Walk A Crooked Mile - Rough Stuff
Here’s another shot of the Elite Laundry, located at 14519 Sylvan Street in Van Nuys. (It was described in more detail in the previous post).
Agent Grayson has managed to get a job at the laundry and is in a good spot to watch incoming customers. He watches as Dr. Neva, one of the senior scientists, drops off her laundry.
Then … He observes the man at the counter slip one of her handkerchiefs into a package, picked up shortly afterwards by Krebs, one of the spy ring members. Below, Krebs is seen leaving the laundry which back then was one of many small shops and stores lining the block.
and Now, the building that housed those stores looks very different now. It dates back to 1922 but was extensively changed in 1988.
Then … Krebs walks on, passing a large plumbing and appliance store that conveniently displayed its name on the window …
and Now, a street directory identified this location - the J. Hokom plumbing showroom at 860 N.Highland Avenue - but it’s in Hollywood, miles from Van Nuys. A not unusual geographical hiccup for the moviemakers but confusing for locals in the audience. The building is still there today.
The FBI agents have no intention of allowing any more secrets to be spirited out of the country so they waylay Krebs, snatch the package and take the handkerchief to a lab for analysis. Sure enough, it yields yet another formula.
It’s not easy being an FBI agent - Krebs, still bruised from his earlier roughing-up from O’Hara, turns the tables and regains possession of the handkerchief while dishing out revengeful rough stuff. He leaves the agents to his henchmen … “You know what to do …” but a brave, unfortunately sacrificial, intervention by Grayson’s landlady enables their escape.