International Prostitution: Brigade criminelle - Jean-Louis Broust (1980) - Victoria Road Squatter Village

One of the main effects in Hong Kong of the turbulance in post-war Mainland China was the influx of refugees who, with nowhere to live, set themselves up in small shacks all over the territory's hillsides. These were gradually removed by the Govt by rehousing people in resettlement estates but there were some long holdouts including places such as Tiu Keng Leng (Remmie's Mill), Stanley and this area on the west coast of Hong Kong Island, below Victoria Road. These days the area is quite well known locally for elderly swimmers who use the area as a staging post for daily harbour swims around the Sulphur Channel, but as you can see in the shots below, the place was full of squatter huts. It's here in the film that Dega and Tazzi set a trap for Marcone. And with that we bid farewell to International Prostitution!

Flight to Hong Kong - Rory Calhoun (1956) - Victoria Road, Mount Davis

A couple of scenes from this chase were showdown on Victoria Road on the west side of Mount Davis. In the first sequence, we can see the hairpin bend where Mount Davis Road joins with Victoria Road. The last shot shows the road further north with Green Island in the background.

  

Lust, Caution - Tang Wei (2007) - The White House, Victoria Road

The Hong Kong compound where Mr Yee (Tony Leung) and his wife (Joan Chen) live in Hong Kong is a rather enigmatic place along Victoria Road that is usually referred to as The White House. The location is along Victoria Road at the base of Mount Davis between Kennedy Town and Pok Fu Lam.

Centamap has it marked as part of an old disused battery but in fact it was originally a mess building for the Royal Engineers. During the 1950's it was given over to Special Branch and used as a detention centre for suspected spies. This included it being used during the 1967 riots as a holding place for trouble makers - it was remote enough to hold people without any interference while the authorities waited for the troubles to cool down. More recently there are rumours that it was used as a staging point and debriefing centre for Tiananmen Square protesters who had managed to flee the military crackdown on the Mainland and were spirited away with the help of the HK authorities and other international jurisdictions including the USA (see Operation Yellowbird here).

These days it is currently being redeveloped into an international University campus for MBA teaching. The company responsible for its redevelopment has promised to protect as much of it as possible but I guess we will have to wait and see how it turns out.