Heuckendorff residence featured in Love and Duty (1931)
Heuckendorff residence, 1415 Avenue Joffre, still stands at 1893 Middle Huaihai Road. PastVu: https://pastvu.com/p/1738613
Inspired by the recent Shanghailander posts about the filming locations of the Chinese movie Love and Duty 恋爱与义务 (1931; starring Ruan Lingyu), we looked at the villa where the rich youths party and the poor girl is denied entry, shown at the end of the movie. It turned out to be the former residence of A. T. Heuckendorff, designed by L. E. Hudec, situated at 1415 Avenue Joffre (today’s 1893 Middle Huaihai Road 淮海中路1893号). At the time of the filming, in summer 1930, the mansion housed the Swiss Consulate.
PastVu: https://pastvu.com/p/1738616
Similar shot at PastVu: https://pastvu.com/p/1738614
The villa’s gate has been moved, but the building is recognizable.
外滩以西: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/dhWBsNXfkhZfwheHlK5Ljg
The scene at the gate allows us to glimpse not only the villa itself but also the Samarkand and Richmond Apartments across the road.
Samarkand Apartments are in the background. PastVu: https://pastvu.com/p/1738615
Samarkand Apartments have seen some serious redesign of the street-facing facade. Baidu: https://j.map.baidu.com/de/G0_u
Richmond Apartments is in the background. PastVu: https://pastvu.com/p/1738682
Richmond Apartments now have a completely different surface, which is not an improvement. Baidu: https://j.map.baidu.com/66/Qa_u
Although the heroine is spurned at the gate, the western end of Avenue Joffre looked a lot more welcoming compared to the high impenetrable walls it has now. PastVu: https://pastvu.com/p/1738683
Baidu: https://j.map.baidu.com/9b/Ms_u
More investigations in this blog.
Mapping Historic Shanghai Facebook page.