After the bungled attempt to retrieve the smuggled heroin the drug ring calls in two out-of-town crooks to take over. They fly in from Miami.
Then ... They fly in on a United DC-7 over the Golden Gate Bridge. Marin County to the north is at the top of the frame and the Presidio at the bottom.
... and Now, there's an expanded south bridge area with a tourist car park. On the northern side there's now a marina at Horseshoe Bay, home of the Presidio Yacht Club. Behind that is the former U.S. Army Post, Fort Baker, now housing the Discovery Museum and an upscale hotel - The Lodge At Cavallo Point.
They land at Terminal 2 at San Francisco Airport, opened 4 years earlier in 1954 and known then as Central Terminal (map).
Then ...
...and Now, Today there are 4 terminals including the $1B international terminal opened in 2000. Terminal 2 still looks the same from the runway although there's a new control tower being built behind it.
Miller enters a TV arcade and watches the program. He listens to a Mrs Fitzpatrick (Lilian Bond), below on the left, exhorting the viewers to buy charity tickets - she gives out her name and address. Trusting times. There was something about her, maybe because she was a brunette like his first two victims, maybe she reminded him of his abusing mother, whatever it was she was now a marked woman.
The sniper has struck again - Mrs Fitzpatrick has been found shot outside her home.
Mrs Fitzpatrick's residence was the imposing 55 room mansion at 2080 Washington Street in Pacific Heights (map).
Then ...
... in 1956 ... the same mansion, known as the Spreckels Mansion, built in 1913 in the French Baroque style by the sugar king Adolph Spreckels.
... and Now, almost hidden and currently the home of author Danielle Steele.
When Eleanor leaves the doctor's office she pretends not to notice the cop assigned to follow her; he's hoping she will lead them to her husband Frank.
Then ... the cop is leaning on the cable car control booth on the corner of California and Powell. Grace Cathedral is two blocks up the hill on Taylor, its second tower yet to be constructed.
... and Now, the booth is dilapidated but still in use, monitoring the two cable car lines that cross at the junction. That's the Fairmont Hotel up the road. Note also the unchanged wall and fire hydrant on the corner at left.
Below, the cop tails Eleanor down Powell Street on the block between California and Pine. The tall building on the left down the road is the Sir Francis Drake Hotel. Way in the distance are the steep streets of Potrero Hill.
Then ...
...and Now, the hotel is still there but hidden behind the modern building and Potrero Hill is still visible from here.
Eleanor suddenly kisses a complete stranger then hurries off, leaving the cop to apprehend the wrong guy.
Then ... This is Market Street on the sidewalk in front of the old Emporium, now the Westfield Center.
... and Now, looking across Market to the Stockton Street junction.
1. View From The Living Room
Then ... In the movie, the exterior view across Irene's patio is a photo backdrop used on the studio soundstage to set the location. In the real apartment at 1360 Montgomery that view would look east across the Bay towards Yerba Buena Island but close examination of the movie view reveals that, although similar, it's different. Finding the explanation was a challenge, and here it is ...
Below is a recent photo taken from the end of Alta Street, a cul-de-sac close to Irene's 1360 Montgomery Street apartment, looking not east, but north across the Bay to Angel Island. This doesn't match the movie view above either but ...
... if this view is reversed (below), we have a match! The contours of Angel Island match perfectly as does the multi-story white building, now with added new structures on either side. So, the director had a photo taken from Alta and reversed it for use in the studio set. Why not use the real view? Who knows, but anal nuts like me notice such things.
2. View From The Bedroom
Then ... This looks out across the lower part of Montgomery to where the upper Filbert Steps begin.
... and Now, the building just visible on the left is a private residence now but in 1947 it housed the Shadows Restaurant, a favorite of Bogart and Bacall during filming ...
... and perhaps while dining there they lit up using a match from a matchbox like this?
3. View From The Front Door
Then ... Irene's view through the apartment's front door peephole when she hears the doorbell ring shows, behind the visitor, the 3rd floor hallway and the stairs leading up to the top floor.
... and Now, exactly the same.
Parry has decided to undergo plastic surgery to drastically alter his appearance. That way he improves his chances of avoiding arrest while seeking out the real killer of his wife. He befriends a cab driver who just happens to know an off-register surgeon.
The surgeon's address is not precisely defined in the movie - the address mentioned, 21 Plum Alley, is fictitious. However, it can be inferred from the street scene below where Parry is hanging around outside the surgeon's address waiting for the appointed time. A passerby walks up a hill which is so steep that the sidewalk is a staircase.
Then ... This is the corner of Kearny looking down from Vallejo to Broadway (map). The first vertical neon sign down the road on the left corner at Broadway belongs to the popular Vanessi's Restaurant, at that site since 1936.
... and Now, there is remarkably little change, but Vanessi's moved to Nob Hill in 1986 and eventually closed down in 1997.
The surgeon, Dr. Walter Coley (Houseley Stevenson, in a wonderful cameo) and the cabbie (Tom D'Andrea) are ready and waiting for Parry when he enters the house - cash changes hands and he goes under the knife. Don't you love that cigarette!
