A police paid informant, Popcorn by nickname because he always seems to have a bag of it in his hand, has information on Red Lynch but he slyly implies he may sell it to the press first. Ripley sets up a plan to appeal to his conscience ...
Then ... Popcorn (Ned Glass) is first seen in a silent movie theater watching comedy clips.
CitySleuth doesn't know if this was filmed at a real theater or a studio set - can anyone out there enlighten him? But he can tell you who the comedians on-screen are, thanks to John Bengtson, who hosts a well-researched silent movie website. Per John, the incompetents on the right (below) are Mack Sennett's Keystone Kops in a clip which can be seen here. The man on the left is Billy Bevan, possibly from the short 'Be Reasonable', being chased by those same hapless Kops.
Then ... Ripley asks Popcorn to meet him at the Marin Town and Country Club, a short drive north of San Francisco in Fairfax, also featured earlier in the movie (go there for location and details). He spots Popcorn from the snack bar near the ping-pong tables.
... and Now, those buildings in the background (they were public toilets), are still there, unused since the club closed down in 1972.
... a vintage photo ... in this undated photo we see the snack bar as it must have been when Ripley was there.
... and Now, what's left of the structure is all boarded up.
Then ... They meet up and walk towards a couple of gabled cabins. As they talk, Ripley points in the direction of the swimming pool.
... and Now, the same cabins, next to the pool fence, are still recognizable.
Then ... He points out Kelly and Toby chatting alongside the pool and tells Popcorn that if he sells his information to the press that one or both of them may be dead by the weekend. Having planted the thought he then leaves Popcorn to mull it over.
... and Now, forty years without grounds maintenance has led to this matching view. You can still see the basketball hoop backboard, now rusted, in the background.
The strategy works - Popcorn takes the police to a public telephone in a seedy part of town (CitySleuth thinks this was a studio location) where Red Lynch has been calling an accomplice nightly about Kelly Sherwood. They watch and wait for the next call ...
... but the accomplice spots them and is killed in the ensuing exchange of gunshots - unfortunately Popcorn is caught in the crossfire, collateral damage, never to snack again.
Kelly's sister Toby and boyfriend Dave choose a sunny day and outdoor setting to go for a swim. They are at Max Friedman's Marin Town and Country Club in Fairfax, 30 minutes or so by car north of the Golden Gate Bridge in Marin County (map). (CitySleuth is indebted to reader Janice Pearcy for bringing this location to his attention). Although termed a club, it was open to the public and by the 1960s hosted thousands of visitors on a typical summer weekend who could enjoy swimming, basketball, baseball, volleyball, dancing, movies and more. Families, especially from San Francisco, would rent out summer cottages here for a leisurely week or two for their annual vacation.
Then ... Toby shrieks as she's about to leap backwards from the diving board.
... and Now, the country club closed down in 1972 - the site is now privately owned - and since then the pools and buildings have steadily deteriorated over the decades as evidenced by this sorry sight.
... a vintage photo ... the diving board Toby jumped from is seen in this undated photo, taken in the club's heyday from the opposite direction, with the pool house behind it.
... and Now, the same view today. The diving board is gone but the pool house still stands
... an early aerial view ... This aerial from the 1940s of the Marin Town and Country Club clearly shows the swimming pool featured in the scene above. To it's right is a basketball court and a small diving pool and the tennis courts are partially visible near the top right corner. Baseball diamonds are on either side of the oval parking lot, which used to be a horse ring.
... and Now, the algaed pool and pool house from the air today. The surrounding spaces have been claimed by many uninvited trees.
This amusing poster for the country club reminded Casper-the-ghost-like denizens trapped in the nearby bleak city of the glorious paradise but a short drive away.
Then ... Toby and Dave (Harvey Evans) flirt outrageously in the pool and we get a closer view of the diving board structure and the pool house.
... and Now, the original tiles are still there, also one of the diving board mounting brackets. The drooping downspout on the dilapidated pool house is but one example of the ravages of time.
