Gambit - Shirley MacLaine (1966) - Kai Tak Airport, Kowloon

To round off this short trip back to 1966 for Ronald Neame's Gambit, here is a parting shot of a plane coming in to land at the former Hong Kong International Airport at Kai Tak.

Gambit - Shirley MacLaine (1966) - Cameron Road, Tsim Sha Tsui

Well, after following her slowly in the car, we see Shirley's body double arrive at her destination. It's the Cherry Bar and many thanks to Doug Price who identified the location of that particular bar (and several others) for me earlier in the year: 24 Cameron Road (and the Kobe Bar next to it at #26)

The site these days is occupied by a building called the - perhaps rather aptly - Eastern Flower Centre. Anyway, I've attempted to recreate the same angle below with Streetview. Just to be clearer, the old Kobe Bar was situated in the area now occupied by the black entrance to the right of the bank. The Cherry Bar, with its big red doors, was immediately next door under the red sign next door. Sadly both now gone.

Gambit - Shirley MacLaine (1966) - Hart Avenue, Tsim Sha Tsui

In one of those scenes I mentioned earlier, we see a first person's view of a woman walking away from the camera along a road somewhere in Hong Kong. The woman is supposedly the nightclub dancer character played by Shirley MacLaine and the person whose eyes we are looking through is Michael Caine as he slowly follows her in his car.

Except that, in this only real close up view of the Hong Kong, we are actually following a body double and Michael Caine, when we get a glimpse of him, is actually being filmed with a back projection. In other words, neither actor was ever in Hong Kong for these scenes and it is likely that a local company was hired to film them or a small unit from the US went out to capture what was necessary for the plot.

Anyway, it's done quite well and luckily for us we do get a brief glimpse of what turns out to be a few streets in the Tsim Sha Tsui area of Kowloon. Here are the grabs.

In case you hadn't guessed already, the woman in the green dress and headscarf (conveniently hiding her hair) is supposedly Shirley MacLaine's dancer who Caine wants to recruit for a heist operation. He's following her along Hart Avenue in Tsim Sha Tsui as she walks towards her place of employment.

Luckily for us, this area hasn't changed very much despite the time that has passed (nearly 50 years!) and the fact that a large tract of the area was razed to make way for the U.R.A redevelopment that now has 'The Masterpiece' (and the K11 mall) as its centrepiece.

Anyway, in the first few pictures above we see our body double as she walks south around the rather unique bend of Carnarvon Road where it intersects with Humphrey's, Hart and Pratt Avenues.

As she walks around the corner we see the very distinctive shape of a corner building. This is Rose Mansion and we can also see it in the recent Streetview picture below. This old building on the corner of Prat and Hart Avenues has been around since 1958 and is really about the only recognisable thing left.

After she crosses the road in front of Rose Mansion, our walker heads to the right down Hart Avenue and we get a brief glimpse of how it looked back in the mid-60's (see the last two pictures in the screen grabs). And here it is today. It seems that the right hand side of Hart Avenue is fairly modern compared with the left - and it looks as though the modern buildings have encroached somewhat on what used to be a much wider road.

Gambit - Shirley MacLaine (1966) - Views of the Harbour, Hong Kong

A quick change of film for a few posts as we look at a few scenes from 1966's Michael Caine and Shirley MacLaine film - Gambit.

Now, this film is obviously (to me at least) one of those that has a few outdoor scenes shot on location in Hong Kong, but actually the main action occurs elsewhere (i.e. in a studio in California). Much like the HK scenes in You Only Live Twice, these ones from Gambit are also only used as a device to establish the location of the characters at the beginning of the film - so I strongly suspect neither actor was in HK for any filming.

Despite the lack of any real HK-based scenes the film makers did get some nice shots of a mid-60's Hong Kong including these ones that were shown during the opening credits.

Forced Vengeance - Chuck Norris (1982) - Star Ferry, Central

Some Star Ferry nostalgia for those people who, like me, wish the service between Central and TST had never changed or moved. Such is life and the way local politicians show, time and again, how out of touch with most peoples' reality they really are.

