Invasion Of The Body Snatchers - Capture and Escape
Then … Matthew and Elizabeth flee ahead of the pursuing pod people past a line of columned lamps. City Hall is in the background.
… and Now, this is the United Nations (U.N.) Plaza (map). The Plaza was installed along the former alignment of Fulton Street during the reconstruction of Market Street following the excavation for the Market Street Bart Subway. It opened in 1975 but the view now from the same spot shows foreground access stairs down to the Civic Center station that were installed 2 years after Invasion Of The Body Snatchers was filmed when the Muni Metro line was added to the Subway.
This recent image shows the U.N. Plaza as pristine as you will ever see it. The plaza was designed by the renowned San Francisco environmental architect Lawrence Halprin. (In a location trivia note, Halprin’s office appeared in a scene in the movie Bullit). The Bart/Muni Metro stairs are bounded by the railing on the left
Then … They come across their street busker friend and his boxer dog (they were seen earlier in the movie) sleeping next to a pod. Knowing what’s about to happen Matthew kicks the pod in disgust.
… and Now, the view is from Polk Street near the Grove Street junction (map) looking west past City Hall to Van Ness.
Later in the movie we see that a kick in the pod has consequences: the busker’s body-snatching gene transfer didn’t quite go as planned…
Then … They finally run across Grove Street and reach their destination - their workplace at the Department Of Public Health at 101 Grove, described in more detail earlier.
… and Now, the entrance still looks the same.
Then … from an upstairs window they watch an army of pod people lining up to distribute pods across the Bay Area; they fear that their days are numbered.
… and Now, in front of the Grove Street entrance of City Hall.
Without warning, the pod versions of their former friends show up and capture them, administering a sedative drug to send them asleep alongside two pods.
Then … But they manage to escape from the building and leave the pod people behind by jumping into a moving truck.
… and Now, on the left is the east side of the Department Of Public Health; ahead, Polk Street crosses Grove as it recedes to the north. The old First Aid sign partially visible in the movie shot at top left above is still affixed to the wall.