Wader Studios on Castle Peak Road - Now and Then

Here's another comparison that people might appreciate, especially those who were unaware of the whereabouts of Wader Studios (there have been a surprising number of inaccurracies over the years, most recently in the "World Film Locations: Hong Kong" book by Intellect Books which, weirdly, placed the studios in what I believe is Kwai Chung Park!).

Anyway, this is the view along Castle Peak Road just north of Shek Pai Street. The top image is a merge from the Thai film Aorm Aok Jao Praya supplied to me by my UK based friend AP (who has been instrumental in sourcing many of the films I have used on the blog at his own expense), you can see the original screencaps here. The old studios were replaced by the Wah Tat Industrial Buildings, two blocks of which can be seen on the left of my image below. The Now image was taken back in 2019 when a visiting Lee fan wanted to see where Bruce Lee had filmed the HK studio shots for The Big Boss. Sadly, there is nothing tangible left to show.

Tai Hang Tung Road - Now and Then

I took this one last year before my extended trip to the UK and simply forgot I had it. The Then image is taken from 1964's Narazumono, starring Ken Takakura. You can see my original post from 2 years ago here. The scene is a bit disjointed because the two characters in the shot, on rickshaws, have just descended from Victoria Peak on the tram and then the next moment they are all the way up in Sham Shui Po District (as it is now) and on Tai Hang Tung Road next to the old resettlement estate.

The old estate was similar in design to the nearby Shek Kip Mei Estate, so it's common to get confused between the two if you are not familiar with the area. They were built around teh same time following the 1953 Shek Kip Mei fire. The old estate was knocked down in the early 80s and rebuilt into the slightly larger buildings you can see today.

Funnily enough, until just a few years ago, the red-checked building of the Concordia Lutheran School (see in the background of the movie still) was still around and has only recently been replaced with a brand new modern building.

In an update to this post, I also noticed that A Cause to Kill - a Shaw movie from 1969 - also filmed along this street albeit a little further to the south (behind the camera). So here is a similar view from that film and my poor attempt to recreate it below.

Hing Wah Street - Now and Then

For those interested in Then/Now comparisons (I've done afew before) I popped down to Cheung Sha Wan (it's a 20 minute walk for me) to take some pictures of the area along Hing Wah Street where some scenes were filmed for Das Mädchen von Hongkong back in 1973.

First up is the view along Shun Ning Road from Hing Wah Street. Sadly the street market has long since disappeared and the intersection/junction is now quite busy and dangerous. There are some things I won't risk for my art, so I had to snap this from a bit further away on the far side of Hing Wah Street. The ornate slope in the distance is the rear entrance to Caritas Medical Centre (known locally as Ming Oi Hospital). I don't think there is a single building in the film image that still exists today. It's all been redeveloped.

Next up is the view up Hing Wah Street looking towards the old version of the So Uk Estate in the background. For reference, the junction where the first image along Shun Ning Road was taken is the one behind the actor. The market that ran down the middle of the road (right of image) has long since gone and the large central reservation area of the road has been turned into beautified rectangular traffic islands that stretch between each junction. The So Uk Estate still exists but has been completely rebuilt and reconfigured into a high-rise version just in the last few years.

Next up is a shot of the truck that the two main characters try to flee from the bad guys in. The camera captured the vehicle as it drove down Hing Wah Street and was about to turn across at the junction with Un Chau Street (this road is actually called Yuen Chau Street but the missing initial "Y" is taken from an older form of anglicisation/romanisation).

Although the main block at the back has been redeveloped, at the far right you can see the Castle Peak Road facing section of the Wo Hing Building. This place is (currently) still around, albeit covered in scaffolding (see my comparison pic). This could mean imminent destruction, but I think it might just be because they are renovating the exterior. Time will tell. This photo shows you what has happened to the central reservation.

As the truck rattles past the camera location we get to see a bit more of the area. To take both of these last two images I had to stand on the SE corner of the junction with Un Chau Street and I think it is a fairly good match to where the film camera must have been sited at the time. As you can see, as in the previous image the old buildings here have all gone. Both sides of this junction have been replaced by a pair of matching developments called Heya Aqua and Heya Crystal (don't ask me what it means, HK residential development names are some of the most pretentious, nonsensical things I've ever come across).

