Madeleine lives at the Brocklebank Apartments at 1000 Mason Street at Sacramento, a venerable and classy building which, together with the Mark Hopkins Hotel, bookends the Fairmont Hotel between them (map).
Then ... Scottie waits kitty-korner from the Brocklebank in his 1956 De Soto 2-seater Firedome Sportsman. The fine building on the other side of the fence is the Pacific Union Club, a gentlemen's club since 1889. Further back is the still-to-be-completed Grace Cathedral with only one of the twin towers built.
... and Now, the Pacific Union Club looks exactly the same. Formerly the James C. Flood mansion, it and the Fairmont Hotel opposite were the only two Nob Hill buildings that survived the 1906 earthquake and fire. The cathedral was more or less complete by 1964 - from this viewpoint the south tower just peeks over the club.
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Then ... He watches Madeleine exit the building and drive out through the gate ...
.... in her green 1957 Jaguar Mk VIII.
... and Now, thankfully, some things never change. Coincidentally Herb Caen, San Francisco's beloved and curmudgeonly city reporter, also lived in this building. He owned a Jaguar, too, which he often referred to as his 'white rat', a reference to its lack of reliability.
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The iconic Fairmont and Mark Hopkins Hotels , both Nob Hill icons, are seen on the left as Scottie pulls out behind the Jaguar on what will be the first of repeated 'wanderings' around the city.
... and Now, there are newer buildings further back but the Fairmont and the Mark Hopkins remain very popular with well-to-do visitors.
Then ... It's payback time - more than miffed by Jean Darr's brushing him off, Miller hides outside her apartment at night, with his rifle. She leaves her apartment and walks down lower Calhoun Terrace with Miller, on the upper level, following (map).
... and Now, mostly unchanged but for the Transamerica and Bank of America buildings in the distance. Part of the wall on the left has been replaced but some of the original art deco embossments remain, at far left
Then ... Miller scurries around the retaining wall where the two levels of Calhoun converge so as not to lose sight of her. Behind him is the 200 block of Union Street leading up to Montgomery (map).
... and Now, the purple cottages and the flat-fronted Italianate house next to it up the hill are amongst the oldest houses on Telegraph Hill, they were built in the 1850s
Then ... Next, he follows her down the Montgomery steps between Union and Green Streets (map).
... and Now, from the same spot.
Here's another view of the Montgomery steps today.
Then ... They are then seen, in this wonderfully noirish image, walking along Bannam Place from Green towards Union (map).
... and Now ... it's great to find so much of Telegraph Hill as it's always been.
Then ... Miller works for Alpine Dry Cleaners. He makes a delivery to a customer, Jean Darr (Marie Windsor), who lives in the building with the porthole window seen in the right foreground on the lower level of a two-tier street (below, composited from two separate scenes). This is Calhoun Terrace, a cul-de-sac at the top of Union Street on Telegraph Hill: the house is No. 36 (map).
... and Now, The houses on the upper level have been upsized but those on the lower level are mostly unchanged
Then ... Inside the apartment, Jean flirts with Miller and asks him to do a rush cleaning job on a dress. This scene was filmed on a studio set using a photograph for the window view.
... and Now, the actual window view from inside 36 Calhoun Terrace, looking across Piers 15 and 17 on the Embarcadero to the Bay Bridge and Yerba Buena Island. A close comparison with this recent photo shows that the movie view above was taken not from the apartment but close by, lower down the hill.
Then ... But when her boyfriend calls on the telephone she loses interest in Miller and bundles him out. Bad idea.
...and Now, the exterior exit and stairway is now enclosed and incorporated into the house
The movie opens as Eddie Miller (Arthur Franz) aims a rifle from the window of his rented room. A young couple dally on the exterior staircase of a house opposite and Franz takes direct aim at the woman and squeezes the trigger. But the rifle isn't loaded, it's a dry run by Miller to see if he has the nerve to see it through.
Then ... The couple are on the staircase of the 471 - 475 Filbert Street apartment house on Telegraph Hill (map).
and Now ... the house is still there, with a green paint job and a sturdier staircase
Then ... Later in the movie we get a glimpse of Miller's rooming house.
and Now ... this is 450 - 456 Filbert and Miller's room, where he aimed his rifle from, was upstairs on the right.