1957’s Flight to Hong Kong and Ad Typos

Not much recalled my fans of movies featuring China is 1956’s Flight to Hong Kong. It’s actually not that bad. A white guy raised on the streets of Macao by Mama Lin becomes a diamond smuggler, falls in love and double crosses his gang to get the girl in San Francisco. She gives him the brush off, the police and his old gang are after him so he heads back to Macao (on a flight to Hong Kong – hence the title). Rory Calhoun, a tough guy actor not much remembered now, is the lead with Barbara Rush, a real beauty also not much remembered now, as the dame. Hawaiian-born Soo Yong played Mama Lin and you’ll probably know her from Flower Drum Song or Love is a Many Splendoured Thing. Someone at the ad agency though wasn’t too geographically bright though as somehow Macao came out as ‘Macoa’!

The movie came with a nice tagline – “Filmed in the sin capitals of the world!” and locations did actually include Hong Kong, Macao, Tokyo and San Francisco. Really this is the major reason to watch if you want to see those places in 1956.

Lobby poster

Soo Yong and Rory Calhoun

bar life

a beggar kid who actually says “No papa, no mama… no whiskey soda”

A rather good Chinoiserie bar