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Join this channel to get access to perks: Want to learn more about Periscope Film and get access to exclusive swag? Join us on Patreon. Visit Visit our website Presented by Bill Singer, “Il Mondo: Hong Kong” is a color, travelog style film likely from the late 1960s that was part of an obscure series by Mai Tai Film Productions and distributed by Crown International Television of Beverly Hills. The film takes a close look at the sites and cultures of Hong Kong emphasizing the duality of the territory - one defined by immense wealth and extreme poverty. While the film appears to be a travelog film, it can also be considered an anti-Communist propaganda film that uses the duality of prosperity and suffering to criticize “Red China” as well as East and West Berlin. Close-up bat sculpture (0:17). Scenes to come: temples, coastline, junk ship, pulled rickshaw (0:25). Bill Singer opening words from back of pulled rickshaw (1:22). Hong Kong Harbor/ Victoria Harbor: Junk boats, ferries, city-scape of apartment buildings, sky rises (2:13). The “Star” Ferry to Hong Kong (3:02). Tugboat, ferry, cargo ship pass each other in harbor (3:09). Hong Kong Hilton (3:30). The Mandarin Hotel Hong Kong (3:37). Hong Kong City Hall (3:50). Hong Kong Supreme Court (4:02). Statue Square in Central’s Financial District: sculptural fountain, Sir Thomas Jackson statue (4:08). Aerial view of Central, Supreme Court, and Statue Square (4:10). Hotel guests swim laps on rooftop pool at Hong Kong Hilton (4:27). Busy downtown street: LED signs in Cantonese and Mandarin, European and British 1960s automobiles, traffic cop (4:55). Red double-decker bus stops in front of mid-century modern- style Catholic Church (5:14). Chinese Christian church (5:28). Buddhist Tiger Pagoda (5:32). Tiger Balm Garden by Albion Hall, colorful animal-like creatures (5:39). View of garden from Tiger Pagoda, Albion Hall/ Haw Par Mansion (6:32). Modern mansion of William Holden overlooking Repo’s Bay, Deep Water Bay (6:43). The “Star” Ferry to Kowloon stop along dock (7:11). Lower-class of Hong Kong: small fishing, sampan, and junk boats packed side-by-side in harbor (7:30). “Paper-box“ shanties line hill-side, largely populated by Chinese refugees (7:49). Maze of laundry lines hang across apartment towers (8:21). Woman in rattan “hakka hat” washes laundry in waterfall, kids play in water (8:40). Portraits of children in shanty town, run after the camera as it pans tin houses without plumbing, electricity (9:11). Dock crowded with junks, sampans used as house boats, kids maneuvering boats through traffic (10:24). Boat decorated for marriage ceremony, 10,000 firecrackers from Macau (11:10). Man works in sun drying fruit, hot peppers (11:30). Another man in rattan conical hat dries fish in sun along harbor in Aberdeen Settlement (11:54). Tai Pak Floating Restaurant (12:19). Farmland contrasts new settlements springing up along forested hillsides (13:09). Boeing 929 Jetfoil (hydrofoil) (13:54). Public Seal of Hong Kong (14:10). Rice fields along Tung Chung River, border with China (14:12). Lok Ma Chau Police Station, view of barbed wire fence lining river (14:44). Farmers in “neutral zone” wearing conical hats, work the land harvesting produce, operating ox-drawn plow (15:17). Kam Tin walled city, Hakka people; women wear “hakka hat“ lined with black cloth (16:34). Camera pans Lok Ma Chau boarder, look into “Red China“ (17:00). Row of Hakka women in traditional dress, hats and tunics made from black cloth (17:32). Lok Ma Chau gate, long narrow path continues into China (18:16). Sign in German at West-Berlin border (18:46). Checkpoint Charlie sign in English, Russian, and French (18:50). “Iron Curtain”/ Berlin Wall: guards stand in watch towers beyond barbed wire (18:57). Brandenburg Gate (19:22). Wall along Potsdamer Platz (19:44). Abandoned buildings make up the wall, brick shows through broken windows (20:00). Children play on street as American GIs patrol (20:47). Camera tracks maze of barbed wire, old photo depicting Potsdamer Platz before Berlin Wall (21:27). Gunboat wades under bridge on Spree River, gunmen stand guard 24/7 (22:39). Soviet War Memorial Tiergarten, close-up Russian soldiers standing guard (23:37). Car drives towards Siegessäule (24:06). Close-up victory column (24:22). We encourage viewers to add comments and, especially, to provide additional information about our videos by adding a comment! This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit
