Daddy Cool - Mammootty (2009) - Stanley

Next up and father and son head along the waterfront in Stanley. Once a rather bustling area Stanley's fortunes have fallen significantly in recent years. I last went about 2 years ago and the place was dead. It just doesn't seem to have recovered from the COVID years.

The whole musical sequence is a bit choppy so we get views of multiple places in a quick succession of edits. The lower images are from a later part when the pair are out on a boat, but it looks like this was filmed in Stanley Bay. And later still they are back on land hanging around on the reconstructed Blake Pier.

The Lady Professional - Lily Ho Li-li (1971) - Stanley Prison

Chan Shen plays Shi Yun Pu, the recently released prisoner who is now the target of the criminal gang because he is about to testify against them in court. He is released from Stanley prison and is given a couple of police officers for protection. It looks as though the film makers used the real prison interior -  confirmed when the actors walk towards the main front wall through a courtyard area (image 6). The courtyard is still around according the GoogleEarth, but the surrounding buildings have been expanded to encroach on it a bit over the years.

Chan Shen may be familiar to anyone who has seen Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold, as he plays Soo Da Chen (sounds like a made up name) and was the subject of the long foot chase in the middle of the film that starts off in Tsim Sha Tsui and ends on Hollywood Road in front of Man Mo Temple. He died at a very young age of 44 when he suffered a heart attack in the showers of the Shaw Dormitories at Movietown.

This courtyard still exists but the surrounding buildings have grown

Tragic Hero - Chow Yun Fat (1987) - Stanley Military Cemetery

Tragic Hero is the sequel to Rich and Famous that was, for some reason, released before the movie it was supposed to follow. I understand that both movies were filmed at the same time in 1986 but a decision was made to release the second movie first, and so Rich and Famous became a prequel instead.

The movie follows the continuing saga of two adopted brothers, Yung (Alex Man) and Kwok (Andy Lau) and their old triad boss, Chai (Chow Yun Fat). Rich and Famous shows the rise of Yung as an unhinged wannabe gangster, whereas this movie has him established as one of the head guys within a rival triad run by Boss Chu (Ko Chun Hsiung).

I should mention, in case you haven't read the posts for the other film, that this movie came to my attention following a post on Gwulo where someone had posted an image of Tsing Bik Villa (aka Green Jade) - a mansion that featured extensively in Kill a Dragon. In the image it was painted blue and blown up for a movie production and then subsequently demolished for redevelopment. The film involved was finally identified (with the help of regular commentor, Rodney) as this one and you can now see for yourself because it is still currently available on Youtube (until it isn't).

The film begins with a funeral scene for another one of the triads bosses where everyone attends to show their respects. This was filmed at Stanley Military Cemetery, no attempts made to hide its name or the distinctive shape of the Commonwealth military grave stones.

Mad Mission 3: Our Man from Bond Street - Sam Hui (1984) - Hong Kong Satellite Earth Station, Stanley

The next shot shows us the satellite dishes located in the Hong Kong Satellite Earth Station at the very end of the Stanley peninsula. I'm not sure if this is part of Chek Chue Barracks aka Stanley Fort, but I suspect it is as you have to go through the army base to get there. Those same dishes are still there as far as I can tell.

Royal Warriors - Michelle Yeoh (1986) - Market Side Alley, Stanley

The film is a bit cheeky because after the scene at Ka Wing Street, the next shot shows that we are back on Stanley Village Road as the two sides take shots at each other from their cars. Raging Bull swerves his truck down the alley way next to the old Stanley Police Station and crashes it into some stalls and Yamamoto is flung from the back. The truck then continues on down the alley way as Yamamoto dives after it (a great stunt by Sanada, I assume).

The foot chase then begins around Stanley Market. The bottom image is looking along one of the alleyways with Yu Moon House at the end. Apologies, but the google marker is doing that thing again where it won't stay on the road where I've placed it and is jumping to nearby buildings.

Back to Stanley Village Road

This is the side alley next to the old Police Station - compare to the next image

This is the same view in June 2024 - note the old Chinese buildings have gone

Running towards Stanley New Street at the end of the alleyway

Royal Warriors - Michelle Yeoh (1986) - Stanley Village Road, Stanley

In case the geographical leap from Clearwater Bay to Kowloon Tsai to Shatin to Fo Tan wasn't enough, the next section of the car chase takes us all the way over to Stanley on Hong Kong Island. In the top images, Raging Bull's truck is driving along Tung Tau Wan Road  and takes the sharp corner into Wong Ma Kok Road. Yamamoto's BMW comes from the other direction (Stanley Village Road) but makes the same turn on to Wong Ma Kok Road. The building in the background is St Anne's Church and on the opposite corner is the former grand gateway onto what was once a large property called Banoo Villa (since demolished and turned into low-rise apartments with the same name).

