Inspector Quine organizes a police lineup for Philip Dressler, the unwitting carrier of the heroin, in the hopes he can identify the porter who had grabbed his bag and flung it into Lefty Jenkins' cab.
Then ... The first group of porters who work for the steamship line that brought Dressler back to San Francisco file in for the lineup.
... in 1961 ... this vintage photo taken 3 years after the movie was released is the actual lineup room (the 'Show-Up Room' in police jargon) in San Francisco's old Hall of Justice. At first sight it looks like the same room, but there are differences that compel CitySleuth to conclude that the movie scene was filmed on a studio set modeled after the real room. Examples of differences - the door is narrower and closer to the corner, 6 1/2 tiles span the wall above the door versus 7 in the movie, the tile grout is dark, not light and the curve on the handrail is a larger radius. Also the fonts on the back-board differ slightly.
Then ... This view shows the whole front width of the room.
... in 1961 ... the actual Show-Up Room is very similar but not identical.
Then ... We get further clues from this view of the rear of the room.
... in 1961 ... clearly, the actual room in the Hall of Justice, below, was different. It was longer, with more benches and an indented rear wall. While it may be that the room was remodeled during those three years it is unlikely given that the Hall of Justice was slated for shutdown and demolition very shortly afterwards. Another explanation could be that there was more than one Show-Up room, again unlikely. So this location was almost certainly a studio set.
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.