen because it was about to be demolished. They should have just let John Woo shoot for an extra few days and I am sure most of the demolition work would have already been completed. I would have loved to visit it when it was open because Hong Kong really doesn't have any teahouses like this anymore. Sadly, even on my first trip in 1995, I was already two years late.

If you want to know how to get there, Sean Tierney has put together a rather amusing little video for his (sadly on hiatus) "Silver Spleen" Youtube channel. Link here: https://youtu.be/kSExMu0MDg4

The Medallion - Jackie Chan (2003) - Soy Street, Mongkok

Quickly moving on to the proper location stuff and the main scene with JC trying to eat some fried squid was shot at the junction of Soy Street and Fa Yuen Street in Mongkok. One of the reasons I recognise this corner is because of the TCBY sign in the background - it was still there when I arrived full time in HK back in 2006. It disappeared soon after, mind you, along with all the other outlets - much to everyone's disappointment.

The small eatery where JC is feeding the dog was on the NW corner of the junction but has since been replaced by a 7-11 - or at least it was when the Streetview car passed by.

 Now a 7-11

JC then runs across Soy Street between passing cars. The shop in the lower picture was on the SW side of the junction. Also no longer there.

L'Inconnue de Hong Kong - Dalida (1963) - Aerial View of Kowloon Part 1

There is a rather nice sequence at the start of this film when the protagonists are supposedly flying into Hong Kong which takes in a large swathe of Kowloon. I have around 9 grabs taken from it but wanted to split them up because there is a lot to look at.

The sequence starts over the old typhoon shelter and finishes looking to the hills to the north and I am sure anyone familiar with Kowloon in the 1960's (and later) will recognise some familiar landmarks. here are the first three pictures. I've arranged the pictures in reverse order below so that the continuity is easier to see between the buildings. I guess we are looking at the area where Yau Ma Tei meets Mongkok.

So what are we looking at? The lower picture shows the old typhoon shelter (now reclaimed) with two main roads visible at the waterfront. On the left is Soy Street and on the right (just off top centre) is the end of Dundas Street. Unsurprisingly, the whole (ex-) waterfront has been redeveloped extensively and in fact only until recently we still had some survivors. The large block between both roads has only just been knocked down. You can still see it on Streetview for the time being but the next time Google do an update it will be gone. The typhoon shelter at this section now houses some large developments including Charming Garden and Park Avenue.

In the middle picture there is some difficulty in making out detail amongst all the grey, but on the left of centre is a large white block that sticks out a bit. This building sits on Reclamation Street (on the other side of the building from where we are) and was brand spanking new in 1963 - hence it being nice and shiny. I was in Reclamation Street just the other week and noticed that this block (it encompasses #331 thru #355) has recently been taken over by the dreaded U.R.A (that's the Urban Renewal Authority that for so long has been very successful at under-compensating old flat owners for the destruction of their homes). So, it looks like the block will be demolished at some point in the near future. You may feel I bang on a bit about getting rid of old buildings, but just take a look at this place to see how old buildings can be made to look absolutely fantastic if people took the time and effort.

Anyway, in the top picture you can just make out the slopes of King's park at the top right and the hospital buildings of Kwong Wah Hospital along Waterloo Road at the bottom of the slope. The hospital has had another wing added to the main building since then but other than that remains fairly unchanged.

Push - Chris Evans (2009) - Soy Street, Mongkok

One of the group's safe houses (whilst Kira is being "shadowed" to keep her under the radar of the sniffers etc) is what looks to be a love hotel room on the corner of Reclamation Street and Soy Street. I didn't have much to go on other than the presence of a sign for a metal works shop down on the street, but after a bit of digging around I found the right spot. 

You can see the street signs seen on film are also on the Streetview capture as well as the 7-11 on the corner (which is the corner with Shanghai Street). The red/yellow one is for an estate agency called Hui Hing (惠興地産) and the red/white one in front provided the small clue to where this location was. The shop is called Kam Yuen Hardware shop (錦源五金). This area around Reclamation street is well known for its hardware stores (which all go by the title of 五金) so it didn't take long to narrow it down.

Anyway, as for the room used in the film, it looks like it was the first floor room of this dodgy looking place (the part with the pink paint job on the exterior wall) at 331 Reclamation Street.

In the film the room has been decorated to look like a love hotel but whether it is or not I have no idea. Given that Streetview was snapped after the film was made, the room seems to have been decorated just for the film but if anyone knows different please let me know - I really don't feel the urge to go and explore this one...

Noble House (Mini series) - Pierce Brosnan (1988) - Nathan Road, Mongkok

I'm currently revamping my Noble House posts and have also revisited some of the things I missed off the last time. I've also changed the date to 1988 because it appears that's when it was released in the US. However, the missing Standard Chartered Bank in many shots around Central actually place the filming at 1987 at the latest.

Anyway, here is one from Nathan Road in Mongkok that clearly shows a neon sign advertising the South China Theatre. It also happens to be one of the location seen in the red-coloured opening credits with Gordon Jackson's face superimposed over the top.

A quick look on the trusty Cinema Treasures website reveals that the South China Theatre was situated at 174 Portland St in Mongkok (the next road over). So this view is facing north and is where Soy Street intersects with Nathan Rd. Here is the current Streetview. Notice that the Crocodile shop was replaced by...surprise surprise...a jewelers.

The cinema, by the way, closed down in 2005 and was replaced by a short-lived mall called Tokyo Town.