Kirsten Arnesen works as a secretary (that of course would be Personal Assistant today) in the Pacific Gas and Electric building at 245 Market Street (map). Here's a recent photo of the building, built in 1924 then subsequently strengthened and renovated following the 1989 earthquake.
Then ... After his embarrassing first meeting with Kirsten Joe visits her office to make amends. He is seen below approaching the entrance lobby from the left. The address 245 is on the door.
... and Now, the lobby's inside set of glass doors (on the right, above) have been taken out, a muni bus stop has been added outside and across the street the whole block has been replaced by an office highrise.
Then ... Joe puffs away as he waits for an elevator inside the lobby. Note that elegant brass lampstand ...
... and Now, societal security neurosis, sad to say, has led to the inclusion of subway-like turnstiles. Even the lampstand, still there over 50 years later, can't make up for the loss of the clean, uncluttered look. On the plus side the elevator doors have had a classy upgrade.
Then ... Joe tries his best to make up but Kirsten plays hard-to-get and they end up awkwardly waiting for the elevator outside her office.
... and Now, this typical floor at the PG&E building by the elevators shows some similarities to the movie view above - renovation changes may have been made over the years - but CitySleuth thinks, based on several differences spotted during this scene, that the office interior was filmed elsewhere.
Then ... Joe leaves the building but Kirsten chases after him - she relents and accepts his offer of dinner. That's the Ferry Building standing guard at the end of Market Street as best it can given the intrusively ugly two-level Embarcadero Freeway standing in its way.
... and Now, thankfully, those stylish lamps flanking the entrance are still there. As, just visible, is the Ferry Building. The trees block the view from here but, hallelujah, the freeway is gone.
An earlier post described how Vera Simpson's mansion was a virtual building located where Coit Tower stands on Telegraph Hill (map). When Joey visits her again we see further evidence of the subterfuge.
Then ... As the scene opens the camera follows the butler out of the home to an exterior patio.
... and Now, this is one of the south facing doors of Coit Tower's mural rotunda which leads out to a lawn.
... and Now, here's the door, looking back from the lawn. Coit tower, built in 1933, rises 210 feet vertically above it.
Then ... The butler announces Joey's arrival to Vera who is enjoying lunch on the patio, built for the movie on the Coit Tower lawn. The sweeping city view behind her may well have dictated this choice of location.
... and Now, the lawn as it now looks. Most of the downtown skyline is obscured by trees and newer highrises abound but at far left the Ferry Building and one of the Bay Bridge towers still match up
then and
now.
Then ... When Joey leaves he exits to the right of the patio and heads down a narrow path, again with a great view past downtown to Potrero Hill in the distance.
... and Now, the path has been extended and upgraded with steps but the view, sadly, is blocked.
Then ... Later in the movie Linda visits Vera and we see her leaving the home by way of the 'front' steps. Some steps!
... and Now, not surprisingly these are the steps leading down from Coit Tower's north entrance at the car park. Trees now hide Alcatraz Island from here but you can still see Belvedere Island across the bay at top center.
A series of vignettes depict Myra and Lester settling down into the social whirl of 1950s San Francisco.
Then ... First, celebrating the 30th season at the opera.
... and Now, the drawing on the brochure cover above is San Francisco's War Memorial Opera House, a grand Beaux-Arts building opened in time for the 1932/33 season. (From 1923 - 1931, the newly-formed opera company had performed at the Civic Auditorium). Below, the opera house today, at 301 Van Ness Avenue
(map).
Then ... We are shown a glimpse inside the theater ...
... but this isn't the War Memorial Opera House - it's convenient archival footage filmed on
stage 28 of the Universal Studios lot in Universal City, California. Originally built for the 1925 movie
Phantom of the Opera (see below), the theater set has been featured in many movies over the years. Citysleuth thanks reader Paul Penna for pointing this out.
... and Now, the War Memorial Opera House interior is very different.
Then ... Next up, a day at the races at Tanforan, the racetrack of choice for city high-rollers from 1899 until it burned down in 1964. It was located on El Camino Real in San Bruno, near the international airport (map).
... and Now, there's no trace of the racetrack, but visitors to the shopping mall that now occupies the site, The Shops At Tanforan, can find a statue there of the famous thoroughbred Seabiscuit.
Then ... This double exposure shows the newlyweds swept up by the action down the home stretch.
... in 1950 ... But again, the movie used different footage - this was not filmed at Tanforan. Below is the home stretch at Tanforan as filmed two years earlier in the movie Riding High. San Bruno Mountain is in the near background whereas the mountains in the movie background above are way off in the far distance. Note the huge hillside sign 'South San Francisco, The Industrial City' which is still there today, at far left in the Tanforan Shops photo above.
