( A Bunker Hill movie in a San Francisco blog? CitySleuth explains why).
How does a filmmaker keep the viewer entertained during a voiceover? Director Kent MacKenzie used several voiceovers in this movie and his solution was to fill in the time with downtown street scenes filmed at night using the street lamps, retail shop window lights and neon signs as highlights. They were all located within a few short blocks.
Then ... In this shot we can see the tower of City Hall in the upper right corner.
... and Now, the view looks north along Main Street with 3rd Street crossing in the foreground (map). City Hall is still there but the corner building at left has had the upper two stories removed. What is unusual is that its retail stores were left in place - the previous location showed surviving threshold tiles in one of the stores in this block.
Then ... Here's a bustling street corner.
... and Now, this is at the same junction as the prior scene, Main at 3rd. The store on the left, on the northwest corner, is now the Persian restaurant Shish Kebob but back then was called Optimo (you can see it in the first 'Then' image above). El Progreso across the street was at 260 S. Main Street but this half of that block is now a parking structure.
Then ... This was filmed from below the Angels Flight funicular as one of its cars approached the lower terminus at Hill and 3rd (map). As we look east from here along 3rd Street the F P Fay Building sign is seen at right across 3rd and that hotel facing us a few blocks down is the St. George at 115 E. 3rd Street. Hard to see from here but below the word 'HOTEL' is a stylized 'One Dollar' sign, its daily room rate.
... and Now, the funicular has been moved a half block south along Hill Street and the old F P Fay corner building on the right has been replaced by a parking structure. The St George hotel, distantly small in this non-telescopic photo, is still there, now providing low income housing.
... in 1952 ... the St George survived a fire a few years before The Exiles was filmed, captured in the photo below which clearly shows the stylized 'One Dollar' neon signs (the one on the left is the one visible in the 'Then' image above). Incidentally the Enderle hardware store, on the left below, and a recent photo of the St. George can be seen here in an earlier post.
Then ... More drinking joints but this shot includes an architecturally interesting building on the left. This is the south side of the 300 block of 3rd Street (map). From left to right were Radio-Electronics at 316 S Main, a liquor store and Saddle Rock Cafe at 320, the posh entrance to the F P Fay Building at 326, and Buggy Wheel Cafe at 328 (most bars in those days seemed to prefer the pseudonym 'cafe'. Who were they kidding?).
... and Now, the stylish building with the arches, an extension of the Metropolitan Water Board Building, is still there but those on the right including the F P Fay building have been replaced by a parking structure.
Then ... The shooting suspect flees from the rear of the 322 Club (see previous location) closely chased by detectives Ed and Andy Cullen. By way of the power pole he climbs to a fire escape ladder leading to the roof.
... and Now, this is in Wentworth Place in Chinatown, looking south to Washington (map), looking much the same other than newer lampposts and newer buildings towering in the distance.
Then ... Viewed in the opposite direction, Ed Cullen and some passers-by watch as Andy pursues the suspect.
... and Now, with Jackson Street crossing at the end of the narrow street it's hard to know if this is 1950 or 2013. Don't you just love Chinatown!
Then ... But as Andy reaches the roof we are back in Telegraph Hill! Note the semi-circular tiled bay window roof on the house across the street ...
... and Now, here's that same house, it's at 330 - 334 Union Street. The Russian Hill skyline is in the distance.
... and Now, across the street the arrow shows the ladder that Andy used, above - it's the fire escape of the corner building complex that housed the old Speedy's Grocery store, now Acre/SF (map). The doorway next to the store was the entrance to the 322 Club as described in the previous location. Montgomery Street is on the left.
Then ... The rooftop chase reveals some cross-city views, this one towards Nob Hill. On the skyline we see, from left to right, the Brocklebank Apartments (used as Madeleine's home in Vertigo), the partially built Grace Cathedral - then with only one tower, the 1250 Jones Street Apartments dead center and the Bently Nob Hill Apartments at 1360 Jones.
... and Now, there are many more buildings dotting the skyline these days but those mentioned above are still there. The completed Grace Cathedral has twin towers; from the vantage point below they are hidden by the dark grey newer building but we can see its spire, yet to be built in the view above. Today 1250 Jones is even more recognizable by its radio mast.
