A Lotus for Miss Quon - Lang Jeffries (1967) - Golden Hill Road, Kowloon Reservoir

One of the key actions sequences of the film occurs when Jason and his girlfriend (Miss Quon played by Francesca Tu) tries to hot foot it over the "border". Seeing as this story is set in Vietnam I am unsure which border it is (take your pick from China, Laos, Cambodia) but the plan is foiled by guerrillas who launch an attack on them and the border police as they just manage to cross. They're targeted because they are driving a US Embassy diplomatic vehicle, not because the attackers knew who they were. Anyway, this scene was shot around the main dam wall at Kowloon Reservoir (we had some similar action here for A Queen's Ransom).

They approach the border from Tai Po Road end, but then are filmed driving the opposite way over the dam wall (i.e. back towards the section they were on in the first two images).

Police hut (it gets blown up by guerrillas) at the eastern end of the dam

Policeman is shot by guerrilla (Yuen Siu-tin)

Jojo (Sal Borgese) watches it all from back up the hill near Tai Po Road

A Lotus for Miss Quon - Lang Jeffries (1967) - Lai Yue Hing Tong, Fanling

So, we already know where Mark Jason's large villa is located within On Lok Tsuen. The building that stood in for the police station was the nearby Lai Yue Hing Tong (aka Fanling Babies Home). This place was originally discovered (from a film locations point of view) by Andi on his Movie Tours blog. You can see his post here. In terms of my own blog, I've only seen it the once before.

A Lotus for Miss Quon - Lang Jeffries (1967) - Li Garden, On Lok Tsuen

The next film up is a 1967 production (a French and German co-production, I think) that appears to have been shot almost entirely in the New Territories. It's based on an thriller written by James Hadley Chase (who, incidentally, also wrote the original novel - A Coffin from HK - on which Ein Sarg aus Hong Kong was based). The story is set in Vietnam but I suppose given the time it was made into a film, filming in Vietnam was not a possibility and so Hong Kong's vast New Territories serves as a decent stand in.

The main protagonist, Mark Jason (played by Lang Jeffries), is a school teacher who rents a nearby villa and one day finds a stash of diamonds in his wall. Unknown to him, the local corrupt police chief is also after the diamonds and Jason gets deeper and deeper into strife as he tries to escape to HK with his newly found stash and Vietnamese girlfriend (Miss Quon).

I think finding most of the locations in this film is going to be quite a challenge, but we can start off with a couple of easy ones. The first one is the villa that Jason was renting and where he finds the hidden stash of diamonds.

This building has been seen before on this blog, albeit from a side elevation. It's Li Garden (李園) in On Lok Tsuen just south of Fanling and I did a post for it a while back for Golgo 13: Assignment Kowloon where it makes a very brief appearance. However, if you are a fan of old HK movies then it may be quite familiar to you from being a popular filming location for local films back in the 50s and 60s (example here). Sadly none of the old mansions in On Lok Tsuen seem to exist anymore and the area has been turned into an industrial estate.

I had originally found that the building sits on the site of today's Smile building, but after examining aerial photos from the mid-60s it has become obvious to me that it was actually on the plot now occupied by the Kader Industrial Centre at 17 Lok Yip Road.

Ghosts Can't Do It - Bo Derek (1989) - The Regent Hotel, Tsim Sha Tsui

Despite Bo going skinny dipping in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel's pool, this isn't the hotel she appears to be staying at. The hotel where we see her in her room is actually on the other side of the harbour and is The Regent. The Regent was owned by New World (of Chow Tai Fook, Citybus, First Bus, First Ferry, Rosewood etc fame) but sold to - what became - the InterContinental group in 2001 when it was renamed. InterContinental sold the building again in 2015 but have retained the management contract.

This time we get both a shot from inside Derek's hotel room as well as the more recognisable forecourt.

Anyway, this is its third appearance on the blog under the Regent name (previously featuring on Noble House and Detonator 2: Night Watch - both starring Pierce Brosnan).

