Then ... Sheila's step-daughter Cathy Cabot (Sandra Dee) speeds across the bay to her boyfriend's tugboat. This was filmed on the bay east of Telegraph Hill (map). In the distance are the Ferry Building on the waterfront at far left and the tall Shell Building at 100 Bush Street at far right. Between them along Market Street are the Southern Pacific Building with its twin 'SP' billboards on top and the PGE/Matson Building with its narrow tower.
... and Now, From near the same spot we can still see the Ferry Building and the Southern Pacific Building, sans billboards, next to it but the others, although still there, are hidden by the phalanx of Financial District highrises.
... in 1956 ... CitySleuth thought you'd enjoy this cool shot down Market Street taken from the Ferry Building - it includes the billboards and the buildings mentioned above.
Then ... Cathy vaults aboard, greeted by boyfriend Blake Richards (John Saxon) and excitedly tells him that her father plans to award him a contract for Cabot Shipping Lines' entire towing needs. This part of the scene, involving conversation requiring good sound quality, was clearly filmed in a studio with a Telegraph Hill video projected behind them.
... and Now, the same view today looks very similar but it does have newer buildings along the waterfront behind the piers. Fifty more years of tree growth atop Telegraph Hill has unfortunately completely obscured the once magnificent panoramic view that rewarded visitors to Pioneer Park (to the right of Coit Tower).
Later, Cathy's father suddenly dies - Dr. Rivera's dastardly needle deed has been done. The burial ceremony below appears to CitySleuth to have been filmed on a back lot using a backdrop photo of a golf course.
Then ... Blake goes to Cabot Shipping's headquarters in the Crocker Building at Post and Market (described earlier) where Cabot's assistant Howard Mason is now calling the shots. Mason lies when he denies knowledge of Cabot's plans and in a heated exchange tells Blake that the tugboat contract has gone to somebody else. Through the office window is a clear view of an elevated freeway, the Pier 20 bulkhead and the Bay Bridge.
... and Now, even CitySleuth can be forgiven for not duplicating this view. Why? For one, the ill-fated 480 (Embarcadero) freeway has been demolished and not replaced. For another, so too has Pier 20. What's more, the Crocker Building is gone too, replaced by the Aetna Building, from whence new high rises would today block this view. Instead, we turn to Google Earth to duplicate the viewpoint from the building site today. Looking at this, CitySleuth thinks, because of the alignments, that the window view wasn't from the Crocker Building, but was taken from a location a little further south, across Market street.
... in 1958 ... before it was torn down after being damaged in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, here's what the 480 freeway seen from Mason's office window looked like in the final scene from the movie The Lineup.
Then ... Blake angrily storms from the Crocker Building's Post Street exit where Cathy is waiting for him. Across the street Montgomery tees in from the left - there's a bank on each corner - and Market Street is straight ahead. (Coincidentally, this exact shot was seen in the 1951 movie The House On Telegraph Hill. See it here).
... and Now, there's a little garden at right, in front of the Aetna Building, where the flatiron Crocker Building's pointed end used to be. What was the Crocker-Anglo bank at far left on the corner of Montgomery (incidentally featured here in the 1962 movie Experiment In Terror) is today a Wells Fargo bank and the Well Fargo bank opposite it, left of center above, is now a glass-walled building housing Fidelity Investments.
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.