In the cab, Leggett and Eleanor try to work out where her husband Frank is hiding from clues in the letter he sent to her. Leggett suggests they continue at "Lancey's on Powell ... this place has the best waffles in town".
Then ... But the view through Lancey's window (below) is not Powell Street - it's Market Street! That's Gensler-Lee Diamonds at 818 Market and the Moss women's clothing store at 816 Market. The diner was created on a studio soundstage using a rear projection, filmed from 817 Market opposite the Moss store, to set the virtual location.
... from 1944 ... this vintage photo shows Moss and Gensler-Lee on Market Street, next to Bartel's Coats. (Incidentally, these stores are also seen in the movie 'D.O.A.', filmed in the same year).
... and Now, CitySleuth has substituted today's view into Lancey's window. The old Moss Store is now part of the Diesel store at 800 Market Street, to the right of the video game store GameStop, at the escalator exit from the underground Powell Street Bart station
... in 1950 ... When they did the filming 817 Market was occupied by Hartfield's, a women's clothing store, pictured here in a vintage photo. The space between the mannequin displays let the cameraman shoot across the street towards the Moss store while also capturing shoppers passing by on the sidewalk, perfect for the movie's window view. Clever. This then is the virtual location of Lancey's diner.
... and Now, that location today houses Levi's, readdressed as 815 Market Street. Its red sign is visible below in the retail section of the Pacific Building.
As he lights Eleanor's cigarette Leggett mentions that his nickname is 'Dannyboy' . But take a closer look at that lighter - it's the same one used in the opening scene by the killer, who was also called Dannyboy. She doesn't know it yet, but we do ... we now know whodunnit. In the same way, Alfred Hitchcock eight years later in Vertigo let the audience in on the mystery part way into the movie, setting them on edge for the rest of the way.
Eleanor leaves Hart & Winston and walks towards Union Square - Leggett is hiding behind a pillar on Market Street near 4th across from the Foreman & Clark store (it looks to CitySleuth like a studio set with a projected background).
Then ... Foreman & Clark was on the corner of Stockton and Ellis where they converge at Market Street.
... from 1955 ... here's a vintage photo of that junction taken from above the spot where Leggett was standing. The store was opposite Roos Brothers men's clothing store.
... and Now, the Apple Store currently occupies this corner site.
Then ... Leggett catches up with Eleanor at Union Square (below) and they hop into a cab in front of the TWA office on the corner of Maiden Lane. The St. Francis Hotel is directly across Union Square.
... and Now, Maiden Lane has added a traffic gate to create a precinct experience for its shoppers. The TWA office is now a Gucci store.
In the cab, they discuss the letter Frank has sent to Eleanor with clues to where he is hiding. They notice a police tail behind them and Leggett directs the cabbie through Chinatown to shake them off.
Then ... At the northwest corner of Portsmouth Square they lose the tail with a left turn from Brenham Place into Washington then a quick right down the narrow Wentworth Place.
... and Now, Brenham Place (below, on the left) was renamed as Walter U. Lum Place in 1985.
Parry takes a cab to the only friend he has in town - a musician, George Fellsinger (Rory Mallinson) - hoping to stay with him for a short while. The cab drives through downtown and is seen in the composited capture below as it makes a turn at a bustling intersection bejewelled with neon signs.
Then ... The cab is turning from Kearny Street into Geary where they meet at Market Street (map). Granvilles Jewellers is at 2 Geary on the corner and next to it is Pastine's Liquors at 15 Kearny. The Lighthouse Coffee Shop is next again at 17 Kearny and next to it is F. Corelli's Grill.
... and Now, the neon signs are gone. it would seem that downtown was a far livelier place back then. To quote L.P. Hartley ... "The past is a foreign country, they do things differently there".
The cab drops him off at George's house on Russian Hill at the end of a short cul-de-sac, Florence Street, off Vallejo (map).
Then ... the house is One Florence, a modest one story wooden structure at the end on the right with a great view to the south across the city. Note the two highrise apartment buildings on the horizon and the single tower to their left, part of the partially constructed Grace Cathedral.
... and Now, a three story apartment building now sits at the One Florence site. The highrise apartments are still there, 1250 Jones (the tallest) and 1360 Jones in front of it, now surrounded by others.
... and Now, George's view today, from a balcony of One Florence, now includes the completed Grace Cathedral.
George agrees to let Parry stay and gives him a spare key. Parry leaves to have plastic surgery to change his facial features but when he returns he finds somebody has killed George by whacking the poor guy with, of all things, his trumpet. The irony - he lived by it, he died by it.
The three crooks drive to meet a contact awaiting arrival of a ship carrying passengers from overseas. On the way they drive down Illinois Street.
Then ... This is Illinois Street looking south from 18th (map). The crane is in the Bethlehem Pacific Shipyard in the Dogpatch neighborhood east of Potrero Hill. Trivia note - Alfred Hitchcock used the same shipyard to represent one of the Vertigo locations.
... and Now, the Dogpatch is rapidly gentrifying but this stretch of Illinois, other than the missing gasholder, is yet to change. One set of rail tracks are gone but amazingly, though rusting and graffitied, that darn crane is still there a half century on!
Then ... The drug ring contact, Staples (Robert Bailey), is waiting for them at the terminal.
... from 1962 ... This vintage photograph shows where he was. The arrow marks where Staples was waiting, at the far end of the Mission Rock Terminal, aka Pier 50, in Mission Bay near to China Basin and today's San Francisco Giants ballpark (map).
... and Now , a berthed vessel blocks part of the view but CitySleuth was able to duplicate most of it from the corner of the pier.
Then ... As our mischief-makers drive onto the pier (below), the camera pan gives us a sweeping view of the terminal at the end of Pier 50.
... from 1955 ... Another aerial photo of Pier 50. This photo and the panorama from the movie, above, both look west down the length of the pier. The arrow marks where the scene was filmed.
... and Now, no longer a passenger terminal, the pier is still actively used for commerce.
Then ... The camera continues panning, a continuation of the panorama above, until the car stops at the end of the pier.
... and Now , the island on the right is Yerba Buena Island. Just beyond it, at far right, is the partially constructed single tower of the new suspension bridge scheduled to replace the old section of the Bay Bridge left vulnerable after the 1989 earthquake.
Staples' job is to describe to Dancer the passengers who are carrying the contraband and where they are staying. Dancer's job is to go get the stuff.
The first is a Mr. Sanders ... "They live at 9020 Jackson". (An interesting dyslexic misquote by Staples, even repeated by Dancer, because as we shall see, they live at 2090 Jackson). The heroin has been hidden in the handles of a set of flatware he bought in Bangkok.
Next, Dorothy Bradshaw and her daughter Cindy. In their case the hiding place is Cindy's doll from Tokyo. They are staying at the Mark Hopkins Hotel.
And finally, Larry Warner, a crewmember who is staying at the Seaman's Club. His package has been secreted inside a Tang Dynasty horse from Hong Kong.