The media is abuzz with the sensational arrest of Walter's wife Irene, charged with conspiring to kill her husband. The Hollywood gossip columnist Sheilah Graham plays herself as she gushes the news for the venerable (since 1924) San Francisco radio station KFRC, at that time affiliated with MBS, the Mutual Broadcasting System. Did she have to wear that hat? On the radio?
Then ... Newspapers fly off the newstands as the latest twists and turns of the case are reported. Below, at Fisherman's Wharf the cry was "Extra, Extra! Irene Williams held for murder! Read all about it!".
... and Now, from the corner of Jefferson and Taylor today (map) we can still see Shed A of Fisherman's Wharf's Pier 45 at the end of the road. On the left some of the buildings have been modernised but Sabella's, The Lighthouse, Alioto's and Fishermen's Grotto continue to sell fresh seafood there on a daily basis. (In 1962 the same block was featured in Experiment In Terror).
Then ... The embittered Walter would have happily stayed under cover and let Irene be punished for his 'murder' if it weren't for Marsha. She persuades him to do the right thing and they fly back to San Francisco to meet with the police. Below, they touch down at the airport (map), at that time named San Francisco Municipal Airport (it became San Francisco International Airport in 1955).
... and Now, the terminal building seen above was built in the 1940s and served passengers until the mid 1950s when a new terminal, named Central Terminal, was built nearby. Central Terminal was later renamed Terminal 2 and expanded over the years to the current structure shown below. The original terminal above was demolished in 1968.
Then ... They arrive at the Hall of Justice by cab, here seen turning from Kearny into Washington at the north end of Portsmouth Square (map).
... and Now, the same corner today, absent the gawkers and with the faded Carnation (?) wall ad painted over.
Then ... As the cab drops them off on the corner of Washington at Kearny Marsha looks up at the Hall of Justice, just off the picture on the right - the block behind them runs east down Washington.
... and Now, the spanking new building on the left has replaced some of those seen above.
... from another movie ... The same corner appeared a year later in the 1950 movie The Man Who Cheated Himself, but viewed west along Washington to Kearny. On the left is the Hall of Justice and on the right is the same Bond-Bail sign partially seen in the Then image above.
Then ... The imposing Hall of Justice as viewed across Kearny from Portsmouth Square.
... and Now, there's a Hilton Hotel on the site now - the Hall of Justice was demolished in 1967. See here for the same location as it appeared in 1958 in The Lineup.
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".