Nick Garcos (Richard Conte) returns home from war service - he is dropped off in front of his parents' house on a rural street.
Then ...
... and Now
CitySleuth needs your help, dear reader. His expertise outside San Francisco falls short in deducing this location. Do any of you out there know where this was filmed?
Then ... Nick is horrified to find that his father, a farmer, is now an invalid, victim of an accident perpetrated by Mike Figlia (Lee J. Cobb), an unscrupulous produce dealer in San Francisco. He immediately vows revenge. Below, he meets Ed Kinney (Millard Mitchell) who had bought his father's truck and they decide to invest in two truckloads of Golden Delicious apples and drive them to the San Francisco Produce Market to confront Figlia.
... and Now
Can anyone tell CitySleuth where this was filmed? Possible clues - This, and the location above, might have been in Petaluma, site of the opening scene, or in Calistoga where, as we will see later, another scene was filmed. Then again, it could have been somewhere else. The only clues are the houses across the street in these two images. Most likely in a small rural town these houses are still there.
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The movie opens with a view across a rural town referred to in the movie as Fresno, some 190 miles south of San Francisco, but in reality it's Petaluma, another rural town 35 miles north of San Francisco.
Then ... The large white buildings are the Petaluma Junior High School. Note also that unusual structure in the distance behind the school.
... and Now, this recent photo was taken above Bassett Street on La Cresta Drive between Hill Blvd and Haven Drive. Petaluma High School now occupies the site of the former Junior High after it was relocated. That distinctive structure in the distance is still there today.
... and Now, the closer view of the structure (below) reveals it to be the historic granary located near Petaluma's town center. Since 1959 it has been the home of the Dairymen's Feed and Supply Co-op. CitySleuth was able to nail this movie location when he spotted the granary out of the corner of his eye while driving south recently past Petaluma on U.S. 101. Call it serendipity.
The sniper has struck yet again; the police are called to a park where the body of a woman has been found.
Then ... The camera captures this view - it's from near the top of the oldest city park in San Francisco, designated Hill Park in 1867 and dedicated as Buena Vista Park in 1894 (map). In the days after the 1906 earthquake people would flock to this 589 foot peak on the edge of the Haight to watch the city fires burning below.
... and Now, with Potrero Hill in the background and the slopes of nearby Corona Heights in the right foreground, the view from Buena Vista Park looks very similar but for the missing gas holder on Potrero Hill.
The police finally have a lead - they find the bandage left behind from Miller's burned hand.
The Daniels Hotel is the safe house where Bullitt is guarding Johnny Ross. It was at the time of the movie the Kennedy Hotel located at 226 Embarcadero near the corner of Howard and the Embarcadero.
Then ... Bullitt and partner Det. Sgt. Carl Stanton (Carl Reidel) leave the hotel and cross Howard Street where it met the Embarcadero. Piers 18, 20 and 22 recede towards the Bay Bridge.
... and Now, these piers are gone, removed as part of the major waterfront development following the 1989 earthquake. The Embarcadero is now much wider here so Howard now meets the Embarcadero a little further back, at Steuart. The view below is from this junction - the Daniels Hotel used to sit over to the left where the tram rails now run down the middle of the Embarcadero.
Then ... The night view shows the hotel and the ill-fated double-decker freeway which passed behind the hotel and along the Embarcadero to Broadway. The freeway was severely damaged in the 1989 earthquake and subsequently removed, along with this city block.
... and Now, the picture below of the parking structure on the corner of the Embarcadero at Howard was taken from the spot where the hotel originally sat. Before demolition, the freeway passed in front of this building.
The view below from the window of Ross's room at the rear of the hotel shows the freeway passing close by. The same hotel is seen near the end of the car chase ten years earlier in the movie 'The Lineup', viewed from the freeway - see it here.
Then ... In the Daniels hotel lobby Det. Sgt. Delgetti (Don Gordon) quizzes the hotel manager. The window view shows the Bay Bridge across the Embarcadero between piers 16 and 18.
... and Now, the same view from in front of the hotel site is no longer constrained by the piers, now demolished