An old acquaintance, Gavin Elster (Tom Helmore), asks Scottie to stop by his office at a shipbuilding company. Director Alfred Hitchcock takes this opportunity to include his customary cameo, walking by just before Scottie walks in. This brief scene was filmed at the entrance to the paint department at Paramount Studios.
Then ... Elster has an unusual favor to ask - his wife Madeleine (Kim Novak) has been disappearing for hours at a time and returning with no memory of where she has been. Elster wants Scottie to follow her to find out where she goes.
... and Now, Elster's office was created and filmed in the studio but his window view above, rear-projected during the scene, was reportedly filmed at Bethlehem Shipyards at Pier 70 on the east side of Potrero Hill (map). The shipyard site was bought by the city in 1982 and while mostly unoccupied is home to a dry dock facility and artist studios. Some of the old cranes, rusting and graffitied, can still be seen in this recent photo taken from Illinois Street at 19th.
Elster is convinced his wife has been possessed by the spirit of someone dead; not surprisingly Scottie is skeptical but Elster is persuasive and he reluctantly agrees to get involved.
Trivia time ... the print on the wall above is a lithograph by the English artist George H. Burgess titled San Francisco in 1849. Its viewpoint is from the foot of Montgomery Street looking north towards Telegraph Hill.
Archie (George C. Scott) , a surgeon, attends a crowded fundraiser in aid of Highway Safety. Petulia (Julie Christie) , recently married, introduces herself then goes out of her way to hit on him.
Then ... The event was filmed over a one week period between midnight and 6.00 am in the lobby of the Fairmont Hotel on Nob Hill.
... and Now, lighter walls and exposed stone flooring but it still retains its air of grandeur.
... and Now, still grand after all these years.
Then ... Scottie visits his old flame Midge (Barbara Bel Geddes). The vista from her apartment window looks west to Russian Hill from the top of Union Street on Telegraph Hill. The building on the skyline to the left of Midge's shoulder is the La Mirada apartment building at 1100 Union Street. This interior scene was filmed at Paramount Studios using a photographic background plate to virtually set the location. ( The same plate was used two years later in a scene from Portrait In Black).
... and Now , the same view today from near the same spot. The twin spires to the right of center are those of Sts. Peter and Paul church on Filbert Street at Washington Square.
Then ... Where was this building? Later in the movie we find out when Scottie drops Midge off in front of her apartment. He's driving up Union Street from Calhoun Terrace (a cul-de-sac!) - Yerba Buena Island and the Bay Bridge are in the distance across the bay (map).
... and Now, other than some building changes on either side of the road this view looks essentially the same.
Then ... He pulls up at the corner of Union and Montgomery. Back then this was 298 Union Street - it has since been replaced by another building.
... below, a circa 1970 photo of the same building, before it was pulled down, as it looked to Hitchcock and his crew. Note the same concrete wall, railing and steps. Midge's apartment would be upstairs facing west, on the building's left side in this photo, however the west view from there would be blocked by the building across Montgomery Street so Midge's view must have been photographed from this or a nearby rooftop. This house dated back to the late 1800's and barely escaped the devasting fires of the 1906 earthquake. Note too that the west-facing windows are different from the studio set's picture windows.
... and Now, in 1974 it was replaced by a 5 unit apartment building re-addressed as 296 Union Street. That third story window probably does have Midge's view.
To get the 'Now' photos for this post CitySleuth found the site, sneaked (snuck?) onto the roof, talked his way onto the penthouse patio across the street where Hitchcock had set up his camera, and went to the Fairmont Hotel Tower to get a reverse overview photo. Where there's a will ...
In the dramatic nighttime opening sequence detective John 'Scottie' Ferguson (James Stewart) trails a policeman chasing a suspect across a series of rooftops...
Then ... Scottie climbs onto the rooftop via the fire escape ladder. This scene was filmed at Paramount Studios using a rear-projection of the view south across Washington filmed from the roof of 1302 Taylor. A large building dominates the skyline behind him.
... and Now, the background building is the Brocklebank Apartments, featured later in the movie, and behind it is the Fairmont Hotel Tower, not yet built when Vertigo was filmed. At far left is another newer building, 555 California, originally the Bank of America Building.
Then ... The chase was filmed on location by a camera panning right to left from Washington Street across the rooftops of 1302 to 1360 Taylor (map). The Brocklebank apartments is at far right and Coit Tower at far left. The white building dead center is the U.S. Appraisers building at 630 Sansome. The Spanish Colonial roofline facades of the buildings in the lower foreground helped CitySleuth pinpoint this location.
... and Now, for this shot Hitchcock set up his camera across Taylor Street. Today the Appraisers Building is one of the few recognizable buildings in the densely rebuilt Financial District.
The arrow points to where the camera was set up - on the penthouse patio of 1329 Taylor.
From street level: below left is 1329 Taylor - the flag marks where the camera was. At right opposite is the Taylor Street rooftop block - note those same Spanish Colonial roofline facades.
And finally, a reverse view of the entire location showing (1) where Scottie climbs on the roof, (2) where Hitchcock set up the camera and (3) the route traversed during the chase.
Then ... The suspect jumps between rooftops followed by the policeman and then Scottie. But he can't hold on and the audience holds its breath as he slides down. This footage was filmed in the studio using a rear-projection of the east view filmed from the rooftop of 1360 Taylor.
... and Now, in this matching shot several of the fore- and mid-ground buildings are unchanged.
He ends up hanging perilously on a gutter. His police buddy holds out a helping hand but slips and falls to his death. How Scottie is rescued is never explained, a trademark Hitchcock McGuffin, but the experience leaves him with a serious case of acrophobia - the dread feeling of vertigo.