One for the Bruce Lee fans
I think enough time has elapsed that I can put this one up on my blog.
Of course the details on the plaque aren’t strictly true. This plaque is fixed to the inside of what remains of the garden wall of Palm Villa. The main action fight scenes all took place on the tennis courts that used to be on the other side of this wall but have since been replaced by the Pacific View apartments.
However, I do agree about them being the most famous Kung fu fights in movie history and of course it’s nice that the American Club acknowledges the fact that the site has significance to Lee fans at least.
October 23, 2012 at 11:37 am
Had the opportunity to see the John Little dvd and the impression he gives is that actual walls still exist from 1973. The stonework looks similar, but i’m not convinced.
Aerial photos show that the tennis courts have moved, right? I guess it’s probable that the same stones were used in the reconstruction. Having been inside, what do you think?
It makes me wonder how accurate Little is in regards the rest of his Lee ‘scholarship’.
October 23, 2012 at 6:01 pm
Yes, some of the original walls remain and form the club’s perimeter wall. The stone and coral tops are quite distinctive. Are they the same ones seen on film? It’s debatable. The majority of filming took place inside the old tennis courts which have completely gone. As I mentioned in my other post (the one I linked to in my last comment below), some of the night scenes may have been filmed around this area but it is very hard to say either way.
No, the tennis courts didn’t move, they were completely demolished to make way for Pacific View.
The current tennis courts (and a basketball court) occupy a space that was formerly the villa’s private garden. These are surrounded by what were the private garden’s original walls but of course these walls – as just mentioned – now form the club perimeter wall. Was there any reconstruction in the building of these new courts? No, I don’t think so.
In defence of John, he is as big a Lee fan as you and me (if not more) with the exception that he has had access to many of Lee’s private writings. I don’t think you can really question his ‘scholarship’. Trying to find exact locations from a long-changed area is a right pain in the arse and John has done his best from the paltry bits that still stand. I may not agree with some of his conclusions but I am wise enough to accept the fact that all I have to offer in response is nothing more concrete than supposition.
October 23, 2012 at 11:53 pm
Aye, John has had access to Lee documents that I can only dream about. The stonework in the nightime scenes is quite distinctive – i’ll do some screencaps later and compare them to the material John recorded. It’d be good to know that the wall the ‘human fly’ scrambled along still exists!
On a sad note, Bob Bremer – one of Lee’s original students – died last week. With Herb Jackson and Jerry Poteet also passing away in the past year there arent many of the original crew left…
Great interview with Bob here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_a_Zq9sPaY
October 13, 2012 at 1:34 am
Any interior shots?
I seem to recall you mentioning that John Little managed to get some interior shots of the American Club when recording the ‘In Pursuit of the Dragon’ dvd. Does anyone know if they were released?
October 13, 2012 at 9:29 am
Afew, but they’re not very interesting because the only area left is what used to be the small private garden of the villa. It doesn’t matter really, 99% of the film was shot in the part that was demolished to make way for Pacific View. If you want to see inside the club grounds you can watch Marcos’ video or get John Little’s doc – but believe me when I say that the current tennis courts at the club are, in no way whatsoever, related – or in fact anywhere near – the location of the tennis courts seen on film. These were demolished, IN THEIR ENTIRETY, to make way for Pacific View.
Read more about it here: http://orientalsweetlips.wordpress.com/2011/04/04/a-visit-to-the-american-club-tai-tam/
For Bruce Lee fans, you can see just as much, if not more, from the outside of the club on the small pathway down to the beach than you can inside the club. You can see the wall I have spoken about and the filled in arched doorway, and of course the path to the beach cuts right down through where the upper tennis courts were. The only thing worth seeing inside the club is the plaque – and so here it is.