Brad Nelson
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Post by Brad Nelson on Sept 15, 2024 8:01:44 GMT -8
Noble House (1988 miniseries) I watched two of the four episodes last night: Wiki notes: Other reviewers at IMDB notes the missing plot elements but think that overall the miniseries conveys the gist of the book very well. I've seen at least part of this in the deep past. I remember the fire on the floating restaurant barge. Those scenes stand up with anything done today, and probably better because the special effects are not overdone. This fire looks so realistic, you wonder how they filmed it. The cast has its ups and downs. Brosnan as Ian Dunross is so-so. His job is to look suave and calm no matter what is going on. At any time it looks as if you've just stepped into a Remington Steele episode. But he has a certain amount of gravitas. Ben Masters is also so-so as Linc Bartlett, the American businessman. But both fill their designated roles effectively enough. But I find Deborah Raffin as Casey Tcholok to be bland. And some of the truly ridiculous-looking outfits they put on her...oy. Gordon Jackson (Upstairs Downstairs) is good as Supt. Armstrong. The one actor who really fills out his role is John Rhys-Davies as the villain, Quillan Gornt. And Khigh Dhiegh is excellent as Four Finger Wu. I liked Julia Nickson as Orlanda Ramos. The dresses that she wore were outstanding.  Presumably much or most of the film (at least the exterior shots) were filmed in Hongkong. And the look is spectacular. I'm not sure that even Paris competes for just sheer photogenic grandeur. Some of the night shots on the water with all the lights seem to be a vision that you could reproduce nowhere else. There's a bigness to Hongkong that seems to swallow up the individual. And, of course, that probably played out in that highly free-market jungle, making and busting individuals daily. And that, of course, is the main theme of the miniseries. The rich have their money. But many are not satisfied unless they can play at the dangerous game of trying to ruin someone else. It's not enough to succeed. One must see others being defeated and destroyed. I don't know what to say about Burt Kwouk as Philip Chen. He'll forever be Cato Fong of the Pink Panther series. Still, he adds an element of delight to the cast in his own way. Nancy Kwan as Claudia Chen isn't chopped liver either: 
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Post by kungfuzu on Sept 15, 2024 10:11:37 GMT -8
Mdm. Flu and I were living in Hongkong at the time this series was being filmed. I recall a fair amount of coverage by the local media. I did not run into any of the stars.
I believe I read the book while filming was going on, or shortly thereafter.
The scene of the fire in the floating restaurant was based on a real occurrence which took place in 1971. The Jumbo restaurant was rebuilt and was a popular tourist spot until a few years ago. We ate there once or twice. To get to the restaurant one had to take sampans.
The scene toward the end where the American and his Chinese girlfriend are caught in a collapsed building is also based on an actual event. I was told that one bank housed all its top management in the three buildings that collapsed and had to close because all were killed.
The natural setting of Hongkong is beautiful, but the living conditions were harsh. Lots of mountains and hills. Rocky soil and yearly typhoons. Even when I lived there, we lived on Hongkong Island, it was overbuilt. Today it is crowded beyond belief.
By the way, the Nobel House is supposed to be based on this famous firm. It's big competitor was supposed to be this company.
If you click on the photo of Jardine House, you will note another skyscraper on the right side of the photo. It is called Exchange Square. In fact, there are two buildings, sort of mirror images of each other. My office for two years, was in the nearer building. What a view I had.  |
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Post by kungfuzu on Sept 15, 2024 11:24:10 GMT -8
If you enjoyed Noble House, I suggest you look into Clavell's Tai Pan. It is the story of how the Noble House was founded. There is a lot of history mixed in with it. I read it back in 1978 or early 1979. I thought it better than Noble House.
If anyone is interested in reading about the area and how Hongkong came to be, I suggest An Insular Possession. It may be too slow for some, but I read it when it was first published in 1986. Living in Hongkong and traveling throughout China, particularly the south, I was receptive to its subject. I might still have it packed away. Maybe I will dig through the stacks of books and re-read it. |
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Brad Nelson
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Post by Brad Nelson on Sept 15, 2024 15:29:00 GMT -8
That must have been quite a memorable experience. If you went back today, how different do you think things would be for the average tourist or business traveler?