Then ... The suspect desperately looks for a way down ... the view past him follows Montgomery Street to the south. The white building partially visible on the left is the Appraisers building at 630 Sansome Street. Note that tiled hexagonal roof (arrowed) ...
... and Now, believe it or not, this is the same view down Montgomery - more than any other part of town the financial district has became the most changed.
... and Now, the tiled roof arrowed in the Then image above is at 1235 Montgomery (left arrow, below) and the suspect was on the roof of number 1255 (right arrow). 1255 has been remodeled or rebuilt since then; its original roof was lower. The contemporary white building in the center wasn't there in 1950; it was a vacant lot.
Then ... It's supposedly the same roof but this shot cuts to a different location, obviously chosen because of three convenient level changes down to the street allowing for an easy (for the agile that is) descent.
... and Now, he was on the rooftop of 23 - 25 Castle Street, a narrow alley between Union and Green just a half block from where the preceding rooftop shot was filmed (map). This nicely framed view from Green is enhanced by the nearby Coit Tower.
The pursuing Andy looks on as his brother Ed nabs the suspect right after he climbs down. They've caught the liquor store killer but Ed's lame attempt to blame his lover's husband's murder on him (remember, it was the same gun) doesn't fit the known facts.
Danny drives Helen's neighbor Laury back to her place but she's not yet ready to call it a night ... "Come on in ... let's have a nightcap".
Then ... Her house had appeared earlier in the movie during the daytime, the middle one, below.
... and Now, CitySleuth has searched unsuccessfully in Reno for this location; of course it could have been filmed elsewhere, probably in Southern California. Anyone who recognizes it is encouraged to contact citysleuth@reelsf.com.
Inside the house Laury's other boyfriend Sam lurks in wait in the kitchen and in no uncertain terms tells Danny to clear off. A brief but shockingly ferocious fight ends with two fatal poker blows to Danny's head.
Laury hears the noise and comes in ... stunned by what she sees, she turns around and recognizes Sam. But dead witnesses don't talk and it's the audience's turn to be stunned when she is quickly dispatched in the same way with the same poker.
Shortly after Sam leaves, Helen stops by and discovers the chilling scene. Her reaction is surprisingly impassive but even more odd is what she does about it, or rather doesn't do, returning to her lodging room next door but refraining from calling the police. Instead she quickly packs and heads to the station for the late train home to San Francisco.
( A Bunker Hill movie in a San Francisco blog? CitySleuth explains why).
The Ritz, seen earlier, wasn't the only downtown bar popular with the Indian community. Another was the Columbine, a few stagger-steps away.
Then ... This shot shows us where it was, at far right below, at 263 S. Main Street, kitty-corner from the Ritz near the intersecting 3rd Street (map).
... and Now, the storefronts have been modified some over time but the two floors above them have been removed. The shutters and window-bars don't speak well of the neighborhood today - interesting isn't it that the 1950s, despite folks in general being much worse off than today, was a much safer time.
Then ... Behind Homer as he enters the Columbine we can make out some of the stores across the street. Mortimer Levitt's liquor store is partially seen through the doorway at 252 Main, then California Clothing at 254 - 256, Reposo Cafe/Restaurant Mexicana at 258 and El Progreso Cafe at 260.
... and Now, a multi-story parking structure at 260 Main has replaced these businesses.
Then ... As the evening wears on the noise level in the bar rises and the cops attempt to keep a damper on things by making their presence known.
... and Now, no longer a bar, the site is a shadow of its former self.
Then ...
The brightly lit store alongside the Columbine (seen in the street view six images above) was Moler's Barber College, perfectly
located at 265 Main for those who wanted a cheap hair cut and didn't
mind being a guinea pig for the trainees. Moler's has been around since
1893 and is still in business, though not at this location. Their
haircut isn't 25 cents any more but is still a steal at $7.50. But,
caveat emptor.
... and Now,
no longer a place to relax, this location is now a gym but customers
can still catch up on the neighborhood gossip. You'd hardly guess this
is the same place until you notice the monogrammed threshold.