Helen Brent from San Francisco has just spent six weeks in Reno to meet the Nevada state residency requirement for a divorce.
Then ... The movie opens with a shot of Reno's iconic arch spanning Virginia Street at Commercial Row (map).
... and Now, the arch has undergone changes over the decades. Here it is today, the third version since it was originally installed in 1926.
Then ... The camera looks south down Virginia Street with casinos, cafes and bars lining the street on both sides. The Riverside Hotel faces us from the other side of the Truckee River where Virginia Street chicanes around to the left. That's the shadow of the arch in the near foreground.
... in the 1950s ... a picture postcard view taken a few years later shows the same scene in glorious color. Additional casinos have appeared by this time, undoubtedly the heyday of the Reno strip. The Riverside then was the hotel of choice by the well-heeled for their six week divorce residency.
... and Now, Harolds Club and the Nevada Club on the left are gone now, victims of the competitive success of rival Harrah's and other newer, flashier casinos. The Riverside Hotel building is still there although the hotel closed in 1987, eventually replaced by retail stores and artists' lofts.
Then ... Helen and her attorney emerge from the courthouse.
... and Now, this is the Washoe County Courthouse on Virginia Street a few blocks south of the Reno Arch (map), still there and still in use. It was built in 1911 with a neo-classical design that incorporated the original 1872 courthouse within it.
Helen (Claire Trevor) thanks the attorney for securing her divorce and bids him goodbye. Her smart outfit is the first of many that she wears with style throughout the movie. A classy dame to be sure but as we shall see, this being the dark world of noir, she too has a dark side.
( A Bunker Hill movie in a San Francisco blog? CitySleuth explains why).
Homer and his buddies may spend all day hanging around at home but they usually go out at night. They deposit Yvonne at a local movie theater, the Roxie, before speeding off to hit the local 'Indian' bars.
Then ... This is the view looking north on Broadway towards 5th Street (map). The converging street lights, the highlighted tram rails, the flashing neon of three cheek by jowl movie theaters on the right, all add glitz to the scene. They are the Roxie, the Cameo and the Arcade, at 518, 528 and 534 S. Broadway.
... and Now, they say 'The Show Must Go On' but that's no longer true on Broadway, Los Angeles. All three theaters have closed but their marquees are still there, as too is the vertical rooftop Roxie sign. The tram tacks have long since been torn up.
Then ... In this shot in the opposite direction the Roxie and its neighbors are on the left.
... and Now, the harsh light of day and downtown changes over the decades - neon seems to be out of style theses days - have dimmed the excitement. At least the original twin-globe street lamps are still there
Then ... Yvonne buys a ticket at the Roxie's art deco booth. These shots were supposedly filmed on the same evening but the movie showing here is The Iron Sheriff from 1957 featuring Sterling Hayden whereas in the above view Lana Turner in Imitation Of Life from 1959 was on the bill, reflecting the extended period over which Kent MacKenzie filmed the movie.
... and Now, the lobby of the Roxie Theatre is presently a retail store. There are plans however to reopen it in a move towards revitalizing the neighborhood. Note the mosaic sidewalk pattern in front of the theater, still there after all these years.
Then ... As Homer and friends drive off we see Ohrbachs apparel store across the street and a Newberry dime store on the corner across 5th.
... and Now, the tenants and storefronts not surprisingly are different now.
When Yvonne leaves the theater she briefly waits but knows she isn't about to be picked up, left to find her own way home while the boys continue their carousing.
A liquor store owner has been shot in a robbery. The ballistics results show that the bullets match those that killed Frazer, but no gun has turned up. Cullen is understandably puzzled; after all, he tossed the gun from the Golden Gate bridge into the bay. He arranges to meet Lois at a park.
Then ... He makes his way up a path. Behind him a cable car rolls down the hill past a large mansion.
... and Now, this is Lafayette Park and the stately home is the Spreckels mansion at 2080 Washington Street (map), one of San Francisco's famous buildings and a city landmark. Sugar magnate Adolph Spreckels built the French Baroque limestone home in 1913 for his trophy wife Alma deBretteville. Alma was still living there when the movie was filmed; today it is the home of novelist Danielle Steel - she added the unsightly privacy hedge, below. The cable car rolls by no longer, this line having been discontinued six years later, in September, 1956.
Then ... Lois is waiting for him by a park bench. Across the street is the mansion's circular driveway.
... from the 1950s ... The over-the-top hedge now hides the driveway from this spot but this 1953 photo captures it. The original Washington Street entrance was abandoned in favor of the side entrance during Alma's tenure. Incidentally, the Spreckels mansion was featured two years later in the movie The Sniper and again five years after that in Pal Joey.
Then ... Cullen tells her about the latest ballistics evidence but she's more interested in asking him if he would marry her. Knowing she's been married twice before, he's reluctant to commit (er, and didn't she just shoot her last husband?). The view looks past Pacific Heights to Fort Mason and across the north bay to Alcatraz and Angel Island.
... and Now, Ms Steel's hedge is being sculpted but still gets in the way of the view across the Bay for passers-by at street level.
Joe has recovered from his relapse with the help of his A.A. friend Jim - what's more, he has managed to stay off the bottle for a year, commendable but spoiled by Kirsten's lack of interest in sobering up with him. She has left her home, her husband and her daughter then bounced from one bum to another before suddenly turning up unannounced to see him.
Then ... She walks up a steep street towards Joe's rented rooms in the fading Victorian on the right.
... in the early 1960s ... CitySleuth searched high and low in San Francisco before finally nailing this place - it was filmed in Bunker Hill, Los Angeles! The Victorian is no longer there but this vintage photo, taken about the time the movie was filmed, shows it as it was, the Chaspeak Apartments at 512 W. 2nd Street on the block between Olive (seen crossing behind Kirsten, above) and Grand Avenue (map).
In a heartrending scene Kirsten implores Joe to let her return home but he won't unless she commits to give up drinking. Unable to bring herself to do it she turns and leaves.
Then ... As she walks down the street we can just make out a railing spanning 2nd Street beyond Olive.
... in 1948 ... the daytime view in this vintage image reveals the railing to be the balustrade above the 2nd Street tunnel. The corner building at right, the one with the 'BAR' sign on it, above, was the Mission Apartments at 504 W. 2nd. (Ten years earlier the concluding scene in the movie Sudden Fear was filmed at this same junction).
... and Now, the Bunker Hill neighborhood was razed in the 1950s to clear the way for a huge Civic Redevelopment project; consequently the same view now is unrecognizable. The tunnel is still there but this section of 2nd Street has been rerouted around it.
It's a sad ending as Joe watches his wife go. He has turned her away so that, for his sake and their daughter's, he will have a chance to remain sober. We can only speculate as to whether they will ever see each other again.