A Cause to Kill - Ivy Ling Po (1969) - Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui

There are a couple of scenes shot on the lower part of Nathan Road as Hsin Li drops off and picks up her attache case. The first image below shows her crossing Nathan Road to head to the Peninsula Hotel, the other images are from a later scene as Inspector Sheng (played by Chiao Chiao's real-life first husband Wong Chun-shun - he played the literal back-stabbing uncle in Way of the Dragon) drops her off in a ruse he has planned to prove her guilt. You can just about see the signs for Gaddi's underneath the hotel marquee.

A Cause to Kill - Ivy Ling Po (1969) - Middle Road Carpark, Tsim Sha Tsui

Hsin Li arranges for a taxi driver to pick up her unclaimed briefcase on her behalf and she sits in his taxi waiting for him to return. The taxi was parked on the carpark located on what is now the site of the Sheraton Hotel. This film was shot just a few years before the site was redeveloped into the hotel in the early 70s.

In the background of the lower image you can see the former Ambassador Hotel on the left (now a mixed use block called "26 Nathan Road") and on the right the still-extant Far East Mansions. The road on the left hand side is, of course, Nathan Road.

A Cause to Kill - Ivy Ling Po (1969) - View of the Harbour

As Hsin Li starts to put her nefarious plan into place, she takes a briefcase of cash to the Peninsula Hotel and puts it in their lockers. This is where the killer will collect his reward once the deed is done. The establishing shot is this nice view taken from the top of the hotel's east wing, looking across the old train terminus and over to the island.

A Cause to Kill - Ivy Ling Po (1969) - Choi Hung Estate

Some scenery to take in during a driving home scene as Hsin Li's husband, Li De (Kwan Shan) and Su Su (Chiao Chiao) take a taxi home from the airport. Su Su has just arrived from Singapore to help with the screenplay for Hsin Li's new comeback film.

The scene starts with a view of the Choi Hung Estate from the view point of the adjacent road, but then we follow the couple for an in-car scene that was shot as the car drove along the first section Clearwater Bay Road that starts at the estate.

Savour the view because it was announced last year that Choi Hung Estate would be redeveloped very soon bringing an end to its 60+ year lifespan, although the latter stages of the plan won't be implemented until the 2040s.

A Cause to Kill - Ivy Ling Po (1969) - Glenthorne, Customs Pass

Hsin Li lives with her husband in a rather nice art-deco style mansion up in Customs Pass. This area appears to have been a popular filming location for Shaws productions in the 60s and 70s because we were here a few weeks ago for The Generation Gap.

In this film we carry on up the hill a bit further to a house called "Glenthorne" which, rather surprisingly for Hong Kong, still exists. I take my hat off to the owners for not selling up to a developer because the house is very stylish (and I have no doubt jinxed it by featuring it here). The interwebs tells me this house was built in 1958 and is one of only a couple originals.

On the way up we are treated to some views of Fei Ngo Shan Road as the car drives passed the previously linked to "Cairnmount". We also get brief glimpses of some of the neighbouring properties, but they are, sadly, only fleeting.

"Cairnmount" on the left

Glenthorne

A view of the neighbouring property "Devonia" (since demolished)

A Cause to Kill - Ivy Ling Po (1969) - Clearwater Bay Road, Pak Shek Wo

Up next is another from the Celestial Shaw channel on Youtube called A Cause to Kill. It's about a retired actress (Ivy Ling Po) who plots to kill her husband (Played by Kwan Shan - Rosumand Kwan's father) because he had a secret affair with one of their friends (Chiao Chiao). Apparently it's a Shaw version of Dial M for Murder but because I haven't seen (or read) it in about 40 years then I can't possibly comment, but suffice to say it's a great plot and the film showcases some nice spots in Hong Kong from the late sixties, some of which have changed beyond recognition and some that haven't.

The opening scene shows Hsin Li (Ivy) driving her car along Clearwater Bay Road through the section that goes through Pak Shek Wo (i.e. not far from Pik Uk prison). She's supposed to be driving home, but as you'll see in the next post, she is actually driving in the opposite direction.

It's hard to reconcile the images below with the modern day road which is a dual carriageway, but this is how it used to look.

A sign for Wah Lok Yuen (華樂園), a local eatery

This last image has some writing on the slope on the left. It says "Lot 1098 Pak Shek Wo". This relates to the current 1098 Clearwater Bay Road which helped me narrow down the location. Sadly, we don't see the property on film.

Casse-tête chinois pour le Judoka - Marc Briand (1967) - Pacific Islands Shipbuilding, Kowloon Bay

Yes, an older movie that I covered many years ago (2018 to be precise, and I have since decided to list it on the right hand side under its original title: Casse-tête chinois pour le Judoka, but have yet to bother changing all the post titles). This one is being done now because it was another of my pandemic finds back in 2021 that I thought I had already posted but checked back recently (you'll see why in a few posts) and realised I had forgotten about it.

The location can be seen during footchase that actually ends up over on Ap Lei Chau, but the initial scenes were shot at the Pacific Islands ShipBuilding shipyard in Kowloon Bay. This was worked out by triangulating the background buildings with the large gantry that can be seen below. The building behind it was Block 13 of the Ngau Tau Kok Resettlement Estate and was still under construction at the time.

Take note of the small Chinese-roofed hut in the lower image as this will pop up in a later post for another film.

This whole area now sits under where Kowloon Bay MTR station depot and the Telford Gardens development now sits. The former aforementioned Block 13 site now holds the reasonably newish "Kowloon Cultural Centre".

My Three Sons - Fred MacMurray (1965) - View from the Peak

Not the best view we've ever seen on the blog, but no doubt the same footage has been used elsewhere in better quality than the VHS upload I took this from on Youtube. At least the time frame coincides with the 1965 setting because I can see the Hongkong Hilton in the top image, completed in 1963. Often you find library/stock footage used that doesn't reflect the reality of the show's setting.

My Three Sons - Fred MacMurray (1965) - Repulse Bay Road

The family are staying with one of their dad's colleagues and the establishing shot for these scenes is an upward shot towards some properties that used to stand on Repulse Bay Road. The lower building in the image is the previous version of a property that was located at 16 Repulse Bay Road. The two properties above are the old properties of 25 (on the right with the curved verandah) and 27 Repulse Bay Road. Fortuna Court and Royal Garden developments now occupy these sites (respectively). It's a shame the picture quality is so poor because I've never seen images of these upper properties before. I think the camera must have been positioned down on Island Road in front of the golf course.

My Three Sons - Fred MacMurray (1965) - Kai Tak Airport

The family arrives in Hong Kong via some stock footage of the Kai Tak runway and the airside of the terminal building showing the observation deck.