Saturday, January 13, 2024

Yellow Emanuelle - Chai Lee (1977) - The Peak

Next up the pairhead up the Peak via the Peak Tram. The quality of this pint is pretty good so the views are reasonably detailed.

Thursday, January 11, 2024

Yellow Emanuelle - Chai Lee (1977) - Ching Chung Koon, Tuen Mun

George and Emy go out on a date. The first place they hit is a perennial favourite with foreign movie companies, Ching Chung Koon. It's perhaps best known as being Bruce Lee's "Shaolin" temple, in the very first frames of Enter the Dragon.

Wednesday, January 10, 2024

Yellow Emanuelle - Chai Lee (1977) - Repulse Bay Road, Hong Kong

On the way to the hospital following his discharge, we see George driving along Repulse Bay Road near to the entrance to the "Clinic of Flowers" i.e. the Repulse Bay Hotel. This is quite an interesting shot because it shows what looks to be the constructionof the Repulse Bay Apartments on the right side of the screen. They were completed and ready for sale by June 1977, so we know the film was shot prior to that. In the background is the already completed Repulse Bay Garden (completed 1973) and look on the left and you will see a rather grand Chinese-style private house at 12 Belleview Drive - owned by Lee Shiu-kee (李兆基).

Tuesday, January 9, 2024

Yellow Emanuelle - Chai Lee (1977) - King Yin Lei, Stubbs Road

No scenes were shot here but there is a brief glimpse of this impressive house as George and co drive by along Stubbs Road. No, I still haven't been inside despite it being in Govt ownership (and with open days) for more than a decade now.

Old readers of my output may remember this place was almost demolished sometime ago (2007) before a public outcry shamed the Govt into taking action. They then tried to blame the previous owner (Stephen Yow) but it turned out he had already offered to sell it to the Government beforehand but was snubbed. 

Monday, January 8, 2024

Yellow Emanuelle - Chai Lee (1977) - Connaught Road Central, Hong Kong

In the film, and possibly in real life, the J.A.L offices are in the old P&O Building - located at 13-14 Connaught Road Central. We get some good views of the general area including the old G.P.O next door and its postal bridge that spanned the road to the harbour front. Both the GPO and P&O Building have been redeveloped, but next door where it says "New Life Temple". This is the "Grand Building" and is currently still around - although the "New Life Temple" sign has been replaced by one for a Catholic Centre.


The second visit to the office was shot from a different angle showing the aforementioned postal conveyor spanning Connaught Road.

Sunday, January 7, 2024

Yellow Emanuelle - Chai Lee (1977) - Guildford Road, The Peak

The following scene was shot at the junction of Guildford Road and Peak Road as the car drives up Guildford Road towards the give way line. The car stops at the line and holds up the traffic when they have a snog. But in image 3 we can see that the presence of the buildings in the background (the Mansfield Road Govt Quarters - demolished 2022) means that this particular shot was filmed back down the road away from the junction. This also explains the close upon the traffic pagoda in the bottom image which was taken from the same location. If the car was at the junction, looking at the pagoda we would see the view to the west, but instead we are looking east. I can only guess that they had to park the car on the pavement to get these shots so the traffic wouldn't be held up in real life.

Saturday, January 6, 2024

Yellow Emanuelle - Chai Lee (1977) - Repulse Bay Hotel

The hospital where George convolesces is called the "Clinic of Flowers". The location used for the hospital exterior is the Repulse Bay Hotel. We see a few angles of the hotel that are new to the blog including the long driveway up from Repulse Bay Road. The place was demolished in the early 80s and a facsimile of the main entrance (seen in images 1-3) constructed on the same location. There are claims that the facsimile was created using the same bricks/blocks from the original building. I'm still doubtful.

Friday, January 5, 2024

Yellow Emanuelle - Chai Lee (1977) - Amah Rock, Tai Wai

Here's the first bit of geographical shenanigans. As the pair are enjoying the views across the harbour, there is a quick edit and all of a sudden they turn around and see Amah Rock! Anyone familiar with Hong Kong will know that Amah Rock is located about 10km away in the Shatin valley, near Tai Wai, and is certainly not visible from Hong Kong Island or even Kowloon side.  Anyway, Dr Wong explains the legend to George.

Thursday, January 4, 2024

Yellow Emanuelle - Chai Lee (1977) - The Governor's Walk, Victoria Peak

George is beaten up when he is out with a "girlfriend" (gotta keep it sfw), and wakes up in hospital. As he recovers, he spends some of his time overlooking the views from the "hospital" grounds. The location of the hospital is in a later post but these views were taken far away from it at the top of Victoria Peak. The pathway in the images below is better known as The Governor's Walk because it's a pathway that leads from where the Governor's old summer residence, Mountain Lodge, used to be located. This isn't the only bit of geographical jiggery-pokery that goes on.

The location on the last two images below is marked on GoogleEarth as "Lookout Point" and back in 1977 offered views to both sides of Hong Kong Island. These days, with all the additional foliage, I'd be surprised if you can see anything.