The thing to note is how much space the older buildings took above the pavement. Pretty much all building stock of a certain era in Hong Kong (pre-70s?) was able to build over the pavement area. This maximised the liveable/usable area of a building from the first floor up, but also meant pedestrians could shelter from the stifling heat/sun or torrential rain. Modern buildings, due to their height/weight, no longer have these cantilvered levels and as such the space along each side of a road is more open - as you can see from the above newer images - but to the detriment of pedestrian comfort/safety and certainly to the detriment of a building's character. But that's just my old fashioned opinion, apparently.

Anyway, that's your lot for now but expect more of the same over the coming months.

Righting Wrongs - Yuen Biao (1986) - Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Kowloon

The establishing shot used for the hospital scene - where Biao and Rothrock swear revenge over the body of Louis Fan - was Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Kowloon. The main building has changed little, but the carpark and connecting walkways you can see in the image below have since been removed and replaced by a brand new annex that contains the Block D operating theatre.

This is the last proper Hong Kong shot of the film because the subsequent warehouse scenes where the fight with Melvin Wong starts looks to have been shot in a studio (or at least an anonymous warehouse that defies identification) and the airborne shots at the end were, like the film's opening gun fight, filmed in New Zealand.

Righting Wrongs - Yuen Biao (1986) - Former Tsuen Wan Transport Interchange, Tsuen Wan

This is the final of my reveals for this film (remember kids, you saw it here first!). This is the location of the fight between Karen Shepherd and Cynthia Rothrock and was able to find it by identifying an overhead road from an earlier part of the scene. Sometimes the most inoccuous details can lead to an identification. This large building was located next to Tsuen Wan ferry Pier and was a transport hub for taxis, buses, minibuses and, apparently, even had a driving school located on the upper floors.

As you recall, the scene starts at TST waterfront as Shepherd kills Louis Fan and a foot chase develops between her and Rothrock. However, nifty editing blends TST with Tsuen Wan and it's actually at this point (below) that the action has already moved to Tsuen Wan as Shepherd pushes past people next to the aforementioned Tsuen Wan ferry pier.

Rothrock next to the ferry pier

Actually, the red upper section of the ferry pier can be seen in several subsequent shots. For example, see below.

Shepherd then runs around what looks like a park before heading over to a nearby red-trimmed pedestrian walkway and into the building where they subsequently fight. This 'park' area was immediately next to the ferry pier, as you can see on the film, and it does indeed appear to have had several walkways that linked the pier area to the transport interchange.

This place was opened in 1986, the same year the film was released, so I suspect we are seeing it before it opened and would explain why the crew appear to have had the run of the place. However, it didn't last very long even by Hong Kong standards and was demolishedsometime between 2011 and 2016 (Streetview still has historical images from 2011 that show it intact but derelict). The site has since been redeveloped into a mall and residential complex called "Parc City".

The old ferry pier has also gone, although I think the construction of Tsuen Wan West Rail MTR station was probably the reason for that one as well as some additional reclamation to the waterfront. The MTR station now serves as the area's transport hub, so I can only assume once it was built the old Transport Interchange seen above became redundant and exacerbated its removal

I'm a bit miffed because the existence of this place more than overlapped with my residence here and, had I looked into this film earlier, I may have had a chance to visit before it disappeared. Such is life, full of lost opportunity. Anyway, thankfully a local blogger did get to go in quite some time ago (circa 2008) and has a bunch of photos you might be interested in.

Righting Wrongs - Yuen Biao (1986) - Tsim Sha Tsui Promenade, Kowloon

Rothrock arranges to meet Louis Fan at the waterfront so he can spill the beans on what he really saw when James Tien was killed but bent cop, Melvin, has hired a killer to take Fan out and this is where we are introduced to Karen Shepherd for the chase and subsequent fight between her and her former US forms rival, Rothrock.

Other than the disappearance of the New World Centre from the background, this stretch of waterfront, not being part of the new-slightly-better-than-before-or-is-it-really "Avenue of Stars", has remained fairly unchanged in the 35 years since the film's release.

Righting Wrongs - Yuen Biao (1986) - Chater Road, Central

After leaving court, Rothrock pulls up beside Biao at a traffic light and threatens him with a gun. The lights are on Chater Road at the junction with Jackson Road.

