When Clark Gable came to Hong Kong to film Soldier of Fortune, he found the people to be ‘charming’
- The Hollywood star, who came to the colony in 1954, told reporters that he ‘enjoyed every minute of his stay’
- When Soldier of Fortune was released, most critics ‘thought the pictures of the city better than the story’
“Mr Clark Gable, well-known motion picture star […] will arrive in Hongkong on Monday,” reported the South China Morning Post on November 13, 1954. “[He] will stay for more than a month, shooting a 20th Century Fox CinemaScope picture called ‘Soldier of Fortune’ which is set in Hongkong,” the story continued.
At a press conference after arriving in the colony, Gable, “the great screen lover”, was asked “many questions about his personal love life by local reporters”, according to a November 16 Post article. On the subject of Hong Kong women, the actor said “they were beautiful”.
Shooting of the US$2.5 million movie began on November 23 near The Peak Tram terminus, although, “The weather, unfortunately, was far from ideal.” Filming continued at a private residence on Stubbs Road and a 74-foot motorised junk off Lamma Island, which presented “difficulties not encountered on dry land”. A Macau ferry and The Peninsula hotel also provided locations, before the crew called it a wrap on December 15.
On December 17, the Post reported that, “Mr Gable told reporters […] that he enjoyed every minute of his stay […] and the people here were charming.”
And it was Hong Kong that charmed critics when the film was released in New York, in May 1955. “Most of them thought the pictures of the city better than the story,” reported the Post on May 30. Soldier of Fortune opened in Hong Kong on July 14.
“I was enchanted with this picture,” wrote the Post’s reviewer. “People in other countries […] might be disappointed in the story […] But for local audiences it is quite different. The plot, though mediocre, is entertaining enough […] without distracting from what we came to see. Hongkong is shown in some of her loveliest moods.”
