The next scene is played purely for audience laughs, tapping into Charles Grodin’s comedic background. The idea was to cheer Joey up after his wife left him. Today people are likely less likely to find it funny.
Then … Joey watches from outside as Buddy, pretending to be a blind man, and Mikey approach the bar in a restaurant.
… and Now, this was filmed in the restaurant Cafe Alma at 13362 Ventura Blvd in the Sherman Oaks neighborhood of Los Angeles (map). Very shortly afterwards the restaurant was taken over by the Great Greek; it’s still there today under that name - in the recent photo below note how similar it still looks with its mirrored pillars and curvilinear-topped partitions.
Then … The blind man orders two cocktails then becomes agitated when he realizes his sighted guide has moved away. He swings around, bellowing out for him, his arm sending drinks and ice cubes across the room. When the flustered bartender (Billy Beck) hastily replaces the drinks he swings back and it happens again. And again. And again. And again.
… and Now, the Great Greek’s bar is still there at the same spot.
Mayhem ensues as Buddy stumbles around, bumping into diners and knocking over waiters bearing laden trays.
The strategy is working, Joey is in stitches watching the pantomine unfold. Mikey, too.
Then … But it’s rapidly becoming out of hand so Mikey runs back in to retrieve Buddy.
… and Now, these frosted glass partitions are now clear glass. Both Then and Now the same retail stores are visible across the street.
Then … When they all pile into Buddy’s classy Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham outside the restaurant the store numbers 13367, 13365, and 13363 Ventura Blvd are clearly legible across the street, the clue that led CitySleuth to this location.
… and Now, current tenants include an orthodontist at 13367, a coffee shop at 13365 and a garden/antique decor shop at 13363.
And here’s a recent photo of the restaurant. With a wine store and two side-by-side restaurants it’s all you can eat and drink on this corner.
Who doesn’t enjoy a good time-travel movie? The opening scenes of this cleverly-written, well-acted romp about science-fiction writer H.G. Wells’ pursuit through time of the infamous Jack The Ripper are set in Victorian London in 1893; they were filmed at the Warner Brothers Studios in Burbank, California ...
A young woman staggers out of a bar and giggles her way down a foggy street in Whitechapel. A well dressed gentleman (seen only from the back) propositions her and takes her down a nearby alley. ZZZZIP! - another victim of Jack The Ripper meets her fate.
Meanwhile H.G. Wells (Malcolm McDowell), an up-and-coming author, has invited a group of close friends to his home to make a startling announcement. He has invented and built a Time Machine. He proudly takes them down to his basement to explain how it works.
It’s quite simple, actually. Captured sun’s rays are converted to electricity which juxtaposes fields of energy, creating friction that lifts the machine from one time sphere into another. There you have it. Herbert, as he is known to his friends, extracts a red key from the dashboard, telling them that without it the time traveler cannot return. Behind him Dr. John Leslie Stevenson (David Warner), a renowned surgeon who has just arrived late, seems to take a special interest in what he is hearing.
Later they are interrupted by the appearance of the police conducting a house-to-house search for The Ripper.
When they find a bloodied glove in Stevenson’s bag they know they’ve found their man. One small problem - during the hubbub he had made his escape.
After everyone leaves, Herbert returns to the cellar … the machine is gone! Clearly, Stevenson must have made his escape in it. As he watches, the machine, sans occupant, returns, materializing before him. Wells can see on the instruments that it had journeyed forward 86 years to 1979. Determined to find and stop Stevenson before he can continue his murderous ways he resets the machine to the same time coordinates, grabs some money and valuables and launches himself into the time and space continuum.
After a wild ride he arrives, - but where is he? He climbs down from the time machine and looks around, perplexed; he appears to be in an exhibit about his life at a museum! The sign explains that the machine, on loan by the British Museum, had been unearthed in London two years earlier. (The museum exhibit scenes, like the London scenes above, were filmed at the Warner Brothers Studios in Burbank).
Then … Clarence and the police motorbike escort head up California Street during their dash across town to get Blotz. Kearny Street crosses at the end of the block.
