Yellowthread Street (TV Series) - Bruce Payne (1990) - Kennedy Road, Hong Kong

Another reused spot for this series, this time we see it from the other direction though as a car is followed around.

This above section is just next to 42 Kennedy Road (see the link I put in at the top), and other than a bit of extra tree growth really hasn't changed that much since.

A short hop later and we are next to the Kennedy Apartments at 36B. Again, not much has changed around here, thankfully, as you can see courtesy opf Streetview.

That Man Bolt - Fred Williamson (1973) - Yee Wo Street, Causeway Bay

A quick jump back to the opening of the film and one of the many seemingly anonymous streets featured as Bolt gets driven around. This one is not so anonymous though because it's Yee Wo Street in Causeway Bay around where Sugar Street joins it.

The top picture shows us what used to be at the junction with Sugar Street. The latter, or at least the western end of it, can be seen behind the tram. The old building, with its interesting (to me, at least) horizontal ledges seems to still be the same building today but with a massive facelift removing all the interesting bits. The building is called "V Causeway Bay" and looks as though it had a bank in it when this film was made, these days its looks as though it has been converted into serviced apartments. Anyway, its nice to know it's still around, albeit in a much altered form.

The second picture gives us a view of Hong Kong Mansion - pretty much about the only building around here that doesn't seem to have changed much. Paterson Street leads off to the right here. But the biggest change for me is the empty space where we can see cloud at the end in the bottom picture. This nice bit of venting has now been filled in by the East Point Centre. As you'll see from the Streetview grab below, I don't think it's improved the area much.

That Man Bolt - Fred Williamson (1973) - Stone Manor, Sassoon Road, Pok Fu Lam

Stone Manor is the next location we see and what a great place it is. When this film was being made the house had just been bought (in 1970) by the (in)famous Henry Fok. Fok was one of the many multi-millionaires (actually a billionaire by the time he died) who made a significant amount of his vast fortune through enterprising (but morally dubious means) during the Japanese Occupation.

He must have been a film fan because it appears that the crew had the run of the whole property, and possibly the interior as well - although there are no confirmed pictures of the interior that can help us identify it or not. But anyway, here are some shots from the exterior and garden taken during the party scene in the evening time.

Some terrible kung fu is on display and I think the expression on Fred's face below says it all as he looks down on the events from one of the house's balconies.

The initial part of the sequence though shows Bolt talking to the house owner - some crooked Japanese dude - and it is possible that these were filmed on location. I'm only guessing though. Comments welcome. It seems as though when the Govt initiated their long overdue Heritage study (encompassing over 1000 buildings and sites in the territory), the occupiers (I'm assuming still the bickering Fok siblings) wouldn't let anyone in to take photos, so we just have to assume and hope that perhaps this is a rather unique view inside a very private home.

 Inside the Fok residence...or not?

Moving on and we have some better scenes shots during the day when Bolt makes his final assault on the bad guy's house.

The wall in the top couple of grabs looks a bit fake to me, but I can confirm this was the actual wall and gateway of the place. It's still there but is now covered in ivy. In the third shot we can see a white building in the distance - I'm no expert on this area of HK (or any area of the Island for that matter), but I suspect this is part of Queen Mary Hospital. Comments welcome.

Also in the third picture we can see a decent portion of the house including the round pavilion on the side of the property. The fourth picture shows the main bad guy looking out from the same balcony/verandah that Fred was on when he was watching the bad kung fu. Finally the lower picture shows us the other side of the garden which, according to the blurb over at Gwulo, is part of the servant's quarters and garage. Look to the left and you can see a small terrace overlooking what was, at the time, a rather picturesque Telegraph Bay. These days Telegraph Bay has been filled in and instead we have the monstrous (by monstrous, I mean 'white elephant' size) joke that is Cyberport.

Anyway, here is a quick grab courtesy of Streetview that shows some of the same portion seen on film as well as the outer wall and the gate seen in the last picture.

That Man Bolt - Fred Williamson (1973) - R.M.S Queen Elizabeth, Victoria Harbour

A year before Roger Moore made The Man with the Golden Gun which used the RMS Queen Elizabeth as a secret office of the British Intelligence Services, we can see it in the background of one of the scenes when Bolt meets Griffith's way out on a boat in the harbour.

Actually, seeing as the thing caught fire in January 1972, I imagine these pictures were taken not that long after the "accidentally-on-purpose" accident - well perhaps less than a year at least.

Now, we know the approximate position of where the wreck was towed to following the fire thanks to looking at it previously (somewhere under Tsing Yi's more recently reclaimed Container Terminal #9 on its SE tip), which would make the area where the boat is somewhere between Tsing Yi and Stonecutters Island - the lower/southern end of Rambler Channel.

However, it's always nice to have a bit of extra confirmation and we get this with a couple of extra shots that show Mei Foo Sun Chuen in the background (see below behind Fred's head).

And also a quick look over to what I believe must be Stonecutters Island (due to its rather low profile) with HK in the far background.

