Parry walks from the cable car turnaround to a bus depot where he buys his ticket to freedom.
Then ... On the depot window we can make out the name 'White Arrow Bus Lines'.
But where was this filmed? The absence of an entry in the 1947 street directory confirms that 'White Arrow Bus Lines' was a fictitious name. But there is a clue to its location ... there's a sign behind the bus as it was waiting to leave, pointing to the Lankershim Hotel.
The Lankershim was a real hotel at 55 5th Street just a block's walk from the cable car. And right next to the hotel, across the narrow Jessie Street at 75 5th Street, was a Greyhound bus depot at the Pickwick Hotel. Check out the 1942 map below of the Market/4th/Mission/5th Streets block showing the location of the Lankershim and the Pickwick on 5th Street at bottom left (click image to enlarge). It also shows the Greyhound Bus Depot Garage behind the Pickwick. Parry's bus would have been facing the Mission Street exit, so the Lankershim Hotel sign behind the bus, above, would have been on the side of the Lankershim in Jessie Street pointing to the hotel entrance on 5th.
... in the 1940s ... Below is a 1940's postcard rendering of the Lankershim, viewed from across 5th Street. Jessie runs down the right side.
... and Now, the Lankershim has become the Hotel Milano - the same structure with a remodeled street level facade (map). (Update - the hotel has recently been remodeled again and opened as the Hotel Zetta in 2013).
... in the 1940s ... Below is a postcard rendering of the Pickwick Hotel as it looked back then with its bus depot office on the corner of Jessie (click image to enlarge).. These vintage postcards were accurate images, using colorized photographs.
... and Now, this is the Pickwick today, on the corner of 5th and Mission. It's hardly changed, except there's no bus depot there any more. The side of the Hotel Milano can just be seen across Jessie to its left.
But the window view from the movie depot does not match the view from the Pickwick, which looks towards the old San Francisco Mint. CitySleuth thinks there's a good reason for this, namely the movie depot scene was filmed in a studio - but the old Pickwick bus depot was the inspiration for it, therefore it can be considered to be the implied location.
... and Now, below is where the bus depot was, at the corner of Jessie and 5th, now occupied by restaurants Cafe Venus and Sushi Club.
... and Now, the old bus depot garage can still be seen next to the Pickwick around the corner on Mission Street.
In the famous car chase Bullitt's Mustang 390 GT pursues the bad guys' Dodge Charger 440 Magnum through several San Francisco neighborhoods before ending with a fiery conclusion outside the city. This post takes sixteen of the highlights and presents them in a 'Then' and 'Now' format.
Two of Mike Figlia's henchmen mug Nick in front of the Colchester Hotel on the Embarcadero (the hotel was described earlier). When Nick's wallet falls to the ground Rica grabs it and takes off, with the thugs in close pursuit. They catch up with her in Ceylon Street, a narrow alley near Front Street between Clay and Washington which no longer exists after the Golden Gateway Project redevelopment. The map below shows where Ceylon used to be and where the scenes were filmed. The Colchester Hotel was at location 1 and Rica was cornered at location 2.
The chase starts in front of the Colchester Hotel, below.
... a vintage photo ... here's the Colchester in an undated photo taken before this block was demolished.
Rica is next seen at the south end of Ceylon Street which tees with Clay Street behind her. The small sign says 'Allied Produce Co' - this was the back door of the business of that name at 313 Davis Street.
Then ... The thugs close in on Rica and take the wallet from her. This panoramic composite looks north along Ceylon to where it tees into Washington; a large truck is parked across the intersection. A 'John DeMartini Co' sign is behind Rica at a side entrance to the DeMartini building on Washington which spanned Ceylon to Davis.
... and Now, the Golden Gateway Garage has been built where Ceylon Street used to be. The photo below shows the same view today, but taken on the garage's roof garden.
... an archival photo of Ceylon Street ... CitySleuth has combined two archival photos (below) to show how the Washington/Ceylon corner used to look before the area was redeveloped. On the left, from the 1950s, is a view east down Washington. On the right, from 1944, a view south down Ceylon. This is the opposite direction from the 'Then' movie view along Ceylon, above, but a comparison of the corner building's windows and awning shows it to be the same building.
The movie opens with two twilight views in succession, establishing the location as New York City. The views are at locations A and B on the map below.
Then ... First is a view of Brooklyn Bridge taken from the Brooklyn side looking across the East River to Manhattan (location A on the map).
... and Now, below is a recent photo taken from the same spot. There are many new buildings in this view but sadly, the most dominant of the newer additions - the twin towers of the World Trade Center, are missing.
... before 9/11/2001 ... This earlier photo shows the same view when the towers were still there.
Then ... The second view is from Central Park (location B in the map above) and establishes the setting for the opening action which follows. Note the two twin tower apartment buildings on the skyline.
... and Now, this matching photo was taken from the Sheep Meadow in Central Park. The two classic buildings stand as sentinels representing a side of the city unchanged in the 64 years since the movie was made. At center the Majestic Apartments at 115 Central Park West and to its right the San Remo Apartments at 145 Central Park West where coincidentally the star of the movie, Rita Hayworth, resided at the time of her death from Alzheimers in 1987. Other celebrities who have lived here are Dustin Hoffman, Steven Spielberg, Bono and Demi Moore with Bruce Willis.
... and Now, below, this aerial photo looking south down Central Park shows the Sheep Meadow, location B, with arrows pointing to the two apartment buildings. That's the Metroplitan Museum of Art in the center foreround.