Dirty Harry - City Hall
The ransom note is addressed to the city’s mayor (John Vernon). He summons the chief of police to his office at City Hall in the Civic Center and reads it out; it demands a ransom of $100,000 or else one person will be killed every day. It is signed ‘Scorpio’.
Then … Harry Callahan has been assigned to handle the case; he joins the police chief (John Larch) and his boss Lt. Bressler (Harry Guardino) to brief the mayor on his progress.
… and Now, CitySleuth was allowed in the mayor’s office in May, 2023 to take matching photographs. Incumbent Mayor London Breed has moved the desk across the room and mitigated the formal decor with wall art and comfortable furniture. Both Then and Now images show the same two doors in the background.
Then … The mayor decides to tell the killer that the city will pay but will need time to get the money together. Callahan protests, convinced this will lead to more people dead. He wants to first make contact with the killer but is overruled because of his vigilante reputation.
… and Now, the window behind the mayor is one of two that look out across the Civic Center Plaza from the office. A mirror has since been added between them.
(Another scene was filmed in this office later in the movie. Click here for that post).