… and Now, most of the buildings lining California street have since been replaced. Still there though way at the bottom of the hill is the Southern Pacific Building, built in 1917 as the headquarters of Southern Pacific Railway. Beyond it is the Bay Bridge, not built until 11 years after the scene above was filmed.
Then … They overtake a cable car as they speed up California. The landmark Sing Chong Building is on the corner of Grant Avenue.
… and Now, a century later it’s still there.
The Pagoda-styled Sing Chong Building was built in 1907. Local residents and Benevolent Societies had wasted no time rebuilding Chinatown following the 1906 earthquake and fire as a statement to city government that they were not about to be resettled anywhere else.
Then … The cop leans his bike to his right around a tight bend…
… then leans over to his left, apparently negotiating an S - curved street. More of the building behind him is now revealed, helping to confirm this location.
… and Now, here’s that building, still there. It’s 60 Leavenworth, an apartment building with street level retail stores on the corner of McAllister. Credit to reader Notcom who found it.
In this late 1920’s aerial photo you can see the curved street 3 blocks east of City Hall.
It’s more clearly seen in this 1931 aerial photo; tap or click the image to see how it looks today. The curve was straightened out in the mid-1930s to make way for the Federal Office Building at 50 U.N. Plaza.
Then … Continuing on, in the next shot the Geary-Mason Drugs sign on the right is a giveaway to this location. That drugstore was at 400 Mason so this view looks south along Mason Street with Geary crossing in the foreground. The Hotel Minster sign on the left a block down was at 312 Mason.
… and Now, 312 Mason is still a hotel; more specifically an international hostel.
Then … Almost there! This shot revisits a junction appearing twice before during the frantic dash. Here they head west on Market Street having just driven out of Golden Gate Avenue over on the right. The turrets of the Granada Theater can be seen near the end of the block beyond the car.
… and Now, the Granada Theater has long since been demolished and replaced.
Viewed from the opposite direction this vintage photo captured the Granada in 1921, the year it opened. The opulent theater was one of many that sprung up along the length of Market Street during the silver screen heyday of the 1920s and 1930s. It was renamed the Paramount in 1931 and eventually demolished in 1965.
They arrive in time - it’s game over for Blotz, Red Moran and, at City Hall, D.A. Fuller.
As the bad guys are hauled into their cells, Tom and Ray are released from theirs to a joyful welcome by Mary and Polly McDonald. Even Chronicle Proprietor Hamilton gets in on the act, proclaiming to Tom … “They’ve found their man McDonald, and I have found mine!” All’s well that ends well.
In the movie’s final frames Polly turns to Clarence, the derring-do hero of the day. Boy, does she owe him!!
Then … Teddy arrives home in his Mitsubishi Tredia and is seen here about to climb the steps to his front door at 720 Steiner Street in the Alamo Square neighborhood of San Francisco.
… and Now, the house is one of the famous Painted Ladies, aka the Seven Sisters, facing Alamo Square Park. The house at far left is the original home of Matthew Kavanaugh, the builder of the iconic row - note that it’s styled differently from the other six. 720 Steiner is the only house in the row whose steps are on the right; perhaps Mr. Kavanaugh wanted to distance himself from his neighbor’s comings and goings?
… in 1978 … several movies over the years filmed scenes at one of these homes including Invasion of the Body Snatchers in 1978 whose leading lady Brooke Adams’ character also lived at 720 Steiner (see her below about to walk up the front steps and note that its basement hadn’t yet been converted into a garage). Director Phillip Kauffman’s better composition of his shot captured all 6 of the similarly styled Victorians.
Another name for the houses is Postcard Row because of their ubiquitous presence on postcards like this one.
Teddy’s daughter Missie, (Kyra Stempel) lets him in. In this shot of them in the lobby we see a vestibule between it and the front door…
… which tells us that the interiors were not filmed at 720 Steiner. In the photo below taken in the real 720 Steiner living room the front door can be seen on the left. No vestibule there, it’s a completely different spatial layout.
Chuckles from the movie audience are understandable when Teddy meet’s his daughter’s boyfriend, Shelley (Michael Zorek) who, as we will later see, has a thing going on with Teddy’s wife.
