Herbet is at his wit’s end after visiting bank after bank in the Financial District in an unsuccessful search for Stevenson. But suddenly across the street he spots something that warms the cockles of his heart and snaps him to attention (click the image to see his reaction - there’s more to acting than saying lines).
Then … The sight of the Chartered Bank Of London nostalgically adorned with the Union Jack gives him hope that surely Stevenson had been there. It occupied the first floor of the Merchants Exchange Building at 465 California Street.
… and Now, the bank is no longer there but the Merchants Exchange Building most certainly is. It dates back to 1904.
Then … Herbert cheerily doffs his cap as he walks through the entrance lobby.
… and Now, there’s little change here; the lobby has retained its marbled grandeur but the center doorway ahead has a little more glass and all three doors have newer handles.
Then … The doors open into the bank hall. Herbert meets Amy Robbins (Mary Steenburgen), the bank’s Foreign Currency manager. He is very interested to encounter a woman in that position; she is very interested in him, period. Note the mural to the left on the back wall…
… and Now, that mural, depicting a merchant ship in rough seas, is still there, one of five in the room that were commissioned by young architect Julia Morgan who helped redesign the space after significant earthquake damage in 1906. The hall is now empty, used by the Clint Reilly Organization as a high-end social and entertainment space; they own the Merchant’s Exchange Building and are headquartered there.
For Amy, it’s love at first sight. Perhaps because of this she doesn’t hesitate telling him that Stevenson was indeed there and that she had recommended the Hyatt Regency Hotel on Drumm Street to him as a place to stay. She also gives Herbert her card and offers to show him around town. (As an aside, the real H.G. Wells wrote about Women’s Lib; now he’s experiencing it first hand). Herbert leaves, happy to have hit the jackpot twice. (That’s a photo of Queen Elizabeth on the right).
Before the breakup, there’s the makeup - Joey’s wife has inexplicably returned. They throw a celebration party at a location as yet unfound by CitySleuth. (Anyone recognize it?).
At the party Buddy picks up a bracelet with the name Eric on it. Eric is there; when he reclaims it the two seem to hit it off.
Then … Afterwards while Teddy and friends enjoy lunch together Joey is back to his usual self, flirting outrageously with two young women as they pass by.
… and Now, set in San Francisco but they were filmed right here on this lawn in front of the Los Angeles Tennis Club at 5851 Clinton Street in Los Angeles’ Hancock Park neighborhood. Tennis courts can be seen in the background, both Then and Now.
This aerial gives a good overview of the location - the arrow indicates where their table was set up in front of the clubhouse.
Then … Suddenly Buddy’s live-in partner shows up; he has come across Eric’s bracelet and is not amused. He summarily dumps Buddy’s suitcase and clothes on the ground in a theatrical announcement of their breakup.
… and Now, the house behind them (also seen behind the young women 4 images above) is still recognizable despite an added unsightly security wall. This is the Clinton Street side of the corner house at 591 N. Cahuenga Blvd, directly opposite the tennis clubhouse. The tail of the arrow in the aerial view above points directly to it.
Then … Teddy is genuinely concerned. He drops Buddy off at his place in Telegraph Hill.
… and Now, he was parked on the upper level of Montgomery Street where it intersects Alta Street (map). The view looks to the east across Montgomery, down Alta, and beyond to where the Bay Bridge meets Yerba Buena Island; Oakland and the East Bay Hills are in the far distance. Note the leaning tree both Then and Now; most likely it’s the same one.
Then … Buddy ‘s apartment is on the western portion of Alta Street.
… and Now, Alta has seen some of its houses updated but most, as is true across the Telegraph Hill neighborhood, remain unchanged.
… in 1968 … Digressing for a moment: Jerry Garcia (pre-beard) and Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead were filmed a few houses up on the left in front of 103/105 Alta in the movie Petulia.
… in 2011 … Here’s the same place in 2011, back then it was pretty much unchanged.
and Now, but since then it has been remodeled; the shingled house next to it has not.
After Teddy tries but fails to lighten the mood with a weak joke in Buddy’s apartment, the two share a hug. (Is that a prop continuity goof? The suitcase matches the one Buddy brought in (5 images above) but the tennis racquet cover is a different color).
Then … Still searching for Stevenson, Herbert hasn’t given up on the idea that surely he must have been to a bank to get cash; he heads back to the Financial District, beginning here at the main entrance of the United California Bank Building at 405 Montgomery Street.
… and Now, that location has seen a succession of exterior street level changes since it was built as the Financial Center Building in 1926. In 1956 the facade was modernized, including replacing the original cast stone with polished granite cladding - this is how it was when the movie was filmed (above). Later, in 1997, the Omni Hotel acquired the building and by 2001 redid the exterior to closely revert it to the original 1926 style (see the recent photo below). Click or tap the image to see where Herbert’s entrance used to be.
