Then ... Irene and Parry, bandaged from his facial surgery, have a cozy dinner in her apartment on a rainy night. This view is taken from her patio (but it was filmed on a studio set).
... and Now, the real patio at the back of apartment 10, 1360 Montgomery. Note the original art deco railing with it's integral plant-pot holders, and look here to see this railing recreated on the studio interior set.
Then ... The camera swings out from the patio to reveal a view of some cottages, one of them with a distinctive scalloped gable, obviously a background photograph used in the studio to set the location.
This is not the actual view from the apartment patio, which faces east. So, where was this photo taken? Finding it was fun and fell into place when I came across this undated archival photograph (below) of two cottages on the steep Filbert steps, No. 228 (on the left) and No. 226 Filbert. These are the same cottages!
But wait a minute, the slope is wrong and doesn't match the movie view... but, hang on, if the photo is reversed (below), we have a match! Compare it to the movie view two pictures above.
OK, we've figured that out, but where was the movie photograph taken from? It turns out it was taken facing north looking across the Filbert Steps from the rear of 40 Alta Street, close to 1360 Montgomery (map). That photo was then reversed and used in the movie. Below left is a recent photo taken from there and next to it the image reversed. Comparing with the Then image above, the scalloped gable is still there and the house with the green roof can also be seen (click the image to enlarge).
... and Now
from the balcony of Apt 3, 40 Alta St The same image reversed
Petulia claims she has fallen and broken her rib but Archie doubts that it was caused by an accident. He asks his friend Barney (Arthur Hill), also a doctor, to take a look at her. Barney suggests lunch to discuss what he found and they meet at a topless club, newly popular back then after Carol Doda had blazed the trail in North Beach four years earlier. Below, Archie enters the club and makes his way past a long bar.
But where was this club? Citysleuth has been looking in vain for it for two years then - serendipity! - he came across it in another movie, revealing the location. The club was Varni's Roaring Twenties at 807 Montgomery Street near Jackson, long since closed down.
In 1964 ... This vintage photo shows how the Roaring 20s looked back then. Note the stained glass circular window on each side of the entrance and the friezes above them displaying a girl on a swing, a novel feature of the club.
... and Now, 807 Montgomery today (below), now houses law offices. (Incidentally, it's on the same block as Ernie's Restaurant of Vertigo fame - see that here).
Then ... Archie joins Barney at his table - the long bar can be seen behind them to the right and, beyond Barney, one of those stained glass windows. Note the girl swinging behind them in an open well space above the exposed basement level and note too the chandelier encircled by light bulbs in front of her.
... and Now, taken from near the same spot on the ground floor of the building looking towards the entrance, the photo below shows an interior made over into office space. In particular the open well has been floored over and a row of offices added along the wall on the right where the bar used to be.
From another movie ... Amazingly a scene was filmed six years earlier in the 1962 San Francisco movie Experiment In Terror from the exact same spot. Here it is, with the swinging girls and a view of that stained glass circular window. The same chandelier is also there.
And, on a nostalgia note, here's a matchbox cover from the club with, naturally, the ubiquitous girl on a swing.
Scottie sneaks into the rear of Podesta Baldocchi, the flower shop, and spies Madeleine inside. The shop was at 224 Grant Avenue near Union Square (map). One reason director Hitchcock reportedly chose this shop was because he liked its distinctive Italian tiled floor. Kim Novak hated this grey outfit and when she complained about it to Hitchcock he reportedly told her "You can wear any color you want so long as it's grey".
Then ... later in the movie Scottie is shown in front of the shop.
... in 1958, this vintage photo shows how Podesta Baldocchi looked when the movie was filmed.
... and Now, 224 Grant Avenue today houses a contemporary clothing store, 7 For All Mankind. Along to the right is Ashburton, the alley Madeleine turned into when Scottie followed her to the shop. Since leaving here Podesta Baldocchi continued in business at a number of addresses and is currently to be found at the Flower Market at 644 Brannan; it also offers deliveries via its website.
The coastguard has found a body floating in the bay, dressed as a porter. Quine recognizes him as one of those who participated in the lineup, presumably eliminated by the drug ring to keep his mouth shut.
Then ... Note the Palace of Fine Arts in the center of the far shore.
Below, a Google satellite view of the location. The scene was filmed on the coastguard pier near Crissy Field in the Presidio not far from Fort Point. Doyle Drive crosses at bottom of the picture. The same pier is one of two seen in the view towards Crissy Field in the movie 'Dark Passage' .