Anyway, back in 1982, Chuck and the gang are on the run from the bad guys and hop on the ferry from Central over to Tsim Sha Tsui. Chuck even puts his neck on the line by performing his own stunt of jumping from the ferry pier onto the passing ferry.

The Hung Hom sign at the top is to remind everyone that from Central you had a choice of two destinations: Tsim Sha Tsui or Hung Hom. So I guess Chuck and the gang wanted to get the Hung Hom one but ended up at TST instead. They must have done some sneaky maneuvering to escape their pursuers. Anyway, here is where they ended up. I'm pretty sure it is TST-side but am willing to change my mind if someone knows better.

In case you are reading this and hadn't visited HK prior to 2006, you can click on the location link at the bottom of this post and see where the previous Star Ferry piers used to be sited. Of course it is now all under reclamation and the newly created Lung Wo Road.

Yellowthread Street (TV Series) - Bruce Payne (1990) - Kwong Wah Hospital, Kowloon

A brief glimpse of this well-known Kowloon-side hospital as DI Vale (played by Ray Lonnen, who sadly died earlier this year) goes to visit a so-called Spirit Runner who was hit by a car.

Kwong Wah Hospital has a veritable history of its own which you can read about on wiki. But in the meantime here is a Streetview grab showing the same entrance today.

Forced Vengeance - Chuck Norris (1982) - Des Voeux Road Central, Hong Kong

In one of the scenes when the guys are trying to find a hiding place, we get a few shots of various places around Hong Kong - as seems to be the norm with these chase sequences. Unfortunately, I can't identify some of the more obscure places but this following one should be fairly familiar with anyone who has visited.

It's Des Voeux Road Central at the junction with Ice House Street and hasn't changed much to this day. The bridge in the background is still around (though perhaps slightly remodeled), New Henry House on the left is pretty much as it is today as is the square windowed building behind the walkway (Gloucester Tower). But the facade immediately behind the tram is the Bank of East Asia, and it looks like the film crew caught it just as that particular frontage was just completed (the concrete looks a bit fresh).

Anyway, you can judge for yourself by looking at the following Streetview capture. What is nice to see in the above pictures though is that the single deck tram carriages were still in use at the time.

Forced Vengeance - Chuck Norris (1982) - Ocean Terminal, Tsim Sha Tsui

I've not seen too many films made up here, at least not on the car park (with the exception of this one), so it's nice that the film makers came here and shot on what I regard as one of the best vantage points to see the harbour (despite the lack of glamour associated with a car park).

Surprisingly, the rooftop up here has changed very little over the years - unlike the view it faces across the harbour which has probably doubled in height since Chuck was last here.

Yellowthread Street (TV series) - Bruce Payne (1990) - Chatham Road North, Hung Hom

On to Episode 8: Spirit Runner and one I consider to be the worst of the series due to its ridiculous storyline (about kids doing some sort of superstitious run for good luck in their exams) and the absolutely abysmal acting by a certain female lead cast member (to be honest, she was bad in all of them). But, some different locations are to be found and here is the first one - a view over Chatham Road North in Hung Hom from what looks to be the vantage point up on Chung Hau Street.

We can see the Kowloon Rail terminus (now Hung Hom Station) at the back left - it's the white building with the slanted white floors. Of course the KCR track runs north from there and we can just see a KCR train (now East Rail) heading away towards its next stop at Mongkok (East). The reddish brick building on the right is northern end of the Polytechnic University. Chatham Road North can be seen running left to right.

Forced Vengeance - Chuck Norris (1982) - Shau Kei Wan Main Street, Hong Kong

Chuck's earlier trip to Shau Kei Wan wasn't completely frivolous because the film crew managed to squeeze off a couple of extra shots of his car as it passes the Tin Hau Temple along Shau Kei Wan Main Street East.

Here is the modern Streetview. At least the temple is still around as is, it seems, the buildings on the right hand side of the road.