Then ... As the opening credits roll the camera slowly zooms in from on high to a crowded city plaza below. From the get-go we feel like voyeurs.
... and Now, this is Union Square - it was filmed from a hotel room on the top floor of the St. Francis hotel (not the tower). CitySleuth was not able to access the room itself but obtained permission to take this photo from immediately above it on the roof. It shows changes since the movie was filmed; the formal style gardens have been swept away creating a more open space but the Dewey 'Victory' monument in the center remains the focal point.
Surveillance expert Harry Caul (Gene Hackman) has been hired by a tycoon known only as The Director to spy on his young wife Ann (Cindy Williams) and her lover Mark (Frederic Forrest). Afraid of being overheard, they meet in noisy places. In the busy square Caul watches them as they pass by.
He has a tough assignment - he has to record their conversation in this difficult environment. But he's a wizard at his craft and has three hi-tech listening stations set up around the square ...
Then ... The first is on a store rooftop on the southeast corner - Caul has a man stationed below the sign.
... circa 1970 ... this vintage photo shows where the City Of Paris department store was, on the corner of Geary and Stockton (map) - the sign fronted an Eiffel Tower replica on the roof. That's the I. Magnin store at far right.
... and Now, the City Of Paris opened in 1850 and occupied two earlier sites before moving to this premier location from 1896 until it closed in 1976. The building was razed in 1980 to make way for a new Neiman Marcus store, still there today. I. Magnin didn't survive either but the building did; it’s now owned by Macy's, with a Louis Vuitton store in the corner space.
Then ... The City Of Paris rooftop vantage point is ideal for the telescopic listening device focused directly on the mouths of the unsuspecting couple. Across the square is the original 1904 12-story St. Francis hotel and its 32-story 1972 addition towering above it.
... and Now, CitySleuth was unable to gain access to the Neiman Marcus rooftop so instead took this matching photo from its 4th floor Rotunda restaurant.
Then ... Here's the spy's birds-eye view of the square. The entrance to the underground garage on Geary Street is on the left, Post Street is across the square on the right.
... and Now, the changes made since then are readily visible in today's view including extended access from the street. Across the square just right of center the Fitzhugh Building on Post Street, above, has been replaced by a Saks Fifth Avenue store, below.
Then ... The second listening station was set up on the northwest corner of the square at an upper window of the Fitzhugh Building. It incorporated a powerful directional microphone with an amplifier of Caul's own design.
... in 1953 ... the 1923 building is no longer there but here's a vintage photo of it, at 384 Post Street on the corner of Powell (map). When this photo was taken the ground floor housed the Robert S. Atkins store; by the time the movie was filmed it had become Roos/Atkins. The arrow indicates the window on the 8th floor used by the snooper
... and Now, the building was demolished in 1980 (the same year as the City Of Paris building), creating quite a furor. A new building housing Saks Fifth Avenue replaced it, still there today.
... a 1960s image ... it’s not shown in the movie, but this is the view that the snooper had from the Fitzhugh Building. Across the square on the left is the City Of Paris building where the other snooper was.
... and Now, on a recent visit to Saks CitySleuth captured the Yuletide spirit in Union Square complete with ice skaters enjoying a balmy California winter's day.
Then ... As added insurance Caul had a third listener trailing the couple carrying a brown paper bag stuffed with state-of -the-art audio sensors. The signals from all three stations fed wirelessly to Caul's recording devices in this truck parked on Geary at Stockton (watch the snoopers at work here).
... and Now, pure coincidence but snoopers of the modern kind (traffic wardens) were parked in the same spot for this photo. Neiman Marcus retained the dramatic City Of Paris rotunda within its new building and each year they place a huge Christmas tree there, visible through the window on the left.
 Sam calls his one-time prison mate and long-time roommate Marty (the ubiquitous Elisha Cook Jr) in Reno to tell him he is marrying Georgia and invites him to his upcoming wedding.
Then ... The trip from Reno would take Marty by train to the Oakland Pier and from there by ferry to San Francisco. Marty is seen here arriving at the Ferry Building on the 'Berkeley', incidentally the first prop-driven ferryboat on the west coast. Behind them the Bay Bridge reaches out to Yerba Buena island.
... and Now, there are fewer docking slips at the Ferry Building as a result of the plummeting demand for ferries in the years after the bridge was built. As today's ferry pulls in at least the view behind it is the same.
... in 1957 ... In the movie Pal Joey there's a scene showing the 'Berkeley' leaving the Oakland Pier Southern Pacific rail terminal to begin its cross-bay trip to San Francisco - a route it plied for sixty years until taken out of service in 1958. In the background we see Yerba Buena island, the Bay Bridge and the San Francisco skyline.
... and Now, the ferryboat subsequently spent 12 ignominious years moored in Sausalito as a gift shop before being sold in 1973 to the Maritime Museum of San Diego where, lovingly restored, it continues to be on display.
Then ... Marty emerges from the Ferry Building onto the Embarcadero and heads to a waiting cab (map).
... and Now, the kiosks under the breezeway are no longer there and the sidewalk has been widened but the building structure reassuringly remains unchanged.