Ghosts Can't Do It - Bo Derek (1989) - Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Central

The swimming pool scene, when Derek is held at gunpoint and forced to eat a sleeping pill, was filmed in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. I have no idea if the hotel pool still looks like this but you can find pictures of it with this decor if you look hard enough. The problem I have with this scene is that it seems to have been cut just after Derek takes the pill. The following scene has her suddenly waking up in her hotel room with no real explanation as to what just happened. It feels as though there are some key scenes missing and I wonder if they are the ones involving Jon T. Benn that I couldn't otherwise find. If anyone knows the answers, please feel free to comment.

Ghosts Can't Do It - Bo Derek (1989) - Aberdeen, Hong Kong

One of Quinn's older business partners tries to woo Bo during an intimate dinner on board a junk in Aberdeen Harbour. It's quite a nice scene with the brightly lit Jumbo Kingdom filling out the background. Notice that in 1989 the Jumbo "Kingdom" still consisted of all three restaurants (Jumbo, Tai Pak and Sea Palace), you can see the Sea Palace in the background of the top image. These days the sea palace has gone and the Tai Pak has been moved over to that side.

Ghosts Can't Do It - Bo Derek (1989) - Star Ferry, Victoria Harbour

I first heard about the Hong Kong connection of this movie from Jon T. Benn (Mr Big from Way of the Dragon) when he was still making visits to Hong Kong a few years back (I believe Jon is now State-side). At the time of filming Jon was asked to help chaperone Bo Derek during her HK stay and it looks as though he was given a small role in the film (at least according to IMDB - however, I can't for the life of me see him in there and suspect it may be related to the fact that a section in the middle of the film appears to have been cut).

Anyway, to cut a long story short Jon was around during the swimming pool scenes (see a later post) and swore blind that Bo gave him a longer than necessary flash of her..."equipment"...after the filming had wrapped. It's actually one of the stories he includes in his book (still available from Blacksmith books) that is well worth a read if you want to find out how he went from Russian language specialist in the US Army (I kid you not) to starring next to Bruce Lee in Way of the Dragon. The guy is certainly an interesting individual with a very colourful life.

But back to the film, shot in 1989 it is about a couple played by Derek and Anthony Quinn. Quinn has a heart attack and can no longer "do it" so he kills himself to become a ghost so he can occupy the body of someone else in order to be able to do it with his wife again...yup!

His ghost follows her around the world giving advice in various situations - including during a business deal with Donald Trump (I'm not kidding about that either) in Hong Kong.

Not too much was filmed here, but there are some shots filmed in Aberdeen and the Mandarin Oriental Hotel etc. So we'll kick this film off with a post featuring Bo Derek trying to eat noodles with chopsticks on the Star Ferry and getting noodles on her face.

Casse-tête chinois pour le Judoka - Marc Briand (1967) - Castle Peak Bay, Tuen Mun

After a slightly long hiatus (I was in London for a month), I am now back in HK and can pick up where I left off with another location from Casse-tête chinois pour le Judoka. This time we are over on Kadoorie Pier as everyone gets ready to head over to the evil enemy base.

However, I am a bit stumped as to the identity of the house in the background of the last image. It must have been located where the Hoi Tin Garden Restaurant now stands at the other end of Castle Peak Beach, but its identity is currently eluding me. If anyone knows please leave a comment (no, it's not Boulder Lodge). I created a place for it on Gwulo some time ago but so far still no information.

Casse-tête chinois pour le Judoka - Marc Briand (1967) - Garden Road, Central

After the meeting at the US Consulate (which was actually the Hilton Hotel), the two cross Garden Road and pick up a cab. The consulate has had a complete external makeover since then including a large foreboding wall (it was also recently revealed that the land it is on has the longest lease in China). Down the road the view was once very open. You can  see the old Govt HQ east wing on the left, but these days the whole road, and view, is crowded with skyscrapers.

Casse-tête chinois pour le Judoka - Marc Briand (1967) - Hilton Hotel, Central

This location has popped up a few times now and it took a while before I worked out it was an inner courtyard at the Hilton Hotel. No one seems to have been able to confirm or deny it so far, but the fact that it keeps popping up confirms it was a real location and not any kind of studio set. We've already seen it previously in The Million Eyes of Sumuru but it was The Yin and Yang of Mr Go that helped actually place it properly.