Red Lynch decides he's been tormenting Kelly and Toby long enough - he's now ready to execute his robbery plan.
Toby and boyfriend Dave head for The Hangout restaurant to do just that - hang out with some of their friends. It's just blocks from their school, George Washington High (we saw the school earlier here).
In the restaurant, Toby gets a terrifying phone call from Red Lynch with the news that Kelly has been shot and needs to be taken to a hospital. If she doesn't meet him at a nearby corner right away, "I'll let her die ...".
Then ... The horrified girl rushes out, pursued shortly after by Dave, below. The restaurant is alongside him and there's a gas station on each corner across the street.
... and Now, this is the corner of 25th Avenue at Geary Boulevard in the Richmond district (map), viewed looking south. There's now a Jiffylube on the left across Geary. The same house on 25th with a castellated roofline can be seen in the center of both Then and Now images.
From the 1961 street directory entries for this junction we find out what the corner eatery was called when the filming took place - The Wizard restaurant, at 6100 Geary. The gas station where the Jiffylube is today was a Wilshire Oil Co station at 6099 Geary (oddly missing in the entry below but verified elsewhere in the directory) and the one across 25th from it was Joe's Flying A service station.
... and Now, the northwest corner building where The Wizard used to be now houses a Citibank branch.
Then ... Toby runs along 25th towards Clement Street and in her haste almost ends up under a passing car. At the end of the block on the Clement corner a new apartment building is under construction (map).
... and Now, in the same view some of the houses on the block have been replaced but the completed two story apartments are still there on the corner.
Then ... Lynch picks her up next to the apartments on the corner and roars off, his victim secured, in his cool 1958 or 1959 Austin-Healey 100-6.
... and Now, a recent view of this same corner at Clement.
CitySleuth felt a pang of nostalgic excitement when he saw Lynch's car because he once owned one himself. An absolute classic, here's a stunning recent photo of the same model. Drool, guys!
Then ... O'Hara sees the Mandarin Theatre, one of Chinatown's favorite opera and movie houses at 1021 Grant Avenue (map), and slips inside to hide from his pursuers. The theatre, next to the pharmacy at far right, was built in 1925. (Yep, that's yet another Chop Suey sign next door ...)
... and Now, looking south down Grant from the same viewpoint, the theatre, with its horned awning, hasn't changed from the outside. The pharmacy that was next to it at near right is now the popular Golden Gate Bakery, where people regularly line up for their delicious egg custard tarts.
... a vintage photo ... this photo, taken two years before the movie was released, gives us a better view of the theatre as it was in the 1940s.
... and Now, the building today is a shopping arcade, the Sun Sing Center. The theater had been renamed the Sun Sing Theater in 1949 and the name has carried over to the arcade.
... from a vintage postcard ... the theatre was renowned enough to merit its own tourist postcard, below.
Then ... Inside, a traditional Chinese opera is in full swing. CitySleuth thinks these scenes were filmed on a studio sound stage using projected performance footage from the theatre, a technique (studio + location) much favored by director Orson Welles.
... and Now, ghosts from days past can at least shop in the arcade that now occupies the interior. The only surviving element of the stage is its proscenium arch.
Then ... a view from the stage captures the enrapt audience on two levels and the house orchestra off to the side.
... and Now, the gallery today is a lonely place used solely for storage.
Then ... The cab carrying Irene to her lover Dr. Rivera crests a steep hill from where the view stretches across the distant Marina district towards Angel Island in San Francisco's north bay.
... and Now, this is the junction of Divisadero and Broadway in Pacific Heights (map), only two blocks east of Irene's home. From here Divisadero drops down into Cow Hollow and the Marina Green West Harbor can just be seen at the water's edge.
Then ... The cab sweeps around and stops, facing east, at the same junction. Irene gets out and walks the few steps to Rivera's apartment, in the corner house just off to the right at 2560 Divisadero. This is an inferred virtual location because the home's exterior is not shown in the movie and the interiors were filmed on a sound stage.
