Before Eleanor has a chance to go to Carmel to meet Frank she gets a chilling call from the police. A dead man has been found and they think it might be her husband. She hurries to the coroner's office. When she is shown the stiff's face she faints, prompting Inspector Ferris to conclude that it was indeed Frank.
Then ... The San Francisco Coroner's Office was in the old Hall of Justice at 750 Kearny Street opposite Portsmouth Square (map). Eleanor enters the office from the Merchant Street alley side of the building. The address, 650 Merchant Street, is plainly visible on the door.
... and Now, the Merchant Street alley as it looks today from the same spot. The Hall of Justice has since moved to 850 Bryant Street and the building was demolished in 1967 and replaced by a Holiday Inn, since changed to the Hilton Financial District Hotel. Portsmouth Square is at the top of the alley.
... from 1964 ... the vintage photo below of the old Hall Of Justice was taken from Portsmouth Square - it shows us how it looked when the movie was filmed. Washington Street is on the left and Merchant Street runs down the right side of the building. The distinctive building with its fan-shaped windows was featured in movies ('The Lineup' - see here and here) and TV shows ('Ironside', where Raymond Burr kept his office).
... and Now, the Hilton San Francisco Financial District hotel (too much information!) occupies the site today.
The alarm has been raised and the first responders jump into action as the movie's opening credits roll. Views from the length and breadth of the city welcome the audience to beautiful San Francisco as each of the responders are shown.
Then ... An ambulance pulls out of a driveway and heads down the hill. Citysleuth is indebted to Reel SF reader and fellow sleuth CDL, who found this location. This is on the south edge of Cole Valley - the view looks north down the entire length of Cole Street from Carmel Street with the University of San Francisco main campus on the hilltop in the distance beyond the Golden Gate Park Panhandle (map).
... and Now, the view today, with the same houses on the Cole/Carmel corners. St. Ignatius Church at the University of San Francisco campus is visible on the far horizon.
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Below is a closer look at St. Ignatius Church and the USF campus as seen from the higher vantage point of Twin Peaks, just south of Carmel Street, viewed along the same line as the Cole Street view above.
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Then ... Next we see police motorcyclists heading south along the Great Highway past Lincoln Way at the southwest corner of Golden Gate Park in the Outer Sunset district (map). The Pacific Ocean is to the left and Cliff House (featured later in the movie, see it here) can be seen above the letters LL in writer Stirling Silliphant's name.
... and Now, Cliff House is still there, albeit remodelled.
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Then ... We cut clear over to Potrero Hill where a police car responds on Wisconsin Street near 22nd Street (map). Here, Wisconsin points north towards a fine panorama of the city.
... and Now, still a fine view but it's truncated by the sidewalk trees. CitySleuth often wonders why trees and views in San Francisco have to be mutually exclusive.
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Then ... Another police car responds from Sea Cliff on El Camino Del Mar at 32nd Avenue (map). The vista looks over Sea Cliff to the Presidio.
... and Now, some newer houses show up in the foreground amongst the recognizable survivors.
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Then ... Finally, the responders arrive at Pier 41 near Fisherman's Wharf, the scene of the crime (map). The open lot to the left on the corner of Powell and Jefferson had only recently been cleared of a huge gas holder.
... and Now, a Gap Store and the Radisson Hotel sit on the site of the old gas holder.
The movie takes on a menacing undertone as Victoria begins to harbor suspicions about her husband Alan's behaviour. She comes across an old shed in her garden and, inside, is horrified to see a gaping hole in the side with a sheer drop down to the street, way below.
Then ... In the distance are three piers and beyond them a view across the Bay.
... in 1952 ... the movie photo above was taken from the Pioneer Park parking lot at the base of Coit Tower looking north across the Bay to Alcatraz and Angel Island. The piers are, from right to left, Piers 35, 37 and 39. Below is a 1952 vintage photo of the same view but taken higher up from the top of Coit Tower.
... and Now, the view from the parking lot today is blocked by trees but here's the matching view from the top of Coit Tower (below). Pier 35 is still there, on the right. Next to it is a marina where Pier 37 used to be and, on the left, Pier 39 was expanded in 1978 into a mega tourist attraction.
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Then ... Suddenly Alan appears and startles his wife. Our hearts stop as she steps back into the void but fortunately he grabs her as she falls, narrowly avoiding a premature end to the movie. Below them is a tall industrial building with a single-storied building abutting it, filmed looking vertically down from the same spot at the edge of the parking lot used for the above location view.
... in 1949 ... a 1949 vintage photo shows us where this building was (arrowed), on the corner of Lombard and Montgomery directly below the Coit Tower parking lot. The low building next to it can also be seen.
... and Now, seen from the top of Coit Tower, the industrial building has been replaced by the Park Telegraph Apartments at 200-240 Lombard. In the foreground at left is the edge of the parking lot whence the movie backgrounds were filmed.
Paula, concerned for Bigelow, heads to Los Angeles to meet him for what will turn out to be their final farewell.
Then ... She waits for him outside his hotel, the Allison, with a distinctive art deco entrance.
... and Now, this was filmed at the entrance to the A. G. Bartlett building at 215 7th Street a half block east of Broadway (map). The building is still there but the bland entrance today lacks the class of the one above.
... from a vintage photo ... this circa 1940s photo looks east on 7th towards Spring Street and shows the A. G. Bartlett entrance as it was. It clearly is the one used for the movie - note the brass and glass doors and the art deco moderne flashes on the upper sides of the doorway. Note too the darker stone facing on each side of the entrance. They all match, as does the street number, 215. For the movie, the 'Allison Hotel' sign was simply mounted over the 'A G Bartlett Bldg' sign.
... and Now, here's the A. G. Bartlett building today. It was built in 1911 and received its art deco embellishments in a 1937 renovation. Most of the building changes since then have been confined to the street level frontage.
Then ... Bigelow pulls up in his car and Paula steps forward to meet him. But this scene was filmed not outside the A. G. Bartlett building but across the street outside the Lankershim Hotel (map). The view looks west along 7th Street where it crosses Broadway, with Bullocks over to the right and Hamilton's Jewelers opposite it in the Loews State Theater building (click image to enlarge).
... and Now, in today's view the building that used to house Bullocks is still there, as is the State Theater, now operated as a church. The Lankershim Hotel, just off the photo to the left, is no longer there, having been replaced in the 1980s by another building.
Then ... They stand next to the pillar on the corner and, in a heart-wrenching conversation, they ardently profess their love for each other. Then he leaves, never to see her again.
... and Now, the same corner today - new building, no pillar.
... from the 1950s ... this vintage photo of the 7th and Broadway junction on a rainy day includes the same corner, with the pillar on the left below the Cola sign.
... from 1907 ... the vintage photo below shows the Lankershim when it first opened. It was a grand hotel with 250 rooms and 160 baths, a good ratio in those days. It closed down after damage from the 1971 Sylmar San Fernando earthquake was deemed too expensive to repair.
... and Now, the hotel was replaced with this retail/parking structure. 7th Street is on the left and Broadway on the right.