Then … Ms Milner has gotten over being stood up; she wants to try again. She calls Teddy from a bar and suggests they meet at Le Club restaurant at Clay and Jones. Once again he thinks it’s the Woman In Red who is calling and readily agrees.
… and Now, this was filmed in Koreatown, Los Angeles at the Prince Restaurant at 3198 1/2 W. 7th Street. Its retro period decor has made this place a go-to location for dozens of movies and TV series over the decades. Note both Then and Now the yeoman statue in front of a red latticed window frame.
Then … Teddy arrives trying his best to look cool with a cigarette dangling from his mouth. Again, this is the Prince restaurant in Los Angeles. Note the red door over to the right…
… and Now, it’s been over 40 years but the door and the handrail have hardly changed. (Photo by Syd Rev).
Then … The instant he sits down he realizes who had called him. He lets out a yelp and promptly hightails it out of there.
… and Now, the three latticed windows behind them identify the two booths at The Prince where the above scene was filmed. (Photo by J.P. Shelton)
Then … He rushes out - now we are back in San Francisco at the Clay-Jones residential highrise building at 1250 Jones Street, the very location that Ms. Milner had given Teddy. Note the signage at left on the awning and below the window - there was indeed a Le Club restaurant in the 1980s here in the lobby level of this building (the incongruous white ‘LE CLUB’ letters may have been added for this movie shot).
… and Now, 1250 Jones today. It has hosted a succession of restaurants over the years: after Le Club closed Charles Nob Hill succeeded it from 1995 to 2004, followed by C.A.L. Steakhouse then by the Michelin-starred Keiko a Nob Hill from 2011 to 2021. Currently the building is residential only - no restaurant.
Then … as he rounds the corner, the eye-catching view east down Clay Street encompasses the TransAmerica Building and the Embarcadero Center high-rises with the Bay Bridge beyond. (Note the image on the back of the beer truck advertising San Francisco’s own Anchor Brewing Company’s Porter beer).
… and Now, the view is essentially unchanged today.
Here’s a closer look at the beer label seen in the Then image above. The dark Porter beer, released in 1972, supplemented the classic Anchor Steam beer which had been brewed in Potrero Hill in San Francisco since 1896. After being bought by Sapporo, the 125 year-old Anchor Brewing Company closed down in 2023 then was purchased in 2024 by the founder of Chobani whose stated intention was to revive the company. As of July 2025 it was still closed.
Then … Ms Milner pursues him, watching as he jumps into the back seat of his car.
… and Now, minor changes here - the corner mailbox is gone, awnings have been added at left on the side windows of 1250 Jones and the street signs have been replaced.
If looks could kill! Teddy fakes a heart attack but she shows no sympathy, leaning in to release the handbrake… fade out as the car rolls down the hill to blasting horns, screeching brakes and crunching metal.
Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned … still fuming the next morning she slowly and deliberately tips a bottle of ink over Teddy’s desktop.
Then … The next scene begins with a shot of a classic 1980s mansard-roofed McDonald’s with an Arco gas station next to it.
… and Now, This was filmed at the McDonald’s at 505 Serramonte Blvd in Daly City (thanks to ReelSF blog reader Al for recognizing it). The diner has since been moved back from the road and rebuilt in a modern style. The sign appears to be the original one and the gas station, on the corner of Gellert Blvd, is now a Speedway station.
… in 2019 … as recently as 6 years ago the original diner was still there, looking the same as in the Then image above except that the rooftop beams had been removed (sometime after 2008) and it was a Mobil gas station on the corner of Gellert.
Then … Herbert of course has never seen a McDonald’s diner before; he listens carefully to the customer in front of him then repeats the same order for himself, adding “…and tea, to go, please”. Spoken like a true Brit. But these interior scenes were not filmed at the location above…
… in 1975 … instead, they were filmed in the McDonald’s located on the lobby level of San Francisco’s Two Embarcadero Center (thanks go to ReelSF blog reader Notcom for recognizing it). It had newly opened in 1975 when this photograph was taken; the counter filmed above is at the far end. (Note the circle-patterned floor tiles outside the entrance - a design feature throughout the public areas of the entire Embarcadero Center complex of buildings).
… and Now, McDonald’s closed down at this site in 2014 or 2015. Today a One Medical primary care clinic occupies and overlaps its former space. Below, the McDonald’s entrance used to be where the reception desk is, right of center at the rear of the One Medical lobby.
This floor plan detail of the Two Embarcadero lobby level shows today’s One Medical footprint. Click or tap the image to see exactly where McDonald’s used to be.
Then … Herbet is fascinated by the lacquered table top, telling the man next to him that he’s never seen wood like that before. Also in this scene there’s a mis-spoken moment where you can clearly see his lips mouth the (British) word ‘chips’ but you hear ‘fries’, substituted post-production. Note the corner planter behind them…
… that corner planter enables us to deduce which table was used for the scene above. In the 1975 photo (four images above), his table is behind the tall trash enclosure mid-aisle, partially visible above at the far right.
Teddy attends a meeting where the newly-hired face of the Cable Car Re-opening Campaign is being discussed. It’s the mystery Woman In Red! He still doesn’t know who she is but he’s told that she regularly goes horseback riding in Golden Gate Park.
Then … He barely knows how to ride but heads over there, determined to meet her. Hard to miss in white rain gear, he struggles to mount a horse.
