Unlike the stage show which leaves Joey stranded on his own, the movie has a happy ending ... it is a Hollywood musical after all.
Linda pleads with Vera to reopen the club but she won't relent until Vera offers to leave. That achieved, Vera tells Joey not only that she's changed her mind but that she wants to marry him. But Joey refuses and for the first time Vera realizes that his feelings for Linda are genuine.
Then ... Joey returns to the empty club for one last sentimental look then leaves, with a passing farewell to the T-Bird. "So long little bird, don't pick up any nails".
... and Now, the same bird's eye view, shot from the apartment building next door, gives us another perspective of that incongruous privacy hedge.
Across the street in Vera's car, she and Linda watch him leave. By now Vera has reconciled herself to her loss and motions Linda to go for it.
Then ... and go for it she does ... in front of the mansion he tells her to "beat it" but a passionate street-side kiss melts his butter and off they go, together. But wait a minute, what's wrong with this location shot?
... and Now, here's the real location below, viewed along Washington past the Spreckels Mansion from the Octavia Street corner. If the wall wasn't hidden you would quickly realize that it doesn't match the wall above - because it was a studio creation with a painted cityscape in the background.
... from 1956 ... this is obvious by comparing the wall in the movie above with the real wall seen in this vintage photo of the mansion as it was shortly before the time of the filming. Note the absence of trees and the presence of cable car tracks - this photo was taken just before they were torn up for good.
Then ... The schmaltzy 'Into The Sunset' shot is a view of the Golden Gate Bridge taken from between the St. Francis and the Golden Gate Yacht Clubs in the Marina district (map) with lurid sky no doubt courtesy of the art department.
... and Now, from the same spot today.
Then ... Lester desperately scours the downtown streets for the fleeing Myra. When he spots her he chases her through a maze of dark streets, back alleys and narrow stairways, all filmed not in San Francisco but in the Bunker Hill neighborhood of Los Angeles. During the chase Jack Palance, always a fitness nut, demonstrates his athleticism with several vaults, as below, over fences and railings.
... from the 1950s ... the building on the left, above, is the Boswell (aka Bozwell) Apartments at 245 S. Flower Street, below. In this vintage photo the alley steps and the handrail Lester vaulted over are along the left side of the building (that same lamppost on the pavement helps confirm the location). The apartments are next to the St. Regis Apartments, partially visible on the right. Modestly narrow in width, the Boswell stretched way back, motel style, half a block in length.
... and Now, the Boswell is long gone, but it would have been alongside this high-rise apartment tower, part of the Bunker Hill Towers complex, viewed from S. Flower Street near W. 3rd.
Then ... She gives him the slip and he continues to prowl the streets in his car. Meanwhile Irene is walking home, wearing a dark coat and white scarf, just like Myra. Here, she crests a steep block and crosses the street.
... from 1948 ... This vintage photo reveals where this corner was ... the Claridge Hotel at 428 W. 2nd in Bunker Hill.
Then ... Lester rounds a corner in a shot highlighted by the noir-lit building at the top of the street.
... and Now, this view looks west up 2nd Street to Grand Avenue. The lighted building above is the Dome Hotel Apartments. Today the same location is unrecognizable thanks (or no thanks depending on your point of view) to the redevelopment in the 1950s and 60s during which Bunker Hill was literally scraped away then built over. The corner spot where the Dome stood is now a part of a large open parking lot.
... from the glory days ... but we can at least enjoy photographs from the past - here's a closeup of the onion-topped Dome Hotel Apartments in its prime. Apartments started at $50 per month… furnished!
Then ... Lester mistakes Irene for Myra and angrily aims his car at her as she turns back and runs down 2nd towards Olive past a rather distinctive building.
... from 1948 ... here's the same building in this capture from a wonderful 1940s Bunker Hill video. It's the Mission Apartments at 504 W. 2nd Street at Olive. The corner building across Olive is the Claridge Hotel seen earlier in this post behind Irene as she crossed Olive. This informative image also captures the Hotel Astor on the corner of Hill Street and the balustrade above the 2nd Street tunnel.
... and Now, again, unrecognizable. Those wonderfully evocative old places now seem like figments of the imagination.
On a trivia note, Patricia Knight and Cornel Wilde were filmed in the 1949 movie Shockproof at this same location.