It's good that you got to experience that before the fire (and especially not during). Was the food good? Was it upscale or did it have sections that catered to all types? Certainly the party they are throwing on the barge in the miniseries is meant for the uber rich and powerful.
I'm pretty sure Amazon Prime has that as well. I don't remember if I've ever seen it.
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Brad Nelson
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Post by Brad Nelson on Sept 15, 2024 15:41:30 GMT -8
The Jardine building is quite distinctive. And, yes, what a view you must have had. During the second episode, Remington visits The Hong Kong Jockey Club. First the series gives you a fly-over view and the facility looks yuge. I wondered while watching if it still looked the same today. And, basically, it does aside from a few of the fields inside the track having been shifted around a bit. Any big city is going to scream "big money," but in Hongkong, they seem to have no shortage of opulence. |
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Post by kungfuzu on Sept 15, 2024 17:07:51 GMT -8
I lived in Hongkong before it was returned to China. (1997) It was a very exciting time. China was opening up, Asia was growing and life was full of new experiences. The social life in Hongkong was great. The food was excellent. It was exotic but not so exotic as to be unapproachable.
Today Hongkong is even more crowded. Millions of Mainland Chinese tourists flood the place. I saw streets literally packed with Chinese tourists because they were trying to get into some store for a deal or special items. The last time I was there was 2017, so I can't judge how things have changed since the Chinese government clamped down starting in 2019. I occasionally speak to a friend who still lives there, but that is not the same as experiencing the place myself.
The food was fine, but nothing near the best I had in Hongkong. I would say it was somewhat upscale as it sold itself as being something special. The location alone was enough to impress. It was for tourists and locals who wanted to impress tourists. Poor locals weren't about to pay for the sampan to take them across the water to get on board, much less the prices on the menu. I can't recall, but I am pretty sure there were separate rooms available for private parties. That is common among larger Chinese restaurants.
I recall Mdm. Flu and myself taking some overseas visitors to the place. As I recall, it was the my mentor who taught me the business and his wife. He was Swiss and she was Spanish. He was a gourmet and very interested in Chinese culture, and asked if we thought they could view the kitchen. I laughed and told them that it would be better for them not to, as seeing the kitchen might spoil things for them. Chinese kitchens were not known for their cleanliness. They had traveled the world so were not disturbed by this news.
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Post by kungfuzu on Sept 15, 2024 17:39:02 GMT -8
I drove by that basically everyday to and from work. It is located in an area called Happy Valley. If I recall correctly, it had been a malaria infested place and they called it Happy Valley to change the reputation. While the old race track is still in use, a larger one was built a few years before we moved there. It is called Sha Tin. A friend's father was the Chairman of the Jockey Club, HSBC and the Executive Counsel part of the time I lived in HK. |
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Post by kungfuzu on Sept 15, 2024 18:06:33 GMT -8
Below is a view of Central from Kowloon.
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I don't know the name of the tall building on the right as it was not there when I lived in HK. The building to its left with the sun reflecting off it is Exchange Square. It was one of the tallest buildings in HK when I lived there. To its left is Jardine House. The squat-looking white building further left is the Mandarin Hotel, now the Mandarin Oriental. A couple of buildings over and somewhat back is the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corp. (HSBC) building. It is partially obscured by the the little white building on the shore and the somewhat taller white building further on, which is Hong Kong Club building, I believe. The HSBS building is all glass and gray steel. I looks like an industrial building. It owned the land in front of it so as to keep the view to the channel open. Something to do with Fung Shui no doubt. The tallest building to the left is the Bank of China Building. It was built after the HSBC building thus had to be taller to show who was the boss. The building is a very strange angular design and I was told that at least one sharp edge it pointed to the HSBC building, like a dagger. More Fung Shui.
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Brad Nelson
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Post by Brad Nelson on Sept 15, 2024 18:42:30 GMT -8
From the reviews I've read, An Insular Possession may be a bit slow-moving for me. But I found something non-fiction that could be good, at least in exploring similar Chinese history: The Last Kings of Shanghai. |
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Post by kungfuzu on Sept 15, 2024 18:48:03 GMT -8
A piece of advice. Don't ever read the Old Testament. It is heavy slogging. I have finished it all except the Psalms, and I am about half-way through them. I will write some further commentary shortly.
