The Merry Wife - Li Ching (1971) - Zoological and Botanical Gardens, Central

When too many people start arriving at their apartment to harass them about one thing or another, Zhenzhen tells Lin Min she will meet him at the park later. By "the park" she means the Zoological and Botanical Gardens directly opposite their apartment block. Sadly, her classmates have a habit of showing up at just the wrong time as usual.

The Merry Wife - Li Ching (1971) - View from Estoril Court, Central

We get treated to an old view of Central from the vantage point of the couples' apartment in Estoril Court. The only way you could get a view from Estoril Court these days is from being on one of the top floors - views come with a premium these days. This sequence below is a panning shot from east to west as Zhenzhen surveys the view and then sees Lin Min coming down Robinson Road on his way home.

The building is the original "Albany Flats" - a Govt qtrs

The house on the left is the former #1 Robinson Road
(Villa Elegance now occupies that site)

Black Cobra Woman - Laura Gemser (1976) - Botanical Gardens, Central

After wandering past the harbour front in Aberdeen, the girls find themselves walking up the steps to the fountain at the botanical gardens.

Red Dragon - Stewart Granger (1965) - Zoological and Botanical Gardens, Central

In the 1960's, Stewart Granger made a bunch of movies in Europe, quite a few of them for German companies. One of that batch was a spy thriller called Das Geheimnis der drei Dschunken (The Secret of the 3 Junks) or Red Dragon as it was known for its English release. Sadly, there doesn't appear to be that many prints of it around and the version I obtained looks to be a straight transfer from VHS with the screen being cut off at either side of the screen. This is a big shame because even though the film is a fairly average potboiler, it has some decent locations on screen and we don't really get to see them in their full glory. Horst Frank returns as another baddy (we've seen him recently in this blog in
Heisser Hafen Hongkong and Weiße Fracht für Hongkong.

One of the earlier scenes shows an American spy (as we find out later) walking through the Botanical Gardens in Central to meet his girlfriend, only to discover she has been shot dead. The scene starts on the famous steps before moving to another part of the park with what looks to be the Catholic Cathedral in the background.

Sadly the detail isn't clear because of the nature of this print and it's perhaps too obscure a film for anyone to make any effort in a restoration. Never mind. Is that the Catholic Cathedral spire at the back left? I haven't been to the gardens for a while but I think the front part of it is quite dense with tree growth so I am not sure you get anything like this open view anymore (tall buildings aside).

Foxbat - Henry Silva (1977) - Garden Road, Central

Following on from the journey down Robinson Road, all the cars turn left and head down the hill along Garden Road with the Botanical Gardens on the left hand side. In the second photo we can just see a glimpse of some of the buildings that sit inside the Government House compound. The lower picture shows the bottom of Garden Road as the ambulance drives past the Murray Building (with the big arches - currently being converted into a hotel) and the old Hilton Hotel that was replaced by the Cheung Kong Centre in the 90's.