Yakuza on Foot - Tomisaburô Wakayama (1969) - Temple Street, Yau Ma Tei

The gangs strike back by targeting the drug dealers on the street and grab a couple of guys from the front of the Tin Hau temple in Yau Ma Tei. Regular readers may recognise the old front wall of the temple with its square window apertures that can also be seen in The World of Suzie Wong, but this wall has since been demolished (sometime in the early 70s). What is still around though is the white building in the background, which is the Kowloon Government Offices. Note also that this was when Temple Street still ran right in front of the temple (hence its name), before this section was removed and replaced by the extended public square area.

Four Assassins - Will Yun Lee (2011) - Temple Street, Yau Ma Tei

A rather generic view of one of Hong Kong's night time street markets, but the presence of Asian Curry Chicken (亞星咖喱) at the bottom right tells me this is Temple Street just south of Kansu Street.

The Confidence Man JP: The Movie - Masami Nagasawa (2019) - Temple Street, Yau Ma Tei

The gang convene to eat food and discuss the background of their target at a dai pai dong on Temple Street.

This last shot, with its elevated view, was almost certainly shot from the Yau Ma Tei Multi-storey carpark that has only just been demolished. The Govt is building another highway through the area and the carpark was in the way, so...goodbye carpark.

Something Good - Luca Barbareschi (2013) - Temple Street, Yau Ma Tei

Trying to draw out this film as much as I can (because I have nothing in backup after running out of sources) and figured I would give this rather difficult location a stab. After a few minutes (!) I realised this is the rooftop of a building located on the corner of the junction between Saigon Street and Temple Street.

You can't actually see Temple Street in this shot because it is below the frame of the shot but the rooftop the two are talking on has a Temple Street address (#151). The street that is implied by the gap in the buildings behind Gary Lewis is in fact Saigon Street running from bottom right to centre frame. The two buildings on the opposite side facing Saigon Street stand at either side of the junction with Shanghai Street.

In addition to the above rooftop shot, in another part of the film is a shot used as part of a transition sequence that shows what I believe to be the view to the north from this exact same spot. You can just make out the red/orange paint job of the Alhambra Building behind the netted scaffolding on the left, followed by Honour House in the middle (behind the green netting) and finally the stripey exterior of the Hang Shing Building on the right.

Already Tomorrow in Hong Kong - Jamie Chung (2015) - Temple Street, Yau Ma Tei

After their brief walk down the Avenue of Stars, the pair head over to Temple Street where Ruby finds some knock offs of her toy designs being sold.

Strangers - John Simm (2018) - Mido Cafe, Temple Street

David Chen goes to talk to his former police colleague, Felix, at the local after-hours cop joint. It turns out they have taken over the Mido Cafe on the corner of temple Street as their watering and karaoke hole.

Flight to Hong Kong - Rory Calhoun (1956) - Temple Street, Yau Ma Tei

This is a familiar strip for regular readers of this blog, although it has changed a lot over the years. The year before this was shot, Clark Gable was also filmed at this same location during Soldier of Fortune. If you compare the following images to the screen grabs from this post, you can see the common elements between both films including some of the signboards and of course the steps that lead up to the front of the temple.

Ghost in the Shell - Scarlett Johansson (2017) - Kansu Street, Yau Ma Tei

Another from the general area of filming, this time it's Kansu Street and an alleyway where the Section 9 members are preparing for their foray into the illegal "Enhancement" bar was filmed. Actually, it's a real alleyway and is directly opposite the continuation of Temple Street as it passes the rear of the Alhambra Building. The lights in the background are from a real Mahjong parlour, although they've been slightly embellished to look more holographic.

Le Monocle Rit Jaune - Paul Meurisse (1964) - Temple Street, Yau Ma Tei

This is an interesting establishing shot that gives away a clue to the location at the end of the sequence. The only problem is that I am not sure which part of Temple Street this is.

After some prompting from Thomas Ngan, this is be the corner of Temple Street with Kansu Street. Temple Street followed a slightly different route in the 1960s - more in line with the section south of kansu Street - compared to today. The construction of the carpark (now in the process of being knocked down - 2021) shifted the road over to the east next to the Alhambra Building, but before then there was this block of houses between Temple Street and the Alhambra building. Anyway, thanks to Thomas for the nudge in the right direction.

Weiße Fracht für Hongkong - Dietmar Schönherr (1963) - Temple Street, Yau Ma Tei

Next up is the old Tin Hau Temple in Yau Ma Tei at a time when Temple Street still ran across the front. These days the space is now taken up by the public square (official name: Yau Ma Tei Community Rest Garden) and the temple has undergone vast renovation. This was filmed just a few years after The World of Suzie Wong and as you can see the outer wall that can be seen in that film is still in place here, replete with the little green windows.

As the camera pans to the right though we get to see an old tenement that used to stand on the location of where the Kowloon Government Offices and Post Office are now sited.

We've seen this block before (although it was only in the background) on the recently looked at Ein Sarg aus Hongkong - filmed the year after in 1964.

Blackhat - Chris Hemsworth (2015) - Temple Street, Yau Ma Tei

When the intrepid team hit the ground they are dropped off at the junction between Pak Hoi Street and Temple Street in Yau Ma Tei. But before we see that we get a nice long view (looking south) down all the night market stalls along Temple Street. The initial view is from the junction with Kansu Street (the northern limit of Temple Street market) but the height indicates that the camera was probably placed in one of the upper floors of the Yaumatei Carpark building.

The next shot shows the actors one block to the south at the junction with Pak Hoi St.

You can't see it in the screen grabs above but (as you can see from the Streetview capture below) the Temple Street cooked food stall area is just to the right. I used to take visitors here for a nice spot of food, but in all honesty it's so damned expensive now that I no longer bother.

Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold - Tamara Dobson (1975) - Carpenter Road, Kowloon City

I was confused about this one at first and thought it may have been Temple Street in Yaumatei before realising thta the structure in the backgrpund, behind the taxi, is the Lee Kee Memorial Dispensary facing Carpenter Road.

Soldier of Fortune - Clark Gable (1955) - Tin Hau Temple, Yau Ma Tei

No sooner have we left Temple Street in The World of Suzie Wong and we find ourselves seeing a view taken only 5 years earlier for Soldier of Fortune. Although judging from the screen grabs of both films, it looks as though a wall was constructed in front of the temple at sometime between the two films being made (i.e. sometime between 1955 and 1959/1960).

The scene also pans across so we see the temple as Clark Gable's character pops inside to consult one of his informants. Believe it or not this temple once stood at the waterfront - no, it hasn't been moved but the sea that used to be to the front of it has just been reclaimed so much that the place now sits over one kilometre inland. This is a common occurrence in HK.

Here is a more recent shot of the Temple front. I suspect that a bit of rebuilding of the temple has gone on as well as the wall that stands in front of it.

The World of Suzie Wong - William Holden (1960) - Tin Hau Temple and Temple Street, Yau Ma Tei

On film we are led to believe that the following shots are around the Nam Kok Hotel in Wanchai (but we know the Nam Kok was actually on the corner of Hollywood Road and Ladder Street). In fact, this area - used here (several times in fact as you can see) is actually outside the Tin Hau Temple in Yau Ma Tei. The (locally) famous Mido Cafe building is the curved corner building in the background and Temple Street to its right. Actually, I believe that the area that is being filmed was indeed part of Temple Street at the time but the road has since been dissected by the creation of the public square that now stands here.