Chan Is Missing - Chester's Cafe
Then … The movie includes several scenes filmed at Chester’s, a cafe/restaurant where Chinatown encroached into Nob Hill. Chester’s had only recently taken over this corner site from a Chinese restaurant, Fung Sing.
… and Now, the cafe was at 1269 Mason, corner of Jackson (map) but has long since closed. Today it has been remodeled into apartments which explains the repurposed corner entrance; the cafe’s interior became apartment 1003. Note both Then and Now the cable car tracks of the Powell/Mason and Powell/Hyde lines crossing at this corner.
Jo and Steve meet a young lawyer (Judi Nihei) at the cafe. She too is looking for Chan who apparently was a no-show at court following a traffic accident. There’s an arcade machine behind her, catering to the Chinese penchant for gambling.
Then … Apparently Chan and the responding policeman had trouble communicating, a common problem between Chinese immigrants and Americans. It’s educational and amusing for us as she earnestly explains Chan’s cross-cultural misunderstanding but Steve and Jo keep glancing at each other, their eyes glazing over. There’s a grocery store across the street, the Standard Grocery.
… and Now, here’s that same block. The grocery store was at 1256 Mason, in the center of the photo. Abacus Row, an in-house crafted jewelry store, currently occupies this site.
Then … Jo returns to the cafe later. (There’s another nod to gambling here: the logo on his cap advertises Golden Gate Fields, a thoroughbred horse racing track across the Bay in Berkeley). This time the window view looks a little further along the block to the Junior Co Bakery at 1250 Mason, seen on the left.
… and Now, there’s now an art gallery in the 1250 Mason space.
San Francisco’s online City Directories are a boon to CitySleuth for finding locations and long-gone store tenants. The Mason Street entry from 1980 lists the three businesses referenced in this post. Even though this is within the Nob Hill neighborhood there’s a preponderance of Chinese-American residents and businesses occupying the block.
… on location … Still photographer Nancy Wong has posted a trove of on-location photos online from this movie. This one captured director Wang relaxing inside Chester’s with his lead actors.
… on location … and outside, Marc Hayashi adjusts his omnipresent cap. Note the cook’s pass-through beyond Wood Moy on the back wall inside the cafe ...
Then … in a later scene Jo takes a phone call inside Chester’s ; the arcade machine on the left is the same one seen behind the lawyer earlier in this post. Behind Jo is the same pass-through window partially visible in the above photo.