Flight to Hong Kong - Rory Calhoun (1956) - Kai Tak Airport, Kowloon

Back in 1956, Kai Tak airport was located partially in what became the San Po Kong factory estate. The famous runway sticking out into the harbour wasn't built until a few years later. Once again, another of the 1955 films shows it off better (Love is a Many-Splendored Thing). According to the American Film Institute, the productions notes for Flight to Hong Kong mention that these Kai Tak scenes were shot as part of the film's pre-production in January 1956. It's possible the non-main cast scenes were but do films include main cast in pre-production, I don't know? It's possible the main cast scenes were pick-up shots filmed later during main production.

Flight to Hong Kong - Rory Calhoun (1956) - Caine House, Arsenal Street

Our next movie is Flight to Hong Kong, made at the tail-end of 1955 and released in 1956. It gets a mention in the 1955 Hong Kong Report saying it was one of 3 overseas productions to film in the colony that year (the other two being Soldier of Fortune - which was actually shot at the tail end of 1954 - and Love is a Many-Splendored Thing). Apparently, Sabre Productions (the production company of the director Joseph M. Newman) arrived in Hong Kong in December to shoot on location. What a shame then that the only copy I can find is a black and white VHS transfer (that was originally recorded off the Turner Classic Movie channel) that has rather poor picture quality. 

Anyway, the movie starts off as a sort of docudrama as we are given a voice over about the state of modern international crime. The voice over is supposedly provided by a member of the Hong Kong Police Force and describes how the colony's force is at the forefront of combating international crime. At the same time we get some nice proper shots of Caine House as it used to look back in 1955.

Caine House is still around of course, despite the HQ site being redeveloped. Anyway, here is an interesting comparison from thirty years later courtesy of China Rose.

Jon Benn R.I.P

I was very sad to learn today of the passing of Jon Benn. He was a larger than life character and was immensely fun to be around. I was lucky enough to meet him a few years back after he left a comment on my old blog. Someone had inquired as to what had become of him (I think it was on an old post about The Way of the Dragon) and he replied that he was still around and based in Shanghai.

Actually, I don't think Jon read my blog at all but was told about it by his friend Bill Yim (Bill deserves his own biography). Anyway, one thing led to another and a photographer friend (a big Bruce Lee fan) saw the comment from Jon and asked if I could put them both in contact because my friend was very keen to photograph him. Jon was doing a monthly visa runs (in and out of China) at the time and so on his next trip to Hong Kong we all met up for a beer.

Suffice to say Jon was still very much the raconteur and had some great stories to tell (most of which, but not all, can be found in his autobiography). I did catch up with him a few more times after that but he eventually left Shanghai a few years ago and returned to the US.

Jon, Feb 2011

The Valiant Ones - Roy Chiao (1975) - Town Island, Sai Kung

The last part of the film, which includes both the final battle between the heroes and remainder of the pirates (led by Sammo Hung) and the grave scene, was filmed on Town Island (伙頭墳洲). Again, this is not a straightforward place to get to and it seems that much of the filming time would have been spent aboard various boats getting moved around from one place to another.

The final sword battle with Sammo Hung's pirate leader was filmed on a sliver of beach at the very south of the island and it is the location I've marked on this post's location marker label (found at the bottom of the post). It's also a location that was used earlier as the Wu's made their way, under escort, to the pirate HQ. Those are the images you can see immediately below.

Seen from the direction of the water, this is also the same location used for the aforementioned final sword battle between Pai Ying and Sammo Hung. Who knows how long it took to film this particular battle, but you can see by comparing the two images below that it goes from very sunny to overcast, so it's possible it took a few days.

Finally, the last sequence we see in the film is of the fallen heroes' graves on a hillside overlooking the sea. It's a panning shot filmed moving to the right and was shot on the hillside above the previous beach battle location. The first image gives a nice view back towards Basalt Island (left) and Bluff Island (on the right). The final shot is looking westerly with Ung Kong on the left and Jin Island on the right in the distance.

This hilltop area is now occupied by a drug rehabilitation centre and so, I suspect, access for film buffs would be highly restricted, if not impossible. However, the serious film fan would probably be able to hire a boat past this part of the island. Trips like this can easily be arranged from Sai Kung waterfront for the right price (it's a fair distance so probably won't be cheap).

The Valiant Ones - Roy Chiao (1975) - Shelter Island, Port Shelter

Just a couple of places left for The Valiant Ones, although this one isn't so much a location as just a nice shot of Port Shelter. The island below the colourful cloud is Shelter Island seen from the south east. It looks as though the cameraman was positioned somewhere just south of Lobster Bay (that's the Lobster Bay headland sticking out on the left hand side). It's just one of the many mood-setting shots used throughout the film.

The Valiant Ones - Roy Chiao (1975) - South Ninepin Island, Outlying Islands

Another brief shot from the "being escorted to the pirates" sequence is a good example of how far King Hu was willing to go just to capture a few seconds of film. As the Wu's are being escorted by the pirate (played by Bee Chan) to the pirate lair, they walk along a cliff face in front of another sea arch. However, this one is actually located on one of Hong Kong's most remote islands - the Ninepins. The arch you can see behind the actors is located on the south island and, actually, there is a Tin Hau Shrine on the hill above it. It was once a stopping off point for fisherman headed out to sea looking for some good luck.

There is no other way to get here but by boat across 3 miles of open sea. It's a crossing best left for a calm and still day (believe me, I've done it a few times on dive boats and it can get rough).

The Valiant Ones - Roy Chiao (1975) - Tiu Chung Pai, Jin Island

The Hong Kong Geopark tour continues as King Hu presents us with another peek at the eastern coastline/outer islands. This time a quick view south from a small rock called Tiu Chung Pai off the south coast of Jin Island. It's actually very close to the sea arch at Kam Chung Ngam which was in the last post. It makes me suspect that these scenes were most likely filmed on the same day.

The Valiant Ones - Roy Chiao (1975) - Chau Wong Yi Kung Study Hall, Kam Tin

One of the key scenes is when Wu Ji-yuan (Pai Ying) heads off to a small house (identified in Chinese as a "Li Family shrine") to catch out a pair of corrupt officials who are in league with the pirates. It turns out that the shrine is in reality a study hall (a traditional Chinese village building where village hopefuls studied for the Imperial examinations) and can still be found in its semi-remote location near to Shui Mei Tsuen in Kam Tin. It's had a modern extension stuck on the side and a bit of a refit but it's still quite recognisable.

The Valiant Ones - Roy Chiao (1975) - Kam Chung Ngam, Jin Island

The more locations I post about with The Valiant Ones and the more it looks more like a Hong Kong travelogue. I have never seen a film that went to a more varied number of different and remote locations than this one. The next location is part of the sequence where the Wu's (played by Hsu Feng and Pai Ying) go to the pirates lair to strike a deal. The whole sequence is made up of a number of different locations, but the one that sticks in the mind a bit more is this famous sea arch located at the southern end of Tiu Chung Chau (吊鐘洲 a.k.a Jin Island).

I've never actually made it here so I don't know how easy it is to get to by anything other than boat, but that doesn't seem to have put off King Hu and his cast.

The Valiant Ones - Roy Chiao (1975) - Whitehead Point, Ma On Shan

There is a quick horse riding scene as Roy Chiao and buddy ride along the beach on their way home. It turns out we have seen this very same beach quite recently - it's the same beach along the north coast of Whitehead Point where the fighters landed at the beginning of DOA: Dead or Alive. However, the shots below show it as it was thirty years before (i.e. with less air pollution).