Archie goes along with Petulia's suggestion that they go to a hotel - they take a cab to a motel with a novel TV check-in kiosk which automatically dispenses their room key. (Note the psychedelic poster on the cab advertising a concert for Eric Burdon and the Animals, a popular British group at that time).
Then ... This scene was filmed at the garage entrance of the San Francisco Hilton Union Square Hotel at 200 Ellis Street, near Mason. The motel was designed to let guests drive inside the building up to their floor and park close to their room, as they still do today.
... in 1964, in this vintage photo below, the same entrance
.... and Now, the check-in window today is a mural sporting a large Hilton Logo.
... and Now, the garage entrance (on the left) on Ellis Street.
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.