Felicity - Glory Annen (1978) - The Wan Fu

Following on from a really interesting discussion over on Gwulo a few months back, Stephen Davies (the former head of the HK Maritime Museum) gave a very detailed background to the vessel that became the Hongkong Hilton Hotel's company pleasure craft. I'm quite pleased to see that Stephen had referenced my Wan Fu sightings from the various films on the blog, so, this is another that can be added to its growing list of cameo roles. Check out the same thread on Gwulo to find out where this vessel finally ended up.

Around the World in 80 Days - Pierce Brosnan (1989) - The Rangoon aka The Wan Fu?

The ship that Fogg and Co board to go to HK in the book is called the "Rangoon". The long shot of the ship steaming off to Hong Kong was also actually filmed in Hong Kong and appears to be a shot of our old friend the Wan Fu (the Hongkong Hilton's own pleasure boat). I can't confirm exactly but maybe someone is able to - it looks very similar to the images I've previously posted.

Les Tribulations d'un Chinois en Chine - Jean-Paul Belmondo (1965) - Is this the Wan Fu?

I mentioned earlier about my suspicions of the identity of Belmondo's private yacht in the film Les Tribulations d'un Chinois en Chine. I believe it was actually the Hilton Hotel's own Wan Fu wearing a disguise. What do you think? Any old "Hiltonians" out there that can confirm? (Edit: confirmed).

I'm certainly no expert but I think the following comparison between Kill a Dragon (1967) and Les Tribulations d'un Chinois en Chine (1965) provide the best clue. It looks to me like the same boat with the name blacked out in the second picture. Does anyone care to weigh in?

Kill a Dragon

Les Tribulations d'un Chinois en Chine

The Million Eyes of Sumuru - George Nader (1967) - Hong Kong Hilton, Central

Like the other Harry Alan Towers'-produced Five Golden Dragons, Sumuru also uses the Hilton quite extensively through the film and it looks as though they used to same high level suite for the filming in both movies. Both inside and outside of the hotel can be seen on film. We'll start with these pictures taken outside the entrance and showing the Hilton's very own rickshaws.

Actually, I wasn't convinced of the provenance of these rickshaws and wondered if they had been created just for the film,but a very helpful chap called Chan Tse-leung was able to confirm that they were indeed the real deal. Of course since then I have also noticed they make an appearance in one of the screen grabs I have for Five Golden Dragons (see second picture on the link).

In tye following pictures we can also see the oppiste side of Queen's Road. The top picture shows the lower portion of the old Bank of China and in the second picture you can see the rear entrance of the old HSBC building as well as the old Govt offices west wing in the distance.

A couple more Hilton-related shots include the same bamboo furniture in the hotel suite (check out the link I already posted for the rickshaw shots and scroll down).

And in case you hadn't spotted it in the last post about Queen's Pier, the boat that Frankie Avalon boards with his female contact was the Hong Kong Hilton's very own Wan Fu. We haven't seen the Wan Fu since we looked at another Hilton-centric film, Kill a Dragon, a couple of years ago.

Kill a Dragon - Jack Palance (1967) - Aberdeen Harbour and the Wan Fu

More nostalgia for those of a certain age who may remember the boat owned and operated by the HongKong Hilton Hotel. It was called the Wan Fu - apparently a reproduction of an 1840's British Brigantine - and used to take hotel guests on fully-catered harbour and island tours.

It seems as though the film makers of Kill a Dragon couldn't be bothered with organising their own boat tour and instead decided to hijack an existing one. I guess it is fair enough though because the character played by Aldo Ray in the film is actually a tour guide for the hotel.

Yes, the Wan Fu was a real boat and it was operated by the HongKong Hilton - no need to create fake boat names and signposts for these shots.

A few familiar shots of Aberdeen Harbour above (that's Also Ray with the red blazer). In the following shots we catch a small glimpse of both the Sea Palace and Tai Pak floating restaurants.

Here are a couple of further pictures that show the Wan Fu circa 1990 - just a few years before the Hilton was demolished. The boat still exists - albeit landlocked - at Nansha Marina near Guangzhou.

http://www.hkmemory.hk/collections/hkplaces/All_Items/images/201107/t20110722_41676.html

http://www.hkmemory.hk/collections/hkplaces/All_Items/images/201107/t20110723_43123.html