That Man Bolt - Fred Williamson (1973) - Tai Pak and Aberdeen, Hong Kong

Another trip to Aberdeen for this film - although thankfully on this occasion, it's the right way around.

This first picture shows Griffiths (played by Byron Webster) catching a sampan out to the restaurant. This is how you used to do it (and still can if you want) before the dedicated shuttle boats were introduced. Note the buildings in the background where the original pontoons were.

I wanted to show you how this part of Aberdeen has changed. Although the colourful ones behind Webster's head have since been replaced, the white building on the left (Ping On House?) is still around and can be seen on the following Streetview picture taken from the Aberdeen Praya Road exit/entry ramp. As you can see the waterfront right in front of that building is now taken up by the Aberdeen Bus terminus and a rather significantly widened Aberdeen Praya Road (not mentioning all the high rises that have risen up at the back).

Moving on and we get some nice colourful shots of the Tai Pak with Ap Lei Chau behind it.

Behind Williamson's head in the background of the following shot we can just see the roof of the Aberdeen Seminary top left, and the steep slope in the far distance is the side of Brick Hill - anyone who has been to Ocean Park will have seen this hill because it's the one with the Ocean Park seahorse emblem on it and the cable car running up it.

Here's another angle showing the Aberdeen Chinese Permanent Cemetery - but I'm not sure what the grey concrete structure is below it. Perhaps one of the bases of the industrial buildings being built?

And a final look behind Fred as he tackles some chopsticks, this time the camera seems to be point more north with the Aberdeen Seminary directly behind his head and a cluster of factories/industrial buildings in Wong Chuk Hang.

That Man Bolt - Fred Williamson (1973) - Ching Chung Koon, Tuen Mun

Used briefly in the introduction of Enter the Dragon (see here), in That Man Bolt we get a glimpse of the area behind the large pai lau (also known as a pai fong - they're the large ornamental gateways that are seen in temples and some more established villages).

Believe it or not, that nice hilly area at the back of the first picture is now a 6-lane highway called the Tsing Tan Road! Tuen Mun has undergone a massive change into a 'New Town' with most of its bay reclaimed and a whole bunch of housing estates being built. I guess we should be thankful that this place has remained fairly unchanged in the last 40 years even if everything around it has been transformed.

Look, it's Geoffrey again!

The Lions by the archway have been moved, but other than that everything else looks pretty much the same, including that small pavilion in the bottom picture. Anyway, now you have two reasons to take the trip out there.

That Man Bolt - Fred Williamson (1973) - Kowloon Peninsula from the air

A great aerial view of Kowloon can be seen in this sequence. This film has made great use of helicopters and the production crew has snapped some really interesting views. This one is no different to the others in that it's 1. a great view and 2. flipped! Here is the scene as you watch on film.

To those familiar with Hong Kong, the shape of Stonecutter Island in the top photo should really be the giveaway of the reversed nature of the film. Never mind. Here is the sequence reversed i.e the correct way round.

It makes much more sense now, and to make it even more sensible here is a rough stitch up to show the whole panorama.

Some things to note (although you may have to zoom in for a better view). The road intersection centre screen is where Hong Chong Road joins on to Princess Margaret Road. Out of sight below camera where Hong Chong Road disappears is actually where the Cross Harbour Tunnel starts.

The picture is almost demarcated by Chatham Road South as it heads towards Princess Margaret Road, splitting the land into the green side: Yau Ma Tei and King's Park, and the brown side: Ho Man Tin and Hung Hom. Anyway, here is an annotated version of the above picture to help.

It largely speaks for itself, but in case my markings are difficult to decipher here is the legend:

TST - Tsim Sha Tsui
KBC - the Kowloon Bowling Club on Austin Road
KCC - Kowloon Cricket Club.
Gun Hill - Gun Hill Club Barracks
Ferry Point - Ferry Point Estate.
C De R - Club De Recreio on Gascoigne Road
QE - Queen Elizabeth Hospital
POLYU - the site that now holds the Polytechnic University Campus.
HH Terminus - Hung Hom Train station

That Man Bolt - Fred Williamson (1973) - Tin Hau Temple, Repulse bay

This place has cropped up a few times here on this blog under various guises. In this film it's supposed to be somewhere called the Fan Tan Bath House.

Actually, for me the most interesting picture from this little sequence is the following one that shows the view to the west across the beach to the headland opposite. Until the 1980's this area had a large expansive mansion on it built by Eu Tong Sen called 'Eucliffe'. It was a castle-like construction that was also the scene for a particularly barbaric atrocity committed by Japanese troops (one of many, I hasten to add) against Allied defenders on Hong Kong in December 1941. Multiple prisoners who had surrendered to advancing troops were rounded up, tied, bayoneted, beheaded and cast down the cliff onto the rocks below. The site is now occupied by a large luxury mixed development called "Royal Cliff". Anyway, you can see one of Eucliffe's towers in the background behind Fred Williamson below.