… and Now, Golden Gate Park used to have horseback riding stables in the 1970s but they have since been closed down. Instead these scenes were filmed at Disney’s Golden Oak Ranch in Newhall, near Santa Clarita north of Los Angeles. A recent photo at the same spot shows the biggest change today is the absence of the stalls seen above across the paddock.
Then … In a hilarious scene he tries his best to convince the barn manager of his equine expertise until she slaps the horse’s rump, sending him charging precariously off.
… and Now, the 10-stall stable structure is still there today.
The stables are adjacent to location 3 on this map of the ranch.
It took skill for Gene Wilder to act out-of-control on a moving horse but skilled he was. He rode extensively in 1974’s Blazing Saddles and again in 1979’s The Frisco Kid. Here’s a 1979 photo of him looking totally comfortable in the saddle.
But he cuts a forlorn figure after searching all day without coming across her.
Then … Undeterred, he returns another day. His misfortune at being thrown into a lake next to a covered bridge is forgotten when the mystery woman suddenly gallops by (center background).
… and Now, the bridge, location 13 on the ranch map above, is still there but ongoing maintenance has changed its appearance since then.
… and Now, here it is from above, with ‘X” marking the spot where Teddy got wet.
He catches up with her; she is amused by his frenetic efforts to both impress her and maintain balance.
Then … In this shot (it’s the same skyline as the one seen five images above) note the house behind them with dormer windows and a brick chimney stack at one end.
… in 1982… here’s a vintage photo that captured the covered bridge just as it looked a year later in the movie (X marks where Teddy got wet); in the background is that same house, viewed from its other side. The Disney ranch usually preserves the various structures built for movies but this one is no longer there.
Herbert needs cash; he goes to a bank to change his Victorian pounds into dollars. The foreign exchange manager (Bob Shaw) tells him they are only worth “… twenty five dollars and fifty cents”. But it’s a start - he can also sell some jewelry that he had brought with him.
Then … As Herbert stands up to leave (left of center) a camera shot from above reveals a dramatic high-ceilinged lobby with a central circular teller station. Fortunate, because this enabled ID’ing the location; R. Christian Anderson, moderator of the excellent Lost San Francisco blog, recognized it as California First Bank at 350 California Street (map). Sansome Street is seen through the window; it was 3-lane one way northbound back then (it’s two way now).
… and Now, the matching shot today shows significant changes. The centerpiece teller station is gone, now a seating area, and the open desk area alongside the Sansome Street wall has been converted to enclosed offices. There’s still a bank in the lobby though - US Bank.
… and Now, here’s an exterior view of 350 California, a brutalist structure built in 1976. The street-level windows along Sansome seen in the Then interior image above are now mostly covered with US Bank advertising posters.
Then … To check if Stevenson might also have exchanged money Herbert embarks on a tour of neighboring banks in the city’s Financial District, beginning with the Bank of Canton of California’s main branch at 555 Montgomery on the corner of Clay (map).
… and Now, here’s the same corner today, but … this is an entirely different building, built on the site in 1984-85 six years after the movie was filmed. A bank still occupies the first floor here - East West Bank.
Then … shortly afterwards we see Herbert exiting the bank. In the left glass pane there’s a reflection of the Renaissance-Revival Bank Of Italy building across the street at 550 Montgomery, further confirming the location.
Worthy of mention historically: back then the Bank of Canton of California had another branch at 743 Washington Street in Chinatown (it’s an East West Bank branch today, below left). It was housed in the historic Chinese Telephone Exchange building (seen, below right, in the 1947 movie The Lady From Shanghai when it was still operating as an exchange). When it opened in 1901, the operators had to know every Chinatown customer by name and address because it was considered rude to refer to a person by number. Each operator also had to speak the many dialects of Chinese spoken by the residents.
Then … Next up is the Bank Melli Iran. Once again a window reflection of the building opposite helps identify where this was.
… and Now, Bank Melli Iran’s San Francisco’s branch was on the first floor of the 43-story Wells Fargo skyscraper at 44 Montgomery Street. Built during 1964-67, it was briefly the city’s tallest building until the Bank of America building at 555 California Street surpassed it in 1969. Bank Melli Iran was most likely in the Montgomery/Sutter corner space occupied until recently by First Republic Bank (bottom left) (map). The reflection in the glass both Then and Now is the Hunter-Dulin building across the street. (Related trivia - in November 1979 following the Islamic Revolution the Jewish Defense League claimed credit for a bomb explosion outside the Bank Melli Iran office).
Then … A brief close-in camera pan reveals the next bank: Golden State Sanwa Bank. The city directory listed it at 300 Montgomery Street, a building occupying the whole block, but where exactly in that high-rise was it? This panorama yields significant clues ... note the metal plate on a column at far left and the reflection of the Russ Building at the corner of Montgomery and Pine.
… and Now, in this view 300 Montgomery’s main entrance is at far left but the bank’s entrance was in the corner at Pine in the space currently occupied by Walgreen’s (large arrow) (map). Look carefully and you’ll see damage marks on the column to the left of the entrance where the metal plate used to be (small arrow).
Then … Finally, a peek at a Bank of the Orient sign. The 1978 city directory listed its address as 233 Sansome Street (map).
… and Now, it’s still there!
