Bottoms Up Club
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Nightclub, Gentlemen's club |
| Founded | 1971 |
| Defunct | 2009 |
| Fate | Closed |
| Headquarters | Hong Kong , China |
Area served | Hong Kong |
| Products | Entertainment, Drinks |
The Bottoms Up Club was a gentlemen's club situated in Hong Kong, recognized for its role in the 1974 James Bond movie The Man with the Golden Gun. Its interior design closely resembled the venue depicted in the film.
History
Established in either March or May 1971, the Club was located in the basement of Mohan's Building at 14 Hankow Road within Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon. Among its early management was Pat Sephton, formerly a model at the Windmill. A legal decision in 1994 compelled the removal of its neon sign displaying naked buttocks and required performers to wear bras or negligees. Due to escalating rental costs, the original Tsim Sha Tsui branch ceased operations in April 2004. Subsequently, in May 2004, the Club relaunched on the first floor of David House, 37–39 Lockhart Road in Wan Chai, shifting focus primarily to a sports bar format while reconstructing one of its original bars in a rear room.
The establishment ultimately shut down permanently in July 2009.
In popular culture
During the era of The Man with the Golden Gun, the club was based on the Kowloon side of Victoria Harbour in Tsim Sha Tsui. This geographic detail led to a cinematic error when Bond, portrayed by Roger Moore, is picked up outside the club and informed he is being taken to a police station on Kowloon—though he was already present there.
An ex-employee mentioned that although the film features the club’s exterior, interior shots were filmed within a studio in the United Kingdom where the setting was recreated.
The club also makes an appearance in Wong Kar-wai's 1994 film Chungking Express, where characters Takeshi Kaneshiro and Brigitte Lin share drinks before proceeding to a hotel room.
Furthermore, Raymond Benson’s 1997 novel Zero Minus Ten includes the club as a location where James Bond encounters Sunni Pei, affiliated with Hong Kong’s organized crime group known as "The Triads".
External links
- Gwulo.com entry
- Advertisement for Bottoms Up Club from 1973
- Photograph of Bottoms Up Club sign from 1985
- Entrance to Bottoms Up Club (Tsim Sha Tsui)
- Entrance view of Bottoms Up Club
- Interior scene inside Bottoms Up Club (Tsim Sha Tsui)
- Signage of Bottoms Up Club (Wan Chai)
- Article on decline of Hong Kong nightclubs - The Guardian
