The movie starts with a rooftop panning shot of New York City.
Then ... the pan begins at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel at 301 Park Avenue (at upper right), takes in the Commerce Building at 708 3rd Avenue then scans down to the Chrysler building at 405 Lexington Avenue at 42nd Street (click image to enlarge).
Here’s an aerial photo of a DC-4 airplane over Manhattan taken by renowned photojournalist Margaret Bourke White in 1939 that just happens to reveal whence the panorama was filmed. The camera was set up at the top of the 37-story Daily News Building at 220 E. 42nd Street near 2nd Avenue and panned from right to left between the arrows.
... and Now, here's a recent photo of the same panorama through adjacent windows on the 26th floor of the Daily News Building. Although taken 11 stories below the movie's vantage point, the twin bronze-clad cupolas of the Waldorf-Astoria can be seen above the skyline on the right with the Commerce Building just to its left and the Chrysler Building at far left (click image to enlarge).
Those three buildings and the Daily News Building are still to be found at their original locations, proud ambassadors of the Art Deco era that spawned them. Here they are today - from left to right the Chrysler Building, the Commerce Building, the Waldorf-Astoria and the Daily News Building.
Cut to a street corner where the signs declare in two different ways that we are in the Theatre District at Times Square.
Then ... just steps away, the camera closes in on the marquee of the Bijou theatre advertising a new play by Myra Hudson, a successful playwright and wealthy heiress from San Francisco. Opposite and a little further down is another theatre, the Booth, where Jack Palance had his first stage role, a one-liner, in the comedy ‘The Big Two’.
... and Now, the Bijou, at 209 W. 45th Street in Manhattan's Theatre District, had been there since 1917. In 1951 it became a CBS studio and then a D. W. Griffith Theatre before reverting back to the Bijou in 1965 but was finally demolished to make way for the Marriott Marquis Hotel - the Bijou site is now covered by the hotel's garage. In this west-facing view down 45th Street the hotel is to the right. Across the street the Booth Theatre is still in business today (map) - note the billboard frame on its roof, still there 60 years on.
During reheasals in the Bijou Myra (Joan Crawford) watches Lester Blaine (Jack Palance), the actor hired to play the romantic lead, and decides he is not suitable for the role, summarily firing him. (Who can blame her - Palance's menacing visage usually brought him bad-guy roles). Lester is not happy to get the news and lets her have it before storming out.
The movie's final scenes were filmed at San Francisco's beloved amusement park Playland At The Beach, located along the Great Highway just south of Sutro Heights (map). The first ride at the site appeared as early as the 1880s and by the 1920s Playland was fully established with multiple rides and hundreds of concessions, drawing huge crowds daily from noon to midnight.
... In the 1940s ... In this vintage aerial photo Playland is seen spread over most of four blocks. At the top (north end) is the wildly popular double-ramped Shoot The Chutes attraction and at the south end the Big Dipper roller coaster. Next to it, fronting the Great Highway and the Pacific off to the left, is the circular Merry-Go-Round carousel. The northwest corner of Golden Gate Park, including one of its two windmills, is visible at the bottom.
and Now ... the amusement park, sadly, is gone, demolished in 1972 to make room for condominium complexes. In this recent Google Earth satellite view a number of the adjacent houses can still be recognized, as can the windmill in Golden Gate Park. The large white-roofed building is the Safeway supermarket at 850 La Playa.
The color and buzz of the amusement park was nicely captured in this Noal Betts watercolor.
Then ... The hapless, comatose O'Hara is carried by Elsa's servant into the Crazy House at the amusement park.
... in 1972 ... the scene above was filmed in the studio using a painted backdrop but the Crazy House was based on the Fun House at Playland. Below is a photo of the Fun House taken in 1972 shortly before the park was razed - its similarity to the painted representation above is readily apparent and the actual Fun House exterior will appear in the movie's final shot.
... In the 1940s ... here's a closeup from the aerial photo above showing exactly where the Fun House used to be. This is now the site of the Burnham Building, 825 La Playa Street, part of the Ocean Beach Condominiums.
O'Hara comes to inside the Crazy House. For these scenes Orson Welles built an elaborate set at Columbia Studios with a 125 foot long winding slide and fantastical props painted by Welles himself.
As he stumbles from one bizarre sight to the next he voice-overs his realization of the murder plan - Elsa had planned to have Grisby kill Bannister and split his money. But she also meant to double-cross Grisby later and kill him, an act accelerated by Grisby going off half-cocked by killing Broome, not part of the plan. She shot him to make sure the cops didn't get to him first which could have implicated her. "And I was the fall guy" O'Hara said, as he plunged down the slide.
Matthew Cabot's secretary Miss Lee (Virginia Grey) had earlier supported Mason's lie when he told Blake that no agreement had ever been made to award him the Cabot tugboat contract. Now her conscience is bothering her so she decides to make amends. She arranges to meet Blake and Cathy at a restaurant.
Then ... As she approaches the restaurant she passes the Jade Palace restaurant and a souvenir shop, the Golden City, two big clues as to the location. They were at 842 and 840 Grant Avenue, respectively (map), in the heart of Chinatown.
... and Now, both of those businesses were replaced six years later in 1966 by a new building which now houses the China Trade Center and a restaurant, the Empress Of China. Today's matching view looks north along Grant past Washington Street.
Then ... Before going in she pauses at the rendezvous and we see its street number - 830. At that time 830 Grant Avenue was the address of the Chinese Pagoda restaurant.
... and Now, the Chinese Pagoda is no longer there and its location is now home to the Peking Bazaar, whose shop frontage has been extensively redone. The building has been re-addressed as 826 and 832 Grant (below).
... in 1947 ... check out this clip from a scene in the 1947 movie Lady From Shanghai in which Orson Welles' character runs down the same block. Behind him, at the left edge of this shot, are the Jade Palace and Chinese Pagoda signs.
Inside the Chinese Pagoda (most likely a studio set) Miss Lee admits the lie and gives Blake documents that reveal that the scheming Mason had also previously scuttled his late father's business with Cabot Shipping.
Looking for ways to bolster Walter's defense, Marsha suggests that Irene's maid Su Lin, who has gone missing, might be able to shed more light on Irene and Torrence's relationship. She persuades Lt. Quincy to help find her.
Then ... They go to the immigration office to check the record of Su Lin's entry into the country. San Francisco's immigrants were processed on Angel Island from 1910 until a fire closed down the Station in 1940. In 1944 the immigration administration moved to the 9th floor of the newly built Appraisers Building at 630 Sansome Street, represented in the scene below.
... in 1964 ... but the scene above was filmed in a studio using a photograph for the window view. In the vintage photo below we see the real view from 630 Sansome, looking west towards Nob Hill. The Mark Hopkins Hotel is at far left on the horizon; the high-rise next to it is the Fairmont Hotel Tower, not yet built when the movie was filmed.
... in 1944 ... viewed from the opposite direction, here is the Appraisers Building at 630 Sansome (map), photographed from the Mark Hopkins Hotel on Nob Hill in the year it opened. California Street is at far right.
and Now ... the Appraisers Building, seen from the Sansome/Jackson Street junction, still houses some of today's expanded immigration functions.
Then ... The records show that Su Lin resided at her uncle's address in Chinatown. As they head there the camera vertically scans a building; Quincy can be seen at the bottom of the resulting panorama.
and Now ... this is 838 Washington Street (map), one of the many buildings in Chinatown featuring a pagoda-style roof that replaced the devastation of the 1906 earthquake and fire.
But their search founders when her uncle, with Su Lin (Anna May Wong) hanging back inside and out of sight, denies any knowledge of her whereabouts.