Petulia, in her 60's minidress, goes shopping. She is seen coming out of a trendy dress shop and then she stops next door to buy some fruit.
Then ... The clues to this location were the number 1053 on the door of the dress shop and a telephone number, YU6-0637, on the window. There's also some Chinese writing (hint, hint - Chinatown?), which a Chinese friend told me said something about flowers ...
... from the public library ... I found this entry in the 1964/66 San Francisco street directory which verified that the movie dress shop was actually a flower shop, Lai Wah Florist, at 1053 Stockton Street in Chinatown with the matching telephone number YU6-0637. The adjacent fruit store was 1055 Stockton on the corner of Jackson - the Orange Land store.
... and Now, the current tenant of 1053 Stockton is a pharmacy but the fruit store on the corner at 1055, though under a different name, is still in the produce business and continues to display on the sidewalk.
Then ... Archie gets a call to come pick Petulia up. We see him getting out of his car in this cleverly arranged shot through a stone railing and under a bench. On the back of the bench are two psychedelic posters of Jerry Garcia, pre-beard - the real Jerry will appear in other scenes later in the movie - and the legs of a man sitting on the bench are whimsically aligned with one of the posters.
That poster was printed for a Grateful Dead Concert at the Fillmore Auditorium on October 21 and 22, 1966. Here's the full version ...
... and Now, the same view is through the railing at the top of the Filbert Steps linking the two-level Montgomery Street - incidentally, right in front of Irene's apartment in the movie Dark Passage.
Then ... Petulia still has the tuba she had filched from O'Dell's Pawn Shop earlier that morning (the instrument is referred to as a tuba in the script but reader Karl Gohl points out that it's really a sousaphone, John Philip Sousa's redesign of a tuba).
... and Now, this is the upper level of Montgomery at the top of the linking Filbert steps (map).
Then ... Archie joins her and we can see down Montgomery towards, at the end of the street, Julius' Castle, the iconic 1922 restaurant. The bench in the foreground plastered with the Jerry Garcia posters is the same one shown above.
... and Now, Julius Castle is still there but it closed its doors as recently as January 2009. The Filbert Steps continue up to Coit Tower at far left.
A bus arrives and Petulia climbs in, leaving Archie with a request to return the instrument to its rightful owners, the Companions Of The Evergreen, - " ... it's a lodge on Grant Street" - but as we who care shall see, the lodge was not on Grant at all. What's more, this bus is driving the wrong way down a one-way street and the real-life bus that services Telegraph Hill, the 39 -Coit, doesn't even get this far - it comes up Union Street and makes a U-turn a block away from here.
Police detective Lieutenant Frank Bullitt (Steve McQueen) meets District Attorney Walter Chalmers (Robert Vaughn) at a reception at Chalmer's residence.
Then ... The house is 2700 Vallejo, corner of Divisadero, in Pacific Heights. Built in 1915, it boasts 16 rooms including 7 bedrooms. The Golden Gate bridge is off to the left and Belvedere is across the Bay to the right.
... and Now, you would never guess 45+ years separate these 'Then' and 'Now' pictures. 2700 Vallejo is currently the residence of the Consul-General of Japan.
Then ... The reception guests spill onto the terrace as Bullitt arrives.
... and Now, a security fence and gate has been added to the entrance.
Then ... On the terrace Chalmers tells Bullitt he is assigned to guard star witness Johnny Ross until the hearings into the mob activities begin.
... and Now, again, security ironwork, otherwise unchanged.
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.
