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Movies With Scenes In Chinatown: Actually Not that Many!

How many movies have at least one scene in Chinatown? 

According to IMDB, no less than 69. Unfortunately, some are short films, some are ancient, some are actually Chinese, and very few are well known. 

In fact, a few of the more popular movies most people believed had a scene in Chinatown... Did not. 

Not In Chinatown

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986) did not film in Chinatown, but adjacent to it. When Scotty, McCoy, and Sulu walked by a couple arguing in Cantonese, most people assumed this was in Chinatown. But if you look more closely, they walked past 1232 Grant "The Saloon", just before encountering the couple. The Saloon, the oldest Blues Bar in San Francisco, is in North Beach. 



So which ones really did film in Chinatown? 

Did Film in Chinatown

Big Trouble in Little China (1986) poked fun at all the myths and legends of Chinatown underground tunnels which are fictional. The location of Grant and Commercial is still there, now home to a Bruce Lee mural. 


Current corner of Commercial and Grant
courtesy author


The Dead Pool (1988), part of Dirty Harry series, has the Restaurant Robbery Scene on Washington at the former Nam Yuen Restaurant. Currently, the location sells Jingde Chinese pottery. The signature gold facade is long gone though. 


The Pursuit of Happyness (2006) with Will Smith and Jayden Smith had "Chris" drop off his son in the daycare in Ross Alley, where he tried to ask the street sweeper why was "happyness" misspelled and when will the graffiti be removed. (FWIW, the sweeper's reply was "I told you I don't speak English.")





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About the author

Kasey is a professional tour guide and amateur historian who specialized in Chinatown History and Tours. You will often find him guiding groups sampling delicious food and learning interesting historical tidbits about Chinatown most weekends.

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