Righting Wrongs - Yuen Biao (1986) - 23 La Salle Road, Kowloon Tsai

This is the second of my 'exclusives' for this film because I have managed to track down the house used for James Tien's property and the scene where Rothrock fights Biao after stumbling in and thinking he has just killed Tien's character.

The property was located in the Kowloon Tsai area of Kowloon Tong (this is the area to the immediate east of Waterloo Road). The area was developed from the late 1940s and early 1950s and many of the original houses show an art deco influence similar to those found in Yau Yat Chuen which was developed around the same time. Many have curved facades and extended wraparound balconies that are no longer in vogue.

The property seen in the film didn't have many curves (it had one, to be precise - see the third image below) but did have the large wraparound balcony and this is where the later action of the fight scene takes place. Sadly, the place has been demolished and replaced by four "luxury" houses called "Lancaster Place" (the Chinese name is 家蔚園). This might give you some idea of how big the plot was when it just had a single property on it and why we see the large garden in the movie as Biao jumps down from the balcony after handcuffing Rothrock to the railings. The address was 23 La Salle Road and it was most likley demolished in the mid to late 90s because its replacement was completed in 1999.

You can actually see this property's neighbour, number 25, over on Gwulo.com courtesy of Mike Cussans, who used to live at #27. Sadly, no images of this particular property, but you can see they are almost identical in design.

Righting Wrongs - Yuen Biao (1986) - Aberdeen Marina Club, Aberdeen

Here's one I didn't really need any help with because I was a member here for several years. It's the Aberdeen Marina Club. The top image shows the rear/harbour facing side of the club. Not much change here other than the ground level has extended towards the camera as the club has incorporated more of the previous open public part of the marina into the private section of the club (and built a pool). The middle image shows Louis Fan messing around with James Tien's car in the parking garage and was the route I used to take to the gym because it was quicker than walking through the main entrance (bottom image).

In case you didn't know, the club is owned and run by the Shangri-La Hotel group.

Righting Wrongs - Yuen Biao (1986) - Regent on the Park, Central

Another nod to Hong Kong On Film for identifying the location of Biao's apartment block. This is also the scene of the car park attack that sees him leaping out of the way as several cars try to crash into him, as well as the later scene as Corey Yuen tries to follow a very young and skinny Louis Fan Siu-wong (before he got jacked for Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky).

Righting Wrongs - Yuen Biao (1986) - Cheung Sha Wan Police Station, Cheung Sha Wan

I have to thank Daniel Thomas for doing the heavy lifting on this post as he identified this location many years ago on his still published but dormant Hong Kong On Film blog (come back Dan!!). This is the Police Station where the main cops in the film are all based: Cynthia Rothrock, Corey Yuen (also the film's director) as her subordinate, Wu Ma as Yuens beat cop father and Melvin Wong as the rather menacing boss of them all. Most of the surrounding buildings you see in these scenes have since been demolished and redeveloped as the area now sports quite a few new multi-purpose commercial blocks.

Righting Wrongs - Yuen Biao (1986) - Mita Centre, Kwai Chung

Although in the film Biao follows his target into the Great Eagle Centre, the shot of him abseiling down the side of the building - both before and after the killing - was filmed elsewhere. This is where GoogleEarth's 3D rendering of Hong Kong has become invaluable because it "only" took me about 30 minutes of searching to identify the correct building as the Mita Centre in Kwai Chung. Luckily it's still standing otherwise the search may have taken a lot longer. This film shows the building from the north side so here is a Streetview link.

Righting Wrongs - Yuen Biao (1986) - Great Eagle Centre, Wanchai

Biao follows his mark all the way to the Great Eagle Centre in Wanchai. It's here where the man has an office and where Biao supposedly rappels down the side of the building in order to carry out the assassination. As we'll see in the next post, the building used for the cable stunt was filmed elsewhere (I have several location "reveals" that fans of the film may be interested to read*).

This is the main entrance along Harbour Road and looks pretty much the same today, although I think the ornamental guardian lions have since been removed.

* I am aware that "someone" is working on a HK film locations book at the moment, as far as I know the new locations I have found are not currently known, so if they appear in that book - without credit - you'll know where he got the info.

Righting Wrongs - Yuen Biao (1986) - Tseuk Kiu Street, Yau Yat Chuen

Biao waits for his first target at the corner of Tat Chee Avenue and Tsuek Kiu Street in Yau Yat Chuen. You can just see the street sign as the car drives past him.