Asia-Pol Secret Service - Wang Yu (1966) - Battery Street, Yau Ma Tei

Wang Yu finds the girl and together they walk through the streets to try and lose the bad guy that is following them. This shot below was taken at the northern limit of Battery Street/Reclamation Street. The curved building in the background is the tip of the same block of rickety buildings that appear in the opening sequence of Enter the Dragon. By the time of filming Enter the Dragon though, the large end curve section had already been demolished. Right of frame is what looks like a new construction and this was the start of the Yau Ma Tei Polyclinic that still sits there today. The curved block today is the Kansu Street Jade Market. The shot was taken close to the junction with Public Square Street looking south.

I Spy (TV Series) - Robert Culp (1965) - Yau Ma Tei Police Station, Yau Ma Tei

A new week and a new episode of I Spy, this time we are viewing stills from the episode Danny Was a Million Laughs. We start by looking at a location that has been seen on many films previously, just not necessarily on this blog (yet). It's a panning shot that shows much of the surrounding area when it was in a process of regeneration and the modern comparison shots are quite enlightening. Anyway, here are the grabs.

The police station has changed little of course. It was built in 1922 and the facade you see there is the same one we can still see currently albeit now sporting the standard grey/blue police colours. But look at the big open space on the opposite side of Canton Road. It looks to be a recent demolition to make way for the Jockey Club clinic which still stands there. Pretty much all of the older buildings you see above have now been demolished and you actually get a nice view from the opposite angle in 1973's Enter the Dragon. The last shots shows a partial view down Public Square Street showing a hill in the background that was once part of King's Park.

Here are the modern views from Streetview.

As you can see the clinic buildings now occupy the whole block opposite and the hill I previously mentioned is still there, but just now obscured by the usual high rises.

Enter The Dragon - Bruce Lee (1973) - Kansu Street, Yau Ma Tei

Here is a spot that I have been scratching my head over for a vast amount of time. Its anonymity inducing a vast amount of frustration on my part. However, thanks to a small glimpse of a distinctive building facade in the very background I have finally managed to pinpoint its location.

The shot is from the opening sequence when we get the travelogue-style tour of various parts of Kowloon as we see the arrival of the various fighters, and it features a rather wonky-looking line of shophouses. The block wasn't wonky of course, but the lens distortion makes it look that way as the block moves awaytowards the end point of Battery Street.

If you look closely to the left of the wonky building - just behind the support struts - you'll see what appears to be a columned building behind it. You wouldn't necessarily recognise it today - it's the Yau Ma Tei Police Station - because the open balconies have all been filled in and the white paint job has been replaced by standard police issue blue/grey.

Anyway, what it means is that the modern building we can see is the older wing of the YMT Jockey Club Polyclinic and the road at the bottom left is Kansu Street. The small street (with the parasols) in front is the end of Reclamation street and it joins with Battery Street in a loop on the right. This old block is obviously long gone (it wouldn't surprise me if it had collapsed immediately after they turned the camera off!) and has since been replaced by the Kansu Street Jade Hawkers Bazaar.

This whole area has, unsurprisingly, changed immensely. The open square has been turned into a basketball court, a new wing of the Polyclinic has been built that now blocks the view through to the Police Station (on Canton Road) and the Gascoigne Road flyover now covers most of Kansu St.

Speaking of the flyover, here is a google grab from there because it provides the best angle to see the area from as similar viewpoint to where they filmed from.