As the credits roll, the movie opens with mob henchmen closing in on informant Johnny Ross (Pat Renella).
Ross hides in his Chicago office as the mob approach from its outdoor patio. This scene according to the director Peter Yates on the Blu-ray DVD commentary was filmed at the Warner Brothers studio (thanks to reader Luis who pointed this out).
... and this is the office (below) as seen by the thugs from the patio.
Then ... Ross slows his pursuers with a smoke bomb and makes his escape from the building's garage. It was set in Chicago but this was filmed in San Francisco - he is on the basement level of the garage at the 450 Sutter Street Medical Building.
... and Now, it's still very recognizable 45 + years later.
Then ... Ross roars at high speed out of the garage exit at the end of Chelsea Place, an alley off Bush between Stockton and Powell Streets (incidentally, just steps away from where Sam Spade's partner Miles Archer was done in by Brigid O'Shaughnessy in The Maltese Falcon) ...
... and Now, pretty much the same.
Then ... He mounts the narrow sidewalk and tries to take out one of his pursuers who in turn takes a pot-shot at him before jumping into a doorway to avoid being run down.
... and Now, the view up Chelsea Place today to Bush Street at the top. The well-known Masa's restaurant can be seen across Bush.
... and Now, below, this recent picture shows scars on the wall where the fleeing car scraped by - can they be the same ones after more than 40 years? The doorway at far right is the one the gunman backed into as the car went by.
Then ... Scottie pulls up behind Madeleine's Jaguar in front of Mission Dolores, on Dolores Street between 16th and 17th (map). The Mission is the oldest building in San Francisco, dedicated in 1776 and completed in 1791.
... and Now, the venerable structure hasn't changed over the last half century.
Then ... He follows her into the old Mission church and sees her exiting at the far end into the cemetery at the back.
... and Now, there are very few changes as one would expect at such a venerable, historic site.
Then ... In the cemetery, Scottie finds Madeleine gazing at a gravestone.
... and Now, from his viewpoint today we see that the rockery behind her (above) is no longer there.
Then ... Behind the rockery, Scottie creeps nearer to get a better view - note the statue behind him ...
Here's a contemporaneous postcard image taken before the rockery was removed. The statue in the foreground is the one behind Scottie, above.
Then ... She spends several reverential moments in front of the gravestone.
... and Now, the fictitious gravestone is nowhere to be found today but the obelisk in the background (now without the cross on top) and the cloaked statue further back remain in place. The approximate location of Carlotta's gravestone in the movie is indicated in blue.
She moves on and he makes a note of the name on the gravestone - Carlotta Valdes, born 1831, died 1857. A reader has pointed out (see comments below) that in this closeup the side of the obelisk in the background is a different one from that seen in the preceding shot. He wonders if the obelisk has been reoriented but it's also possible that Carlotta's gravestone was moved for the closeup or, more likely, that the closeup was recreated in a studio (the obelisk text looks too pristine for being 120 years old).
Madeleine next leads Scottie from the flower shop to Mission Dolores. Every block traversed is listed and described sequentially. An asterisk (*) indicates a route discontinuity, ie a location jump.
A third member of the drug cartel drives to meet the two from Miami - they are staying at a motel with an expansive view - the Bayside Motel, 2011 Bayshore Boulevard at Hester Ave on Bayshore Heights (map). (Click on the images for a closer look).
Then ... The view looks south towards San Bruno Mountain across Visitacion Valley's Little Hollywood neighborhood. The camera looks straight down Peninsula Avenue and the Cow Palace in Daly City can't be missed in the distance over to the right.
... and Now, the motel was demolished a few years ago to make way for the Bayside Vista condominium development. The recent photo below of the same view was taken from near to where the movie camera was set up. Peninsula Ave is in the center and the distant Cow Palace is still there towards the right.
... where the motel used to be ... (arrowed), taken from the neighboring Bayshore Park across Highway 101 - the new development is atop the Bayshore Heights bluff.
Here's an entry from an advertising brochure showing a pictorial layout of the Bayside Motel. The two-story block of units at far right, perched on the edge of the bluff and facing San Bruno Mountain, was used for the movie scene. Their room, on the back side of the building, is marked by the arrow.
Then ... The new guy, Sandy (Richard Jaekel), has been tapped to be the wheelman - he knocks on the motel door, room 33, to hook up with the other two. The view looks west across Bayshore Boulevard to a Visitacion Valley hillside. MacLaren Park is beyond the top of the hill.
... and Now, after a half century of suburban sprawl.
Then ... Sandy has to explain to a skeptical Dancer, (Eli Wallach, below on the right) and his mentor honcho Julian (Robert Keith, on the left) why he's the right guy for the driving job. They take some convincing.
... and Now, the same view today.