After checking in at the Hilton Union Square Hotel the free-spirited Petulia disregards a 'Do Not Walk On Ramp' sign and urges Archie up the narrow car ramp.
Then ... This is the ramp between the 4th and 5th floor in what is now the Hilton's Tower 3.
... and Now, it's been over 40 years but the same wall patterns are still there.
Then ... They reach the 5th floor. In another nod to technology their key activates a flashing light which guides them to their room, No. 549.
... and Now, the same location on the 5th floor of Tower 3 today. In the movie the door, now painted orange, leads directly into their room but in reality it leads into a perimeter corridor for the 5th floor rooms.
They enter the motel room but Petulia changes her mind - they are not about to become lovers after all. Archie is remarkably sanguine under the circumstances, simply telling her that she's 'a kook'.
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.