The lower images show the view in the opposite direction along Stanley Village Road. The building with the large apertures at ground level (to the left of the crowd) is the former Colonial-era Police Station. Coincidentally, I was in Stanley the other day and decided to try and recreate the angles (from memory, though not too bad a job). Once again the Google marker is refusing to stay where I'vepinned it and is jumping to the nearby post office rather than remaining at the junction of the 3 roads.

Same place June 2024

June 2024 -Police Station in scaffolding

Bruce Lee: True Story - Ho Chung Tao (1976) - 6 Stanley Beach Road, Stanley

Here's another one of those large houses that are a pain in the butt to pinpoint because most have since been sold off and redeveloped into several smaller (but equally expensive) properties. I'm left with small clues in the surroundings and a headache from squinting at old aerial images. This particular mansion took several days to track down and it wasn't until I saw an old image from a previous film (Les Tribulations d'un Chinois en Chine) that I finally knew I had found the right place.

In the movie it is the location of the fight between Bruce and a challenger in the shape of the very awesome Chiu Chi-ling. It's based on the supposed real-life challenge match that took place between Bruce Lee and Lau Dai-chuen at the luxury mansion of corrupt Police Inspector, Tang Sang. Did it happen or didn't it? There are a surprising number of sources that say that it did but because it was done in secret no one has any proof other than hearsay.

Well, in the film, instead of Tang Sang's unknown mansion (somewhere in the NT, near Fanling, was the last I heard) we are taken to another rather impressive mansion with some rather nicely landscaped gardens. After searching so many places where I thought it might be it turns out it was a large property located at #6 Stanely Beach Road.

I have no knowledge of who owned the place (and can't be bothered to spend the HK$25 to find out to be honest) but it had a certain art-deco/Bauhaus style that was popular in HK during the post war years (pillars and curves) and it's a great shame that the plot now consists of some underwhelming three-storey cookie-cutter houses. Whenever I get a location like this - nice and gone - I like to include as many pics as possible. So here they are.

The background building is still around, it's called "Beach Mansions"

The hill in the background is the Stanley Peninsula

You can see the Hong Kong Sea School left of frame

Hard Boiled - Chow Yun Fat (1992) - Stanley Military Cemetery, Stanley

The cemetery where Ah Lung (Bowie Lam) gets buried after being killed during the tea house shootout is actually the Military Cemtery at the Stanley peninsula.

Strangers - John Simm (2018) - Stanley Sewage Treatment Works, Stanley

David and Jonah head to the refuse depot from where the truck that killed their wife originated. In the show it quite obviously says "Shatin Refuse Depot" on the various images they are examining but in reality the place they visit (replete with "Shatin Refuse Depot" signs) is in fact the subterranean Stanley Sewage Treatment Works. It appears to have been quite a ground breaking bit of engineering (when HK was capable of doing that stuff) to move the treatment pools and associated heavy plant to this cavern system with an aim to creating a nicer environment for Stanley village dwellers.

The green board/display thing on the left in that last photo helped me find this place because I could just make out the "Drainage Services Dept" emblem at the top left of it. The actual entrance to this place is on Wong Ma Kok Road near to the prison.

Spearhead in Hong Kong - Stafford Gordon (1981) - Stanley Fort, Stanley

The final episode of Spearhead (called Futures) doesn't really have much in the way of new locations other than a farewell to Stanley Fort included below for posterity. The first two shots showing areas we've seen before but I did notice that the church tower was visible in the first one (there's a nice shot of it here on FLICKR) and in the second picture you can see the edge of Block 10 which was in the previous post. I'm not too sure whereabouts the last image was taken, the building is obviously much newer (relatively speaking) but perhaps some knowledgeable peeps out there can let me know.

Spearhead in Hong Kong - Stafford Gordon (1981) - Stanley Fort, Stanley

Back to Stanley Fort once again for episode 5, Loyalties, but this time with some views from around the north side of the football field and what I believe is Block 10. I have no idea whether or not this block once had a different name like many of the others (which recall various places and buildings in the UK), but in this show it is where Sgt. Bilinski is billeted and from where he leaves the barracks after being sent back to the UK following his close call with the snakeheads. Perhaps there is someone out there who can comment as to why the entrance was painted blue.