In a flashback we see Victoria (below left) and ailing fellow inmate Karin Dernakova (Natasha Lytess, who incidentally was the acting coach of Marilyn Monroe in the early 1950s) during their confinement in the infamous Belsen concentration camp. Karin spoke of a rich relative in America - "Aunt Sophie has a big house on the hill" - and pines for her infant son who has been sent to the aunt for safety. When Karin dies shortly before liberation the envious Victoria grabs the opportunity and surreptitiously switches identities with her.
Then ... Victoria eventually manages to emigrate to America. The director portrays her arrival in New York with this view looking north from downtown Manhattan. The tower in the foreground is the Singer Building and the one behind it is the Woolworth Building.
... and Now, the Singer Building was razed in 1967 to make way for the U.S Steel Building, now known as One Liberty Plaza (in the recent photo below it's the sleek dark building in the center). The original Woolworth Building is still there, just visible on the left.
Victoria has learned that Karin's aunt Sophie in San Francisco has died and left her estate to Karin's son Chris, under the care of guardian Alan Spender (Richard Basehart). She visits the office, below, of the attorney representing the estate and demands to be reunited with 'her' son. Both lawyer and Alan Spender are at first skeptical of her claim to be Karin but she does a convincing job of persuading them.
Alan Spender, now reassured that Victoria is Chris's mother, buys her a fine wardrobe and wines and dines her. It's clear he's attracted to her, a situation she privately admits she is prepared to take advantage of.
Then ... On a Manhattan patio Alan proposes to Victoria who is only too willing to accept, assuring stability and security in her life. Citysleuth thinks this scene was filmed on a studio soundstage using a background photo of a bridge to imply the location ...
... in 1935 ... Below is a vintage photo taken from Sutton Place near E 57th Street at the East River and has the same view. This is the Queensboro (aka 59th St) Bridge, which places the virtual location of the patio as Midtown Manhattan overlooking the Sutton Place neighborhood.
... and Now, here's the Queensboro Bridge today.
"This is San Francisco, as it looks from Telegraph Hill". These are the opening words of the movie spoken in voiceover by the main character, Victoria Kovelska (Valentina Cortese).
Then ... The panorama, of San Francisco's waterfront, the Bay Bridge and the Financial District, is indeed the view from Telegraph Hill, filmed from the top of Coit Tower. The iconic Ferry Building clock tower can be seen almost lined up with one of the bridge towers (click image to enlarge).
... and Now, the recent view, below, reveals drastic changes in the Financial District which now includes the Transamerica pyramid at far right. Several foreground buildings are unchanged, as is the white Appraiser's Building over to the right of center.
... and Now - an aerial view, this view of the Financial District in the distance shows Coit Tower atop telegraph Hill in the foreground, the vantage point for the images above.
Nick accepts Rica's offer to let him use her room so he can catch up on some much-needed sleep. Below, she takes him to her hotel, the Colchester - a real hotel of that name on the edge of the Produce District at 259 Embarcadero that is no longer there. See the hotel on this Produce District map.
Then ... They pass the 263 Club at 263 Embarcadero and arrive at the hotel.
... in the 1920's ... Though dating to the 1920's this vintage photo shows the area as it still looked in 1949 when the movie was filmed. It shows where the hotel was, between Jackson and Oregon on the Embarcadero. Note the billboard on its roof, advertising rooms. Note too the underpass under construction on the Embarcadero in front of Merchant Street - it opened in 1925 and ran under the Ferry Building Plaza. The large white building between Washington and Merchant was the Ferry Post Office.
Then ... Another view, below, of the front of the hotel illuminated for the movie in the best noir tradition.
... and Now, the hotel site today viewed from the same spot is part of the Golden Gateway Tennis and Swim Club. The small building behind the hedge is the tennis clubhouse - it sits approximately where the hotel used to be.
Then ... This view from one of the hotel windows looks out past the neon sign across the Embarcadero to Pier 5. A diesel engine of the State Belt Railroad is parked in front of the Wellman Peck building across Jackson Street.
... a vintage photo ... a very early undated photo shows the hotel, in the lower left corner with its rooftop 'ROOMS' billboard, with railcars in front of the Wellman Peck building.
... and Now, the same view today from the tennis clubhouse towards Pier 5.
The Colchester Hotel was condemned by the city in 1954 and subsequently demolished because of structural cracks in its exterior brick walls (see the press newscopy below and a 1954 photo clearly showing cracks alongside the upper windows).
Bigelow has just received a confirming diagnosis of a fatal poisoning giving him only a few days to live. He becomes totally unhinged (who wouldn't?) and rushes out of the Southern Pacific Hospital at 1400 Fell Street on a frenzied dash through town.
Then ... The hospital is in the Nopa neighborhood but in the next frame (below) he is rushing along busy Market Street two miles away - some run! Just ahead of him is Taylors at 925 Market and J C Penney is next it. These scenes were filmed without a permit using a hidden camera to ensure a genuine reaction from the surprised pedestrians.
... and Now, Mid-Market does not have the hustle and bustle as it did back in the 1950s. It was far livelier back then.
... in 1956 ... here's a vintage photo of a view down this stretch of Market Street showing J C Penney and Taylors at the far right. The big E of the Emporium is visible in the next block and the Ferry Building can just be made out at the far end of Market Street.
Then ... He continues along Market having just passed the Emporium on his right on the 800 block. Gensler-Lee Diamonds at 818 Market, Moss clothing store and Bartels coats are seen on the left. The Gensler-Lee and Moss stores also show up through Lancey's Diner's window in the movie 'Woman On The Run'. Past Bartel's Coats, across Stockton Street, is the Roos Bros. department store (click image to enlarge).
... and Now, the bus stop island is still there but those stores have long since moved out. The Roos Bros. site was until recently home to the Virgin store.
Then ... The mad dash continues below as Bigelow, now at the waterfont, races across the Embarcadero towards Market Street. The Bay Bridge is behind him and the top of the YMCA near Howard can be seen above the passing bus.
... and Now, the Y is still there today, hidden by the palm trees. What these 'Then' and 'Now' shots don't show is the eyesore two-level freeway that ran along this section of the Embarcadero from the late 50s until the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake forced its demolition.
The frantic dash ends as Bigelow, exhausted, stops at a newsstand on the corner of Market and the Embarcadero. In a cruel irony the magazine rack proclaims 'Life!' at the very moment when he is facing imminent death.
On a trivia note, reader Tom Shieber points out that the Life Magazine on the newsstand above was the September 12, 1949 issue. It features a cover story about how Yugoslavia's Marshal Tito defied the Kremlin. That was a pretty ballsy thing to do in those days.