Hung Gar Kung Fu - The Tiger Crane Form starring Chiu Chi Ling

A while ago I was asked by a friend (who is into kung fu in a big way) to identify the location used in the short film embedded below.

I'm not sure when it was filmed - possibly the late 70's or early 80's given that it's star - Chiu Chi Ling - looks fairly youthful still (though that could just be because of his hard Hung Gar practice bestowing healthy benefits...). But anyway it was filmed in Tsuen Wan at the Yuen Yuen Institute.I went there the other day and it looks exactly like it did when this film was made.

Flatfoot in Hong Kong - Bud Spencer (1975) - Barker Road, The Peak

After Rizzo has hijacked a car to help him chase his quarry, we see a shot of them driving up a small road and under a bridge that is part of the tram track.

Barella alights at the Barker Road stop, not realising Rizzo anticipated his movements once again.
The Barker Road station has been seen in quite a few productions covered on this blog.

Flatfoot in Hong Kong - Bud Spencer (1975) - MacDonnell Road, Midlevels

Part of the aforementioned chase also takes place in and around various parts of the Peak Tram system. The first bit we see if the bridge over the tram track along MacDonnell Road in the Central Mid-levels area. Of course the tram still plows the same path it has done since day one but the surrounding areas have seen inevitable change and redevelopment.

What's changed? Well, the bridge is still there and it looks as though the same concrete balustrades are in place today although the bridge has had some sort of platform added on the higher side - perhaps to prevent people falling directly on the track? The bridge sides are quite low and it would be fairly easy for someone to be stupid enough and lean over and lose their balance. Here is the contemporary Streetview version. The residential building seen in the last image has since been replaced by a modern one called "Silvercrest".

Project A - Jackie Chan (1983) - Kau Sai Chau, Sai Kung

Here is a location with a bit of a story behind it (which is why it has taken so long to find). The problem was this - a seaside location with calm water (so sheltered from the open sea), with a large kiln, concrete block and small abandoned hut. I looked everywhere for a long time and could not find anything that matched. I gave up - it could have been anywhere along HK's vast 800km coastline.

Anyway, it turns out (with help from some shots from another film from Daniel of Hong Kong on Film) that this location is the gap between Kau Sai Chau and Jin Islands in Port Shelter.

I've never been here myself but know that there is a small restaurant here that is popular with boaters (because there is no way else to get there) but the shots from Panoramio suggest that the large chimney/kiln has been demolished (I suspect this was an artifact related to the nearby Hung Shing temple) as has the large concrete blockhouse. But there does seem to still be a small abandoned hut there (which I am sure you will be able to see when Dan puts up his own post on this location). The whole shoreline has been concreted and smoothed out, but the background remains the same. If you are wondering about the exact location here is a Googlegrab.

Kau Sai Chau to the north (this island is popular because it contains HK's only public golf course - but you still need to catch a boat to get there) and this area is on its southernmost part. The small cluster of squares to the left of the gap is a fish culture farm - quite popular here in HK for raising fish for restaurants and at one time blamed for the shark attacks that occurred in the early 90's because the fish food was thought to attract the sharks!

Flatfoot in Hong Kong - Bud Spencer (1975) - Central Vehicular Ferry Pier, Hong Kong

Barella (Al Lettieri) tries to fake out Rizzo by pretending to get on the cross harbour ferry, but Rizzo anticipates his trick and waits on the pier for Barella to appear after the ferry has gone. This scene was shot at the vehicular ferry pier in Central.

The pier was situated in front of the old Central Fire station next to Jubilee Street (that's the old fire station poking up at the top of the pier in the lower shot) - basically directly next to where the One IFC tower now stands (immediately to its north). The pier was demolished in 1994 for the IFC reclamation. Gwulo also has information here.

Flatfoot in Hong Kong - Bud Spencer (1975) - Man Mo Temple, Hong Kong

Once Rizzo finds who he thinks he is after, a chase ensues through various locations, one of which is down Ladder Street, past the Man Mo Temple and onto Hollywood Road.