Then ... He tells the cabbie where the wedding is being held. In the distance along the Embarcadero the Bay Bridge soars overhead and, across the street, the end building (above the cabbie's cap) is the YMCA at 166 Embarcadero. Check out the Ferry Building official - he couldn't resist looking at the camera!
... and Now, the bridge is still there of course and the YMCA too, now sharing its building with the Harbor Court Hotel.
 Arnett, the private dick hired to find the killer, has followed Marty on a hunch that he'll lead him there. As the cab drives off he writes down the address.
( A Bunker Hill movie in a San Francisco blog? CitySleuth explains why).
Then ... After the movie Yvonne leaves the Roxie Theater not expecting her husband Homer, out drinking with his buddies, to pick her up. She heads to a girlfriend's place and as we shall see, her route through town jumps all over the place as director Kent MacKenzie chooses locations that look good onscreen in high contrast black-and-white.
... and Now, the dilapidated theater, at 518 S. Broadway, speaks volumes about the fate of this formerly resplendent theater and the downtown neighborhood around it. No longer playing movies for the public, its lobby now sells bargain clothes. But the mosaic sidewalk pattern lives on.
Then ... On the way she browses at a department store's street-side arcade. Opposite is the flashy marquee of the Los Angeles Theatre at 615 S. Broadway. The stores next to it are Eastman Linens at 611 and Mode O'Day at 609.
... and Now, here's the same view across the street to the theater; it's still in business.
... in 1939 ... The store where she window-shopped was Desmond's at 616 S. Broadway, seen in this vintage photo.
... and Now, the venerable store now has unused upper floors and several retail stores on the ground floor level, including a Payless Shoe Source branch.
Then ... Next she goes by a parking lot and the Brass Rail, a well-known gay bar, part of the circuit known at that time as 'The Run'.
... c. 1960 ... both the Brass Rail bar and the parking lot can be seen in this vintage photo - the bar was at 334 S. Hill Street (the Grand Central Market is just off the left edge of this image).
... and Now, the two buildings on the left above are gone but at the site of the Brass Rail today another dive bar sits in its place - La Cita.
Then ... Here she passes a donut store. In voiceover she tells how she always wanted to get away from her people on the reservation and is glad to be in L.A.
… in 1957 … CitySleuth is indebted to author and Old Bunker Hill expert Nathan Marsak for revealing this location to him; at 441 S. Hill Street next to Hamilton’s bar/restaurant and Dean’s jewelry/watch repair. Here’s a vintage photo of the modest yellow structure taken one year before Kent McKenzie began filming the movie.
... and Now, the Art Deco-styled Title Guarantee and Trust building, on the corner of W. 5th Street since 1930, is still there but not so Hamilton’s, Dean’s and Cooper’s. A recently built apartment building today sits on their site.
Then ... She's now on W. 3rd Street at Figueroa. Lucas Union service station is across the street at 255 S. Figueroa, the neon-signed Fig Leaf Cafe at 833 W. 3rd is on the corner behind her and she's approaching Eddie's Loans at 831 W. 3rd.
... and Now, could this be the same place today? Yes it is! There goes the neighborhood!
... in 1955 ... This is the same block, daytime, as it must have looked when the movie was filmed. The Fig Leaf Cafe and Eddie's Loans are on the left. The boarded-up theater was the Lux.
... in 1956 ... Eddie's Loans also made a daytime appearance in Stanley Kubrick's noir The Killing.
Then ... Now she turns from Main Street into W 3rd Street. Across the road we see the Gloria Cafe at 109 W. 3rd Street. She muses how she always wanted to marry in a church, have a nice house and raise four kids.
... in 1959 ... this vintage photo taken shortly after the movie was filmed gives us another look at the cafe.
... and Now, the building, above, has been replaced by another structure, below, currently housing an Immigration Services office at the 109 W. 3rd Street address. Architecturally speaking, class to crass.
Then ... Yvonne crosses 3rd Street at the lower terminus of the Angels Flight funicular on Hill Street alongside the 3rd Street tunnel. Pregnant with her first baby, she wonders if he (Homer) will change for the better when he sees the child - she knows he likes kids.
... and Now, this corner too no longer resembles its predecessor after the 1960s makeover of the Bunker Hill neighborhood, although the tunnel is still in use.
Then ... A steep set of narrow concrete steps scales the hill alongside the funicular. She climbs them and turns onto Clay Street to cross over the tunnel entrance. 3rd Street stretches out to the east below her.
... in 1970 ... Angels flight was removed in 1969 - this vintage photo was taken shortly after, coincidentally from more or less the exact same spot. The truck in the foreground is parked on Clay Street.
Then ... She crosses over the tunnel on Clay and climbs a few more steps leading to the upper veranda of the Sunshine Apartments where her friend had a room inside at #14 (click image to enlarge). The friend's boyfriend is also on an all-nighter with the boys and since becoming pregnant Yvonne often sleeps over with her for companionship and security. To the left is part of the 'Hillcrest Hotel' sign next door.
... in the 1950s ... the arrow indicates that same veranda in this vintage photo of the Sunshine Apartments as viewed from Clay Street. The man in the right foreground is descending the steps that Yvonne took on her way to the apartments' entrance stairway.
