Ein Sarg aus Hong Kong - Heinz Drache (1964) - Shanghai Street, Yau Ma Tei

A couple of posts ago we saw Market Street on the southern side of the public square in front of Yau Ma Tei Tin Hau Temple. In this post we see the other end of it where Public Square Street joins with Shanghai Street at the northern side of the square.

Look carefully and you can see the building behind and above Heinz Drache's head is the same one today that houses the famous Mido Cafe on the corner of Temple Street.

Ein Sarg aus Hong Kong - Heinz Drache (1964) - Hennessy Road, Causeway Bay

Just before our intrepid heroes head off for their drinks at a dodgy bar called the "Green Snake" they meet up along Hennessy Road. The only real survivor that can still be seen is the apartment building at the back left - it's called Hennessy Apartments (Chinese name: 軒尼詩大厦).

If you are wondering where this would be in a modern context, to the right of the frame would be along the side of the current SOGO department store.

Five Golden Dragons - Bob Cummings (1967) - Marsh Road, Wanchai

Here is one I missed the first time around, it's an easy ID to be honest and I thought I had already done it but apparently not. It's when Sylvia Rohm leaves the Police HQ over in Kowloon and is then followed around by a detective. One of the roads they go down is Marsh Road, identifiable by the very obvious road sign in the screen cap. To help things along with the specific location though is the nearby hydrant #15. In fact (and assuming the water department keeps the same hydrant numbers) the hydrant in question is #115 and is on the corner with Lockhart Road. So I think we can say with reasonable confidence that this brief scene was on the section of Marsh Road between Lockhart and Jaffe (the camera is looking north).

I'm not sure what the brown marbled building is in the top picture but the most recent construction on that plot of land (on the corner of Jaffe and Marsh) is the Mira Moon Hotel.

Ein Sarg aus Hong Kong - Heinz Drache (1964) - Market Street, Yau Ma Tei

I had no idea that the latrine block along Market Street in Yau Ma Tei had been around for quite so long but here it is back in 1964 (on the right hand side of the frame). You can see part of the covered hawkers market that used to occupy the square in front of the Tin Hau Temple. This is another scene that was used in Sumuru but I didn't post about it back then because I wasn't sure where it was at the time. The old building in the background would have been on Temple Street where the Kowloon Govt Offices now stand. Actually, I think the Sumuru print has better colour.

Ein Sarg aus Hong Kong

The Million Eyes of Sumuru

Ein Sarg aus Hong Kong - Heinz Drache (1964) - Nathan Road, Kowloon

Next up in our bus journey is the junction of Nathan and Jordan Roads in Kwun Chung. This one shows a few things of interest.

The first thing I notice is the appearance of New Lucky House on the right hand side replete with its still very recognisable paint scheme. This building was opened in 1964 (the same year this film was made) and it looks as though the cameras have captured it just prior to being ready - it still has to have its windows installed.

Next up is the yellow sign at the far end of New Lucky House. Locals will already recognise this as a sign for Tai Lin electronics, but I had no idea that the company was in that same spot all the way back in the 60's. Sadly Tai Lin became a victim of the 2008 financial crisis and closed shop but the sign (or at least the most recent version of it) was still there the last time I looked. It was a fairly iconic bit of neon (we last saw it on this blog when I was researching locations for Albert Pyun's Hong Kong '97).

Finally, on the left hand side you can see there is a fair amount of space between the pavement and the building that sits just next to it. These days the place is occupied by the Champion Building (built 1977) and all that open space is gone, but prior to that it was the site of a grand old building called Wong Tong Kee (黃棠記) mansion. You can read a little more about it here on Gwulo.com where you can see a picture of it in more detail including the perimeter wall enclosing the private garden (hence the extra space).

Sadly, when the mansion was demolished, the Champion Building was constructed right up to the plot boundary and the area these days has a much more closed in feel as you can see from the Streetview picture below.