The building on the right is the one that is still there, replacing the previous building that featured as the Nam Kok Hotel in The World of Suzie Wong. The temple roof looks a bit shabby here and I am sure it has undergone a bit of a renovation since 1975, but notice the old red-painted pillar box and old-style fire-hydrant. Both of these items were visible in the previously mentioned Suzie Wong too (and Jackie Chan's The Protector) but sadly, have long since gone.

Flatfoot in Hong Kong - Bud Spencer (1975) - A Diversion: Chaplin Chang

Okay, not a location but a person. Why this person? Well, for those who are not Bruce Lee fans his name may be unfamiliar. Chaplin - although acting in this film - was largely a behind-the-scenes guy who worked on the production team of both Way of The Dragon and Enter the Dragon and many others. 
See my Chasing Chaplin page here.

Here he is as Rizzo's mysterious contact in Hong Kong (and Rizzo gets to follow him to Macau as we will see in later posts).

Flatfoot in Hong Kong - Bud Spencer (1975) - Aberdeen Harbour, Hong Kong

Here's one that is pretty unrecognisable these days - largely thanks to the impressive amount of reclamation that has gone into the area in the last 30 years.

After we left Rizzo, last seen in Wanchai on the back of a pedicab, somehow he manages to peddle completely around to the other side of the island and stop off at the old Tai Pak Floating Restaurant ferry pier. Now remember this film was made in 1975, a whole year before the newly launched Jumbo would open, and the Tai Pak and the Sea Palace were still the major floating restaurants in Aberdeen Harbour.

These days the small piers where you catch the shuttle ferries over to the Jumbo Kingdom are situated quite close to their destination on the waterfront at Shum Wan Pier Drive. In 1975 the piers were all the way over on the waterfront at Wu Nam Street. The area that used to house the old Tai Pak ferry pier now houses the Aberdeen Bus terminus.

The photo above shows Wu Nam Street as it was in 2009, courtesy of Streetview. The entrance into the bus terminus (behind the low green roof) is the approximate location of where the old Tai Pak pier (and others) used to be located.

Of course, a trip to Aberdeen wouldn't be complete without at least one view of the Tai Pak. In the background you can see the green hillock that houses the Aberdeen Seminary.

In the images below, Rizzo's destination is a floating mahjong den called the "Golden Moon". However, if you can read Chinese you should be able to tell that this structure is in fact some sort of ceremonial hall/temple for the fisherfolk.

In the last screenshot above you can see the old HK Electric power station. It was eventually decommissioned and moved to Lamma Island, and South Horizons (a large residential complex) was built on parts of the old site.

Flatfoot in Hong Kong - Bud Spencer (1975) - Johnston Road junction with Fleming Road, Wanchai

A little after we saw Bud outside the Lung Moon, he hops on a pedicab and gives the poor driver a hard time by the mere fact that he is a fat bastard and weighs more than the poor dude can handle. Anyway, we next see the struggling pedicab still heading down Johnston Road but this time at the large intersection with Fleming Road. One thing I only just noticed is that you can partially see the sign for the old Ying King restaurant on the far right of the top image.

These shots are great because I can see that just in this small stretch of road there are still a lot of surrounding buildings that still stand. The first is from the top two shots and it stands on the corner of Johnston and Wanchai Road.

See, still there and being looked after, although the view to the mountains at the end of Wanchai Road is no longer clear and we now just get the side of a high rise rather than the green foliage that was there in 1975. As the camera pans left we can see a few buildings at the other side of the street (Johnston Road turns south here and these buildings are actually on part of Wanchai Road still). Here is the 2009 Streetview.

Well, you can see the square-windowed place (the Ming Tak Building) was still around in 2009 but I can confirm that not long after I originally made this post, it was demolished and redeveloped. Sometimes I feel this blog has a nasty knack of alerting developers to their next victim :-(.

Flatfoot in Hong Kong - Bud Spencer (1975) - Johnston Road, Wanchai

As Rizzo walks around looking for clues we see him head into Wanchai and a very famous landmark that disappeared around 2009. It's the Lung Moon restaurant along Johnston Road just opposite Southorn Playground. You can see its red/white vertical sign in the background.