... and Now, an office building now straddles the 3rd Street tunnel where Clay Street and the Sunshine Apartments used to be.
With all roads out of the city blocked off by the police Cullen decides their best option is to hide out at Fort Point until they can sneak out after dark. The sequence that follows plays out to the lonely sound of the moaning wind but has suspense aplenty. Even better for location buffs it's a record of the old Fort as it was over 60 years ago.
Fort Point (map) was constructed between 1853 and 1861; its armaments were initially designed to defend against possible Confederate attack during the Civil War. The fort never was fired upon throughout its 150 year existence but dodged a significant bullet when the original plan to demolish it in the 1930s to make way for the Golden Gate Bridge was reversed by the bridge's chief engineer Joseph Strauss. Instead, he designed a steel span to arch over the fort.
Then ... Dust swirls as they approach the sallyport, the only way into and out of the fort. It's on the south side, known as the gorge, considered the front of the structure. The post and platform structure at right appears to be bringing in temporary electrical power.
... and Now, one might expect a National Historic site not to show many changes over the mere half-century of our Then and Now comparison and this indeed turns out to be the case. Those openings in the gorge wall were originally narrow rifle slits but were later widened.
Then ... When Cullen's 1950 Nash Ambassador pulls up in the interior courtyard the shot of the sleek fastback with its skirted wheels could double as a car advertisement (click image to enlarge).
... and Now, the courtyard used to be the parade ground. The gorge on the left housed military quarters and magazines; it was accessed via balconies supported by fluted cast iron columns. In the corner (the west end of the fort) is the tower enclosing stairs #1, one of three circular masonry staircases connecting all levels, topped by a wooden penthouse (click image to enlarge).
Then ... Cullen finds a concealed spot for his vehicle and they consider where to hide out. The sound of an approaching car sends them scurrying to the lighthouse on the roof.
... and Now, visitors are not allowed into the lighthouse for safety reasons but here, taken from the rooftop, is a recent photo of its view.
Then ... It's Cullen's brother Andy in the car (a 1950 Nash Rambler convertible). He recalls they played at Fort Point as kids and decides on a hunch that it might be their refuge. This is his first case and he is determined to see justice done. He pulls into the courtyard, also viewed from the rooftop of the fort.
... and Now, the fort is open two days a week for visitors; as a result safety railings have been added or repaired. Back then, above, it was soldier beware! Note that the arches at center rear have been un-bricked.
Then ... As he stands in the courtyard wondering where they could be we see the hiding place on the roof in the shadow of the Golden Gate Bridge's arched span.
... and Now, this lighthouse dates back to 1863. It was deactivated in 1934 when the new bridge towers, a more effective beacon for mariners, were built. But the lighthouse structure - it sits atop stairs #2 - has survived thanks to major restorations in 1973 and 1992.
Andy disregards a note left by his brother implying the two miscreants had abandoned their car and fled. Instead he methodically searches the fort one tier at a time, in a way taking us on an extensive tour of the historic structure.
Then ... He walks the length of the officer's quarters on the 2nd tier where the corridor splits each room via central receding doorways. Not much privacy for the officers!
... and Now, the shouts and footfalls of the officers have now been replaced by the sound of visitor's camera shutters.
Then ... Still on the second tier he is next to the doorway leading to stairs #3. Note the absence of safety railings.
... and Now, the same spot today, with railings. Can't have today's visitors falling over the edge can we?
Then ... At the other end of the second tier he walks the length of the brick casemates that originally housed a battery of cannons arrayed along the left (north) side with their muzzles facing out through reinforced embrasure openings. There are 30 casemates on each of the first three tiers.
... and Now, another photographer's opportunity.
Then ... On the roof, viewed from inside the wooden penthouse that covers stairs #1, Andy runs to the lighthouse. Will he find the crouching couple?
... and Now, the roof, known as the barbette tier, wraps around the perimeter of the fort. Its deck, concrete now but grass when it was first built, was originally designed with cannons mounted on exposed pedestals to augment those in enclosed casements on the lower tiers. The lighthouse, despite periodic maintenance, is again showing signs of rust.
Then ... Andy climbs the spiral staircase into the lighthouse but they are not there, having crept out ahead of him onto the balcony. He appears to give up and returns to his car but not before a moment of suspense when Lois's scarf is whipped away by the wind and wafts slowly down tantalizingly close to him as he heads to the sallyport exit. But it goes unnoticed and he drives off.
... and Now, in this matching courtyard photo CitySleuth was fortunate to catch Civil War re-enacters performing drill. The gorge's balconied tiers behind them each have a stairway at far left, known as stairs #4. Unlike the other three they are metal and straight, not masonry and circular.
When darkness falls Cullen and Lois sneak out of the fort straight into the arms and handcuffs of the waiting police. Andy's hunch had paid off. In a brief final scene their paths cross while they await trial and Cullen offers her a cigarette. He had tried to cheat the law but ended up cheating himself. No words are spoken as they part but their expressions say it all - she acknowledging his sacrifice and he accepting his fate but with no regrets.