Ein Sarg aus Hong Kong - Heinz Drache (1964) - Choi Hung Estate, Choi Hung

Here is the next of our previously seen clips, this time it is the one filmed outside the Choi Hung Estate. You can see how it appeared in Sumuru here, but in this film (made 3 years earlier) it also appears in the correct orientation.

One of the reasons I believe that Ein Sarg aus Hong Kong is the original source of this footage is that this same bus appears in several more scenes directly after this one as we follow its journey through Kowloon - some of those later scenes, but not all, were also included in Sumuru.

Ein Sarg aus Hong Kong - Heinz Drache (1964) - Chater Road, Central

A while back when I was researching locations for The Million Eyes of Sumuru, I came across a few clips that had been reversed in the editing process. This always confuses me because I never know if it is done deliberately or just out of ignorance. Anyway, it turns out that I think it was done deliberately because those very same clips have cropped up in Ein Sarg aus Hong Kong and (until I find out otherwise) I think they may have been originally shot for this film and then perhaps bought/licensed by the makers of Sumuru as stock footage for use in the latter (and later) film. I'll explain my reasoning in a later post but for the time being here is the clip of the Hong Kong Club from this film (and the correct way round).

Shatter - Stuart Whitman (1974) - Tsz Wan Shan, Kowloon

Here's a long standing puzzler from Shatter that has just been solved by Thomas, but really given its position in the film it should've been easy for me to get. It involves some scenes prior to the car chase scene that ends up at the top of Shatin Pass Road at Lion Pavilion.

It turns out that film geography was spot on this time (for a change) and this sequence, just prior to the scenes shot at Shatin Pass Road, was filmed along Tsz Wan Shan Road...in reality just down the hill from the junction with Shatin Pass Road.

The estate has since been rebuilt but Thomas has provided some links with photos showing how the estate used to look from the HK Memory website and a personal blog. A big thanks to Thomas for the identification.

Ein Sarg aus Hong Kong - Heinz Drache (1964) - Kai Tak Airport, Kowloon City

There's a whole host of Kai Tak images in this film so I shall break them down into bits, starting of with the approach over the roundabout at the end of Argyle Street and Prince Edward Road.

Next up we have the view from the side of the runway looking back west towards the checkerboard above Kowloon Tsai Park (top) and then east with Kwun Tong in the background (bottom).

Then there are some great shots of various planes sitting on the apron and a quick glimpse of the old terminal building.

We also get a nice south looking view (perhaps shot from the observation deck on top of the terminal building?) as a plane takes off with the hills of Hong Kong Island in the background across the harbour.

And we finish off with a couple of snaps taken outside the arrivals lounge. The lower picture contains a view that we saw very recently (albeit in black and white). Here is the reminder (top picture in the link).

Ein Sarg aus Hong Kong - Heinz Drache (1964) - Caroline Hill, Hong Kong

Welcome to the year of the Rooster and here is a new film to kick start it all off. Ein Sarg Aus Hong Kong (English title: Coffin From Hong Kong) starring German film icon, Heinz Drache. Lots of good locations to be found in this film but we'll start off with this nice panorama taken from the hills above Caroline Hill. My guess - from the angle - would be somewhere near to the modern day "No.111 Mount Butler Road" development, but better informed answers are welcome. Of course, this view encompasses several distinct areas including So Kon Po and Tai Hang, but seeing as the Caroline Hill stadium is the most prominent thing in the first picture, that's the title I've gone for.

You can just about see the old incarnation of the Govt stadium at So Kon Po in the bottom centre of the first picture but the South China Athletic Association Ground is more obvious to its right. Scrolling to the right (east) you can see the open area of Victoria Park fronting the harbour and finally in the last picture on the far right is the former cottage/squatter area along the slopes of Lin Fa Kung Hill and Mt Butler. Autostitch has mapped them together into a nice panorama below (click to enlarge).