... in 1950 ... Another scene from Riding High shows this clear view of the Tanforan grandstand. There's a white post at the corner edge of the roof overhang at far right, unlike in the Sudden Fear 'Then' image above where the roof cantilevers out with no corner post.
Then ... and finally they go dancing at the Cirque Room, a popular dance spot in the Fairmont Hotel (map) ...
Then ... where they party the night away.
... from the 1950s ... Here's a postcard photo image taken in the Fairmont's Cirque Room at about that same time.
... and Now, the Cirque Room is still there but available only for private parties. This recent photo from such an event captured its art deco bar and original circus-themed murals.
Lester hears back from his shady lady friend Irene Neves. She has been working on her lawyer boyfriend and found out -"It took five martinis" - that Myra is about to donate the bulk of her fortune to a charity, news that doesn't sit well with the scheming pair.
Then ... Joey is enjoying a bright sunny day in the international Settlement when he sees Linda, the dancer from his club, cooing at a cute terrier through a pet shop window. (A pet shop in a red light district? Why not? ... "Get your hooch and pooch here!"). He craftily tries to score points with her, claiming he once owned and loved a dog called Snuffy.
... and Now, this is Pacific Avenue, with Montgomery crossing at left. The pet shop was at 517 Pacific
(map). The pet shop frontage, above, must have been built for the movie because street directories show that this property was vacant in the years leading up to the movie. The tubular metal pillar on the corner of Montgomery that supported the 'International Settlement' sign is still there, partially visible below behind the tree at far left.
Then ... Later we see Joey and Linda return, approaching the shop from across Pacific. Across the street we can just make out (click on the image for an enlarged view) some of the hot night spots - the Moulin Rouge, Bella Pacific, Hippodrome and Gay 'N Frisky.
... and Now, all the clubs are gone.
Then ... Linda spots the dog, still for sale, as they pass the archway entrance to Jerome Alley.
... and Now, that archway has been taken down and admittance to the alley is now blocked by an iron gate. The current tenant at the pet shop site is Thomas E Cara, purveyor of espresso coffee machines.
Inside the store she persuades Joey to buy the cuddly canine as a replacement for Snuffy. He's not too happy but how can he refuse? This interior was obviously filmed on a studio set because in the real world there was an open parking lot opposite this location, not the Hippodrome club seen here which did exist but was further down the block at 574 Pacific.
... from the 1950s ... here's a vintage photo taken from Montgomery that shows the pet shop location (arrowed) and the archway next to it, partially obscured by the street sign. You can just see the parking lot opposite.
... and Now, the Thomas E Cara shop is shown arrowed but Jerome Alley is hidden behind the tree and the trimming debris. It's interesting that the tubular pillars have survived here but those at the other (Kearny Street) end of the block have not.
... a vintage photo ... the photo below, circa 1970, looks across the parking lot to the pet shop building (arrowed), next to Jerome Alley. Facing us at right is the muraled gable of the Barbary Coast at 533 Pacific, the club where Joey performed, which by this time had become the Little Fox Theater.
... and Now, a recent view of the Thomas E Cara store and Jerome Alley.
At a party at Myra's house who should show up but Irene Neves (the sultry shady lady of noir Gloria Grahame), an old flame of Lester's. She is accompanying Myra's attorney's partner Junior Kearney (Mike Connors, in his first movie). Lester, surprised, is not amused but goes through the introduction pleasantries as though it were the first time they had met.
Then ... Lester catches up with her at the California Palace of the Legion of Honor fine arts museum in Lincoln Park (map). This shot also captures the statue of the 11th century Spanish warrior El Cid in the foreground. In 1958 the Palace became best known in the movies as a Vertigo location.
... and Now, trees have grown but nothing else has changed. Interesting that the copper stains on the plinth are virtually identical, having stabilised after the early staining for at least 60 years. The city authorities might take note of this and clean the plinth!
Then ... Inside, Irene (wearing the hat) is listening to an organ recital. (On a trivia note, the organist was playing J S Bach's Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring). Lester enters and drags her outside.
... and Now, the organ console, of finest walnut, is still there and organ recitals are still held every weekend. The 4500 pipe organ was commisioned by the Spreckels family and built by the Ernest M Skinner Organ Company of Boston for the opening of the Palace in 1924. And that's the same statue over on the right!
Then ... Against one of the exterior pillars and with El Cid in the background, Lester asks Irene to work on Junior Kearney to find out the details of a major transfer of her wealth that he's heard Myra is planning. Irene agrees ... "I'll turn him inside out!"
... and Now, from the same spot, the same view looks to the Marin Headlands across the Golden Gate.