... and Now, the same view today, along Broadway towards the Russian Hill skyline, has hardly changed.
Then ... The apartment's interior scenes were filmed in a studio so the only way of placing the location is to infer it from the window view, briefly seen during their meeting.
Then ... But where is this? Not much to go on but Citysleuth noticed that it was not unlike a similar view seen from Irene Cabot's home later in the movie. So he overlaid the Rivera view, bordered in yellow, next to the Cabot view. It's one and the same, looking north towards the Palace of Fine Arts. The set designer must have used the same photo behind the window for both interiors.
... and Now, CitySleuth couldn't access 2560 Divisadero but here's the similar view taken from 2701 Broadway, the house across the street from it. The alignment of the Palace with the distant hills indicates that the movie view was taken from a little further west.
Below is 2560 Divisadero, on the corner of Broadway, which as already noted, was never shown in the movie. Because Irene was dropped off outside this home, and because it's the only house on its block which could have a similar north view of the Palace (because Broadway slopes steeply away), CitySleuth hereby candidates it the virtual location of Rivera's apartment.
Reader Howard S, host of the Walking-In-SF blog, reminded CitySleuth that Buster Keaton's 1924 silent movie The Navigator included a scene filmed at this same corner. In the capture below, looking north along Divisadereo across Broadway, Buster is chauffered by way of a U-turn from his mansion on the right to the home of the lady who lives across the street. There doesn't appear to be a house at the corner next to his mansion at that time.
... and Now, the same view today. The two houses at left are still there and the house at right, Rivera's house, was built on the corner in 1938. Compare the road surface in these two images - the lucky few who had wheels back then enjoyed a smooth ride, not possible in San Francisco these days,
Irene is mortified when he confirms that he has indeed made arrangements to leave the country, because he's afraid of what he'll do if he stays. He picks up a hypodermic needle and tells her he had thought of injecting Cabot with an air bubble - an undetectible way to free her from a husband who would never agree to a divorce. But she tells him "Don't even think it".
The fire horn blasts out its beckoning call across town and all, including Walter, come running. This is a diaphone air horn - the diaphone saw its earliest use as a fog horn before a smaller version by the Gamewell Company became popular with fire stations and municipalities all across America (listen to one here).
CitySleuth thanks Larkspur resident Paul Penna for his contributions about the light-hearted footage that follows.
Then ... The horn is seen atop a tower on the roof of Larkspur's City Hall (map) right next to the fire station on the left.
... and Now, it's still there and operational to this day. It used to sound a test call three times daily but backed off over time to once per day at noon. Now there are no daily tests in deference to peace and quiet. Note the extension protruding from the City Hall building, not there in 1949 - it housed the entire Larkspur Police Dept. in the 1950s.
Then ... A newlywed interrupts his honeymoon to report for duty but remembers to kiss the bride.
... and Now, they were facing south on Magnolia at King Street close to the fire station. The property across the street is still bordered by the same locally quarried sandstone wall.
Then ... One of the volunteers rushes out of his home mid-shave, trades his shaving mug for a helmet and fire axe and legs it to the station (click image to enlarge).
... and Now, he lived at 121 William Avenue (map), steps from the Tavern at Lark Creek restaurant on Magnolia - apart from the windows and fence the house has changed very little. (click image to enlarge)
Then ... All scramble aboard a vintage 1927 fire engine, preferred for this scene by the movie director to a more recent model belonging to the Fire Dept.
... and Now, the same view today.
... and Now, here's a wider view of the side-by-side Larkspur Fire Station and City Hall with the fire horn tower at the rear.
Then ... We see Bon Air Hill in the distance as the fire engine roars north, hangers-on hanging on, along Magnolia approaching Cane Street, on the right. There's a garage on the nearest Cane corner at 444 Magnolia.
... and Now, today a large retirement home has been built on Bon Air Hill and the garage is now a hair salon, on the right. Across Cane is the Silver Peso bar where Bob's Tavern used to be in 1949. The tavern's small but distinctive side windows can be seen in both Then and Now images.