Following up on Sullivan's tip Eleanor and Leggett embark on a round of Navy stores. These were real San Franciscan locations, three on the Embarcadero and one nearby on Market Street.
Then ... Their first stop is at Vic's Navy Tailors at 110 S. Embarcadero between Mission and Howard.
... and Now, viewed from the same spot, looking south towards the Bay Bridge, the storefronts on this block have been rebuilt and the piers across the Embarcadero have been demolished. The Hotel Griffon is down the block next to the Embarcadero YMCA.
Then ... Then on to Gus Kroesen's at 506 Market Street near the Battery Street intersection.
... and Now, this block has seen dramatic change having been replaced by a modern highrise office building.
... from 1939 ... in this vintage photo we see what the block used to look like - the tailor shop is a couple of stores along from Battery, the one with the awning.
Then ... No luck yet so they move on to Frank's Naval Tailor at 124 S. Embarcadero, on the same block as Vic's, their first stop (note the 'Wines - Liquors' sign down the block, the same one seen in the Vic's shot). This view is to the north towards the Ferry Building.
... and Now, the recent view shows a remodelled block but the Ferry Building is still there, across the street to the right. The Boulevard restaurant is at the end of this block.
Then ... As they approach the fourth store we see the Ferry Building through its window some blocks in the distance and a hotel sign just ahead which reads 'Hotel Colchester Apartments'. The Colchester was at 259 Embarcadero on the block between Jackson and Oregon. But this scene was filmed in a studio using a rear projection to virtually set the location of the store, meant to be at the corner of Jackson and the Embarcadero.
... from Thieves Highway ... In 1949 the San Francisco movie Thieves Highway included location footage of the Colchester Hotel. The panning camera captured this panorama showing the same sign above the hotel entrance.
... and Now, today, this whole block has been swallowed up, part of the huge Golden Gateway redevelopment project. A parking lot (below) has replaced it. For more on the Colchester Hotel and its location see here.
The 1968 movie 'Bullitt' is famous for its spectacular car chase as Steve McQueen barrels through the streets of San Francisco in pursuit of the bad guys. But Don Siegel had done it first, a decade earlier, in this movie. Dancer and Julian, with Dorothy and her daughter as hostages and Sandy at the wheel, lead police pursuers in a high speed race across town.
As they speed away from Sutro's, Julian wants to stop and scatter but Sandy reassures him ... "I'm your boy, I'll get you out". We'll soon see about that.
The chase unfolds below with each segment shown side by side as 'Then" and 'Now'.
Below, the police close in and the chase is finally over, but not before the enraged Dancer shoots his partner Julian in the back as he tries to flee.
Archie takes Petulia to a supermarket to buy a late night snack. For this location director Lester chose Cala Foods at 1095 Hyde Street at California, perhaps because of its interesting design, with its sweeping roofline arching down to a low point in the center.
Then ... The clown outside the store has no connection to the storyline but fits right in with the director's penchant for incongruous Fellini-esque characters. It's no surprise he catches the eye of the kooky Petulia while the pragmatic Archie doesn't even notice.
... and Now, Cala Foods is still there but its elegant roofline has been marred by a poorly conceived addition, more function than form, built in front of it.
... in 1951 ... Interesting trivia for those City history buffs amongst you - the supermarket was constructed on the site of a cable car barn after it was demolished in 1957. The vintage photo below shows the Hyde Street side of the barn (the cable cars entered from California). Next to it on the corner of California was the headquarters of the California Street Cable Railroads, the company that operated the cable lines served by the barn.
... and Now, viewed from the same spot, the barn is gone but the row of houses down Hyde Street is still there.
Then ... This view inside the store looks towards the front (Hyde Street) side of the building. The store employee is seemingly too busy sneaking a peek at Petulia to notice the mess on the floor behind him.
... and Now, you can see the original roofline from the inside, albeit mostly obscured by the refrigerated aisles in this matching view.
Scottie and Midge visit Pop Leibel (Konstantin Shayne), owner of the Argosy Book Store to find out if he knew who Carlotta Valdes was. He recalled that the McKittrick Hotel was built by a rich married man for a young girl, Carlotta. They had a child who he took in but he turned Carlotta out. She slowly lost her mind and finally took her life ... "by her own hand".
Then ... The book shop was created and filmed in the Paramount Pictures studios using a projected street scene for the window view. The shop location is inferred from this view which included passing cable cars. The stores across the street are on the east side of the 200 block of Powell Street. Macintosh, at 222 Powell, was a men's clothing store.
... from 1955 ... below, a vintage photo showing that same block, including the Macintosh store, as it was not long before Vertigo was filmed.
... and Now, the window view today. The Union Square Gallery Market is now where Macintosh used to be.
... from 1959 ... the bookstore's window view was filmed from the entrance of the Manx Hotel at 225 Powell Street, which makes it the virtual location of the book shop (map). This vintage photo shows the Manx as it was when Vertigo was filmed.
... and Now, here's the same block today. Cable cars still run past the hotel, now the Villa Florence.
According to the excellent Hitchcock locations book 'Footsteps In The Fog', the interiors of the Argosy Book Shop were modeled after the Argonaut Book Shop, still in business, which has specialized in Western historical books and maps since 1941. The shop was at 336 Kearny Street when Vertigo was filmed then in 1969 it moved to 786 Sutter. The photos below taken in the original Kearny Street Argonaut certainly show similar features to Hitchcock's Argosy, namely the mezzanine at the rear of the store, its staircase and the arch over the doorway.
But regarding the Argosy's exterior, it's different from the Argonaut, which had a central doorway (above).
Then ... This shot of Scottie and Midge after they leave the shop shows a large picture window with carved wooden posts on either side and an entrance door to the right. CitySleuth has found a location that may have inspired this exterior look ...
... in 2003 ... the Tillman Place Book Shop in Tillman Place across from Podesta Baldocchi's flower shop (another Vertigo location just a few blocks from the Manx hotel) was another well-known City book store, in business for over 50 years before closing down in 2003. The photo below taken just after the closing has the same storefront design as the Argosy with carved window posts and an entrance on the right. Hitchcock was known for being a stickler for location details and often used real places as a guide. The Tillman Place storefront disappeared when it and the store next to it were turned into the Zaza restaurant in 2004.