The Midnight Story - Final Confession, Final Rites
Then … Malatesta is near death in a local hospital. As his family and the police wait to see him the window view gives the barest clue as to this location. Not much to go on, but CitySleuth recognized that row of Spanish Colonial-styled houses visible across the flat rooftops in the foreground.
… and Now … These houses, located at 1314 to 1330 Taylor Street in Nob Hill (map), are the ones in the above window view.
Those same houses were the site of the rooftop chase in the opening scene, below, of Alfred Hitchcock’s 1958 classic movie ‘Vertigo”. Note the same Spanish Colonial roofline facade.
But where was the hospital? It turns out that the only place with that view would be the rooftop of an apartment building located around the corner and tall enough to see over the flat rooftops opposite. There are two such buildings, 1134 and 1142 Jackson Street. Obviously then the hospital scene was filmed in a studio, or elsewhere, making use of a photo taken from the rooftop of one of these buildings to imply the location, a common movie trick.
Here’s 1134 and 1142 Jackson, both tall enough for a rooftop photographer to have a clear view across the street towards the Taylor Street buildings.
Malatesta asks to speak with Joe alone. He confides to him that after confession the priest wanted him to go to the police; he killed him to spare his family the stigma that would follow. Joe forgives him and leaves the room while the last rites were being given.
The movie ends when the police, needing a confession to pin the murder on Malatesta, want to know what he said … Joe chose to preserve the family’s integrity, telling them “The accident beat me to it - I didn’t find out a thing”.