The three images below show the Financial Center Building’s evolution over the past century. The 1926 photo on the left reveals a tall , arched main entrance located dead center on the Montgomery Street side. The 1990s photo in the center shows the 1956 facade modernization - the entrance as seen above in the Then image was in the same spot, between the flagpoles. The architect rendering on the right shows the 1997 Omni Hotel remodeled as it still looks today; the styling mimics the original except the entrance was moved to the California Street side, its address concomitantly becoming 500 California Street. (Images courtesy of Dean Randle, head architect for the Omni Hotel conversion).
Then … Next up, Mitsubishi Bank of California, conveniently in the building right next door at 425 Montgomery Street.
… and Now, the facade on this building too has been redone since then but the unchanged windows on the 2nd and 3rd floors just visible in the Then image above confirm where the 425 Montgomery bank entrance was, indicated by the arrow.
Then … He also tries the Western Women’s Bank a few blocks away at 237 Front Street.
… in 1989 … Ten years after the movie was filmed this remarkable photo captured the 237 Front Street building, on the corner of Halleck Alley, shortly after it was damaged by the Loma Prieta earthquake. At that time it was occupied by the Golden State Bank who had discarded the awning used by the Western Women’s Bank.
… in 2022 … The building has since been rebuilt, minus the top floor. A McDonald’s diner moved in, becoming a fixture here for 29 years; it’s pictured below a year before it closed in 2023. Its neighbor, the historic Harrington’s Bar & Grill Irish pub, has fared better; it opened in 1935 and is now back in business after surviving an extended covid epidemic-induced shutdown.
… and Now, the building is currently vacant in search of a tenant.
Then … Banco Do Brasil at 540 California Street is next on his list. Again, all we are shown is a brief camera pan of the bank’s name above the entrance.
… and Now, 540 California is located in the 550 California office high-rise next door to the aforementioned Omni Hotel. The arrow points to where the Banco Do Brasil name used to be.
Then … and finally Wells Fargo Bank. As he exits he’s clearly demoralized having drawn a blank with all five banks.
and Now, Wells Fargo is still there, with an updated sign, at 464 California Street. Note the same fire department standpipe connections Then and Now protruding from the wall.
Teddy almost misses TWA’s L-1011 flight to Los Angeles but persuades the ramp truck to head back as the exit door re-opens for him. As if. (In return for its cooperation with the filmmakers TWA gets lots of exposure in the airport scenes that follow).
Then … Unfortunately for Teddy once in the air the flight is diverted to San Diego due to fog in L.A. On arrival he sits in the lounge, musing about Didi and Charlotte, two women waiting for him in the middle of the night. But was this scene filmed at San Diego airport? (No, it was not - read on).
… in 1977 … it turns out the same airport lounge had been filmed 7 years earlier in a scene, below, in the Mel Brook’s comedy High Anxiety as evidenced by the same red pin-striped carpet, seats, circular columns, quad elevated flight status screens, cone-shaped cigarette ashtrays and silver lamp arrays.
When Mel Brooks exits the terminal in High Anxiety the address on the window - 300 World Way - is that of TWA’s Terminal 3 at Los Angeles International Airport. This then was the location used for Teddy’s ‘San Diego’ airport lounge scene.
… a vintage photo … This c. 1970 photograph shows TWA Terminal 3 as it still was when theThe Woman In Red scenes were filmed rhere.
… and Now, the terminal, still addressed 300 World Way, Los Angeles, has significantly changed since then including the addition of an elevated road to access the expanded upper level. TWA as such disappeared when it was acquired in 2001 by American Airlines; today Terminal 3 is used primarily for Delta and Aeromexico arrivals and departures. Further changes are currently underway at LAX in preparation for the flood of 2028 Summer Olympics visitors.
Then … All is not lost though - the two wanna-be lovers, undeterred, meet again in San Francisco at Baker Street near Beach in the Marina District with the Palace of Fine Arts across the lagoon behind them (map).
… and Now, the impressive edifice was built for the 1915 Pan-Pacific Exposition; it was rebuilt in concrete and steel in the 1960s and seismically retrofitted in 2009 but has retained its original appearance to this day.
Alfred Hitchcock beat Gene Wilder to it - the identical view was captured in his 1958 classic Vertigo when James Stewart and Kim Novak stroll by along the Baker Street sidewalk.
Even earlier, in 1947, Ann Sheridan and Kent smith were filmed there in Nora Prentiss.
And later, in 1979 around the corner on Bay Street, Malcolm McDowell and Mary Steenburgen were there in Time After Time. It’s easy to see why this location is a magnet for filmmakers.