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Brad Nelson
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עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
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Post by Brad Nelson on Sept 16, 2024 7:24:18 GMT -8
People do all the time though. But I gather there is some hard slogging. Thank goodness The Ten Commandments are brief. Perhaps God should have presented the Old Testament as a bullet-pointed PowerPoint presentation. Anyway, Casey has fallen for Ian. Linc has fallen for Orlanda, although we still don't know if she can be trusted. Ian is scrambling to raise millions so that he can buy-back his stock and prevent a collapse of Noble House. Superintendent Armstrong has found a spy (his colleague) and broke him. And Four Finger Wu is up to all sorts of mischief. May the Joss be with you. |
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Brad Nelson
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Post by Brad Nelson on Sept 16, 2024 8:23:34 GMT -8
Yes, I see what you mean. Thanks for the tour of the skyline. I would love to see the view from the top of one of those buildings.  |
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Brad Nelson
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Post by Brad Nelson on Sept 16, 2024 8:25:59 GMT -8
Yes, the HSBS building is very industrial looking. One might even call it a bit of an eyesore.  |
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Brad Nelson
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Post by Brad Nelson on Sept 16, 2024 8:37:24 GMT -8
Oh, what a transparent marketing scheme. The Sha Tin Race Course does indeed look yuge. And natural turf...very British. A least a couple of them along with what looks like a couple inner dirt tracks. I've never seen those long grass runway before on a track. You can see a better view via this Google Map view. |
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Post by kungfuzu on Sept 16, 2024 8:42:29 GMT -8
My friend's father was chairman when the thing was built. It was designed by Norman Foster, as I recall. At that time in the 1980s, there were a number of similarly industrial-looking buildings built around the world. The Lloyd's Building in London comes to mind. I suppose these were designed to project power and efficiency.
That little white building to the left of the HSBS Building is the old Bank of China Building. One can see why they had to build such a huge monstrosity to replace it.
That picture must be thirty-five or forty years old. There is now a tall building to the right of HSBC, which is the Standard Chartered Bank Building. The old colonial building in the foreground is, if I recall correctly, the old Hong Kong Club building or Legislative Council Building. If it is the former, it was replaced by a 15-20 story building while we lived there.
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Post by kungfuzu on Sept 16, 2024 8:59:47 GMT -8
I was in this building the last time I visited Hong Kong. As I recall I was on something like the 102nd floor. At that level, I was at the same height, or higher than the Peak across the way on the island. I went to the restroom and while taking a pee looked out over Hong Kong. It was a very strange feeling. Only glass between me, the urinal and eternity. |
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Post by kungfuzu on Sept 16, 2024 9:06:05 GMT -8
OK, so it was in Noble House. I was trying to recall whether the scene I had in my head was from Noble House or The Honourable Schoolboy. In that scene the Brits have the spy closed up in a Red Room, which eventually drove him crazy. If anyone wonders how a red room could do that, I can only confirm that I knew a guy who painted his living room a deep hot pink. A bunch of us visited it one night after dinner. After a few minutes in the room, I started getting sick to my stomach. Had to leave. |
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Brad Nelson
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Post by Brad Nelson on Sept 16, 2024 10:56:50 GMT -8
Oh my god. The Lloyd's building is one of the ugliest buildings that I've ever seen. I remember from years past when the left-flakey Prince Charles was criticizing modern architecture. I wonder if he had this one in mind. That building is right out of a Terry Gilliam dystopian movie. The building immediately reminds me of this one in LA:  Standard Chartered Bank Building. That's sort of interesting and different: ptgroup.jpg) |
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Post by kungfuzu on Sept 16, 2024 12:38:53 GMT -8
That building looks like the one Perry Mason is always going to for his trials. I always liked it.
It is so tall and thin as that was the plot upon which the old Standard and Chartered building stood. The location was too good to give up and land in Hongkong was very expensive so why move?
You can see the old Stanchart building to the right of the new HSBC building in the following photo
Below is a photo of the old HSBC building with the old Bank of China building to its left.
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Post by kungfuzu on Sept 16, 2024 12:50:28 GMT -8
Here is a photo which shows the old HSBC and Bank of China buildings in Singapore. The skyline of Singapore has changed more than that of Honkkong. It is very ugly now.
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