And it was used again in Stanley Kubrick's 1956 movie The Killing when Sterling Hayden drives to the Mission Apartments for a meeting.
Then ... Getting back to this movie ... at the last second Lester, his rage turning in an instant to horror, recognizes Irene and hits the brake. In a twist that punishes the schemers and spares the intended victim he plows into her and they are both killed, pinned by the up-ended car where it comes to rest in front of the side of the Claridge Hotel across Olive. In 1950s Hollywood movies, crime doesn't pay.
... from 1948 ... this vintage image gives us a daylight view of the same spot.
... and Now, this location has become a parking lot. Thankfully Los Angeles' art deco City Hall in the left background was left untouched by the wrecking ball.
As a bonus, here's a look at the fatal denouement from the reverse angle - the arrows overlaid on this 1940s photo show the path of Lester's car from the Dome Hotel Apartments on Grand Avenue, down 2nd Street past the Mission Apartments, striking Irene on Olive and coming to a halt alongside the Claridge Hotel just off the picture at far left.
Newly married, Joe and Kirsten now have a baby daughter and have upscaled into a fine apartment with an even finer view.
Then ... Joe carries a bag of groceries to the apartment.
... and Now, he is on Pacific Avenue crossing Franklin in the Pacific Heights neighborhood. The house on the corner behind him is the historic Talbot-Dutton house at 1782 Pacific built in 1869. It was also used as a location in the 1968 movie Petulia
Then ... He enters the breezeway of his apartment, 1800 Pacific (map), across Franklin Street from the Talbot-Dutton house.
... and Now, here it is today after a recent remodel.
Then ... Later in the movie a cab drops him off, drunk, in the breezeway where he picks some flowers as a peace offering for his wife.
... and Now, the large brick planter is gone after being hit by the car of a resident who might have been in a similar state as Joe at the time.
Then ... Joe staggers into the lobby and, feeling no pain, heads for the elevator.
... and Now, the mailboxes in the breezeway have been upgraded in response to unauthorized letter removals over the years.
Then ... The apartment has a clear view to the Golden Gate Bridge. Was this scene filmed in one of 1800 Pacific's apartments? CitySleuth and the building manager think not. The interior, especially the fireplace, is sufficiently different in layout to suggest that this is a studio set using a photo plate to simulate the view.
... the window view now, in addition, the building's view of the bridge, below, though similar to the movie's, does not properly line up with the Marin headlands behind it. The movie photo was taken from a spot further west.
... a better match now , the view below, a closer match to the movie window view, was taken from near the corner of Broadway and Broderick in Pacific Heights.
Joey has persuaded Vera to fund the opening of a new supper club, Chez Joey. They find the perfect place for it in a swanky neighborhood.
Then ... This fine building is the Spreckels Mansion at 2080 Washington Street in Pacific Heights (map); the rear of the building is viewed here from the corner of Jackson and Octavia
... and Now , there's a huge coiffured hedge around the property and the jutting curved rooms have been extended upwards with an addition. The home's current owner is author Danielle Steel.
Then ... the panning camera on a high balcony of the building next door sweeps right to left towards the mansion resulting in this fine panorama. The ‘For Rent’ sign in the Then image above can be seen at the bottom of the garden, below.
... and Now, the same panorama today. The house now has a roof garden which may explain the added but odd fire escape wrapping around this side of the building. Lafayette Park is just off to the left of the picture.
Then ... Joey drives Vera's 1957 yellow Ford Thunderbird convertible up a steep block alongside the side of the mansion and turns into Washington. The street is a mess, undergoing resurfacing following removal of the Washington - Jackson cable car tracks after the line was closed down in September 1956.
... and Now, viewed from Lafayette Park, the steep street is Octavia, stretching all the way down to Fort Mason at the edge of the bay.
Then ... As he turns into the driveway we get to see the front of the mansion.
... and Now, the ridiculously high hedge isolates the house not only from the street but from the raised park opposite and prevents San Franciscans from enjoying the fine French Baroque architecture. This same entrance was the site of a murder in the 1952 movie The Sniper.
Then ... The proud owner pulls up and watches the new club's livery going up.
... and Now, it never was a club of course, otherwise it's the same.
Unfortunately, just before opening night, Vera pulls the plug on the financing in a jealous reaction to Joey's increasing interest in Linda. The club is doomed.