Toby then gets a fright when she finds a note from the stalker in her sports bag commanding Kelly to meet him at the Roaring 20s night club the following evening. He was that close to her, playing mind games to heighten the threat.
Just around the corner from Grant at Washington was the venerable Chinese Telephone Exchange at 743 Washington (map). It opened in 1901 at which time, pre dialling, the operators had to know all of the Chinatown customers by name and address because it was considered rude to refer to a person by number. Each operator also had to speak the many dialects of Chinese spoken by the residents. It was no surprise perhaps that the original male operators were soon replaced by women, on account of their "good temper".
Then ... The charming and compact pagoda-style exchange was briefly seen in the movie during O'Hara's desperate dash along Grant Avenue. Note the name on the shop to its right, on the corner of Grant - Dupont, a throwback to Grant Avenue's previous name.
and Now ... the exchange closed in 1949 two years after the movie was filmed and since then has housed banks, including Bank of Canton and, in this recent photo, United Commercial Bank. (Update: East-West Bank is the newest tenant but the building remains unchanged). It says a lot about San Francisco's mild climate that the painted sign on the brick side wall has aged so gracefully.
Then ... Later in the movie when Elsa makes a phone call we see inside the exchange as the call goes through.
... a vintage photo ... here's the pretty Harriot Ng at work in the exchange back in 1929. Check out her chair - it's obviously still in use almost 20 years later, in the movie scene above.
... another vintage photo ... this undated photo shows the exchange in its very early days with a small bank of equipment and a handful of operators.
... a later photo ... by the time this vintage postcard photo was taken the equipment takes up the full width of the room and more and there are many more operators.
and Now ... the room may have been refigured for a bank but the same two dragons partially visible above continue to face each other on the back wall.
How does a lady meet with her lover when she can't drive and her husband's chauffeur takes her everywhere? Sheila has just heard that her amour David Rivera, who also happens to be her husband's doctor, is leaving the country to take up a new job. She is desperate to see him.
Then ... She has the chauffeur drop her off at I. Magnin's flagship store on Union Square, asking him to return later. They pull up in front of the main entrance on Geary near Stockton (map). The signs along along the Geary block include Macy's, Frank Werner's Shoes and Dohrmanns.
... and Now, the same view today. The St. Francis Hotel takes up the whole Powell Street block in the background and there's still an entrance to the parking lot below Union Square at far right. The plaza itself has been relaid out with many more steps for easier access from the sidewalks.
... a vintage photo ... this early 1960s postcard pictures the block on Geary as it was when the movie was filmed. I. Magnin's is the tall white building left of center and to its right is Blum's and Macy's Geary street entrance (its main building is behind it on O'Farrell) and Dohrmanns department store is further along. The City Of Paris store with its rooftop Eiffel Tower is at far left across Stockton Street.
... and Now, I. Magnin was purchased by Macy's in the late 1980s and its store is now a Macy's building but the original entrance, left of center below, today leads into a Louis Vuitton store.
Then ... Sheila makes her way through the store. Behind her, across Union Square on the Post Street block, we see a narrow three story building with arched windows on the top floor and a balustrade at roof level.
... a vintage photo ... here's the same block back in 1947 where we see the same narrow building next to the Hotel Plaza. These are the two buildings seen in the movie image above.
... and Now, the same block today. The narrow building, at 340 Post (with awnings over the arched windows), is the only survivor on this block since the 1940s. Built in 1923 for Bullock and Jones, they were there for over eighty years until Sonoma Williams recently took it over.
Then ... But shopping is the last thing on her mind. She passes directly through I. Magnin's, exits onto Stockton Street, hails a cab and directs it to Rivera's apartment. Sneaky. The cross street is Geary and the store at right across Stockton is the City of Paris. Across Geary is Guaranty Savings. Check out that $8,000 tourmaline mink coat worn by Lana Turner - it was flown in from New York just for this scene.
... and Now, the same view. The City of Paris store at far right has been rebuilt with a glass facade and is now the home of Nieman Marcus. Bulgari is the tenant now across Geary where Guaranty Savings was.