Grisby is anxious to talk to O'Hara. During their long walk director Welles created for his audience a scenic tour of the Caleta Peninsula. After visiting some of its favorite beaches (see the previous location) they head over to the Hotel Los Flamingos, which in the 1950s and 1960s was owned by John Wayne and Tarzan's Johnny Weissmuller, who ran it as a private club for their Hollywood friends. The hotel, still going strong, is located at the arrow on the map.
Then ... They head down a rock-bordered path - in the distance is a scenic point and beyond that, the nearby Isla Roqueta.
... and Now, the recent photo taken from near the same spot reveals, below, some additional homes on the point.
... and Now, the rock-bordered path is still there at the Hotel Los Flamingos - the Isla Roqueta is also in this view. The path leads down from the hotel's then-named Casa Redonda, a circular two-room cottage, John Wayne's room of choice, now known as Casa Tarzan in recognition of Johnny Weissmuller's last years spent there.
Then ... The path leads down to a dramatically filmed vertiginous lookout point where Grisby, in a sweaty state of enhanced excitement, makes a bizzare offer to O'Hara - $5,000 if he kills someone for him ... Grisby himself!
... and Now, here's the same lookout today perched below the Casa Tarzan ...
... and Now, over 60 years on, these are the rocks below the lookout. Compared to the 'Then' image above there's been some erosion by the incessant waves, but not much.
The Hotel Los Flamingos, pictured below, was built in 1932. It's a totally unpretentious hotel today but its unsurpassable location, with some of the best sunsets in all of Acapulco, is what the place is all about. The lack of extravagent interiors for many simply adds to its dreamy, laid-back feel.
Following her close call after her car's brakes fail Victoria finds fluid on her garage floor and a pair of her husband Alan's gloves with stains on them. It all looks very suspicious. She has her friend Marc send the gloves for analysis and later takes a cab to his office to see the analysis report.
Then ... The cab pulls up outside Marc Bennett's office, the Crocker flatiron building at One Post Street.
... and Now, this is the same view today - the view west along Post from near Market Street.
Then ... As she gets out of the cab we look down the opposite direction along Post and across Market. The Wells Fargo building is at far left on the corner of Montgomery and the Balboa building is on the corner of 2nd Street across Market. She is about to enter the Post Street entrance of the Crocker building on the right.
... and Now, most of these buildings have been replaced, including the classic old Crocker. The narrow end of the original flatiron building used to be where those trees are.
... an archival photo ... This circa 1920s photo shows us the Crocker building as it was, taken from across Market at 2nd Street with a receding view along Post. The proliferation of banks at each corner of this junction led to its nickname of Banker's Corner.
... and Now, the Crocker building occupied this site from 1890 until it was replaced in 1969 by the Aetna building (below). Let's pause a moment while CitySleuth wipes away a tear.
Then ... Inside the lobby Victoria checks the directory but unexpectedly runs into Alan and has to make an excuse and beat an awkward retreat.
... and Now, with the building gone, even CitySleuth cannot show you the matching view but he can at least offer a substitution from just around the corner, at 111 Sutter Street, in the Hunter-Dulin building, a National Register landmark, built in 1927. Its restored marble lobby still invokes, as the Crocker did, the intimidating feeling of grandeur to all who enter.
Perplexed and confused by Madeleine's strange trance-like behavior and by his feelings for her, Scottie has trouble sleeping and wanders around town in the very early hours.
Then ... In the lower right corner we can just make him out crossing a deserted street at the corner of a city square.
... a vintage photo ... Any San Franciscan and many tourists will recognize this one - it's Union Square, the heart of the city's downtown hotel and shopping area. Scottie is crossing Stockton Street on Geary (map). The 1955 photo below shows us a clearer picture of how it looked back then. This photo was taken from atop the old City Of Paris Store (it became Nieman Marcus in 1980).
... and Now, a recent view (below) from the same corner. To the right, all of the buildings but one on the Post Street block have been replaced but the tall building rising behind them, the Sir Francis Drake hotel, is still there. That's the St Francis hotel on the left; it opened in 1903 and added its highrise tower in 1972. The Dewey 'Victory' monument in the center of the square was dedicated in 1903 and survived the devastating 1906 earthquake. A useful history of Union Square can be seen here.
Bigelow has discovered that Halliday is the one who poisoned him. He rushes from the Philips' apartment to find him, pursued by Majak and his henchmen.
Then ... They chase after him but he manages to stay steps ahead and jumps on a downtown bus (click image to enlarge).
... and Now, CitySleuth is indebted to L.A. sleuth Phil Stufflebean who pointed out this location. This is the junction of Western Avenue and W. 8th Street in Koreatown, just three blocks from Mrs Philips' apartment (map). There's still a liquor store on the corner (below) 60 years on! Old habits die hard.
Then ... Majak and his cronies don't give up easily - they follow the bus into town. The roof sign of the Gaylord Apartments behind them indicates that they are driving east into town on Wilshire Blvd. The Gaylord was built in 1929 as a hotel but had been converted to luxury apartments by the 1940s. It was across the street from the Ambassador Hotel where Robert F Kennedy was assasinated in 1968. Back in those days the clubs and joints on this stretch of Wilshire Blvd were the places to be to rub elbows with the Hollywood set.
... and Now, The apartment building is still there (below), at 3355 Wilshire Blvd in Koreatown (map), now book-ended by newer structures. The Ambassador Hotel opposite is gone, closed to guests in 1989 and demolished in 2005.
Then ... Bigelow arrives downtown and jumps off the bus - fortunately for him a couple of policemen at the bus stop tell Majak to move on. Clifton's Cafeteria can be seen behind them.
... from 1951 ... The vintage photo taken just a year after the movie's release (below) shows us a clearer view of Clifton's Cafeteria, at 648 Broadway near 7th Street (map). The Harris & Frank store is next to it - its rather unusual awning can also be seen above.
... and Now, the same view today. Amazingly, Clifton's Cafeteria, opened in 1935, is still doing business in the same spot, reopening in 2015 after a $10 million transformation to its original glory. Times change though, today's merchants can only sigh in envy over those long-gone teeming hordes of downtown shoppers