Then ... After a long day of sightseeing Myra and Lester swing by his place to drop him off. As they climb the Hyde Street hill Alcatraz and Angel Island are seen in the distance in the north Bay.
... and Now, this is Hyde Street today from the junction at Lombard Street. The houses across the street were not built until the 1970s and 1980s, unlike those facing it which were built out before this movie was filmed.
Then ... They swing down San Francisco's most famous block on Lombard, Russian Hill's crooked street, renowned for its grade, 27 degrees before being tamed to 16 degrees by eight switchbacks. (Some would and do argue that Vermont Street between 20th and 22nd on Potrero Hill is more crooked. While it has one less bend, it's steeper - so it depends on how you define 'crooked').
... and Now, but this spot is the tourist's choice, in part thanks to its wonderful seasonal flower display and the magnificent vista of Telegraph Hill and Yerba Buena/Treasure Island. Passing cable cars stop here to take it in.
Then ... At the third switchback from the top where Montclair tees in, Lester jumps out in front of his place, 1079 Lombard Street, the corner building behind them (map). (As steep as this block is, there are far steeper streets in the city, listed here).
... and Now, in this recent photo we see these houses have changed very little. Lester's place, as we shall see, was the top apartment, arrowed. Note the exterior remodel to the unit next door at far left.
... and Now, here's 1079 Lombard viewed from the bottom of the crooked block with the flowers in full bloom. The one-way tourist traffic is relentless and many of the homeowners on this block would like to see the city make it pedestrian only.
In a later scene in Lester's room he hears Myra pulling up outside and looks down from the corner bay window.
Then ... below his window he sees her car parked just above the fourth switchback.
... and Now, his glance looked across the first parking space down to the next one where Myra had parked.
She gets out of her car, pausing to look up to Lester's window. She goes to his room but finds him with suitcase packed, about to leave town (it's a ploy to reel her in). When, distraught, she begs him to stay, he knows she's his.
Joey Evans' one-way ride takes him to the west coast; here it arrives at the Oakland Pier (aka Oakland Mole) train and ferry terminal which no longer exists, having been demolished in the 1960's to make way for the Port of Oakland's container ship facilities. It was located at the west end of 7th Street in Oakland (map). This movie preserves some rare video footage of the terminal.
Then ... Joey nonchalantly carries his raincoat over his shoulder (that used to be cool) as he leads the passengers up the ramp to the San Francisco ferry. For another glimpse of this part of the terminal from a different movie (Sudden Fear) and for more on the location, go here.
... a vintage photo ... most likely from the 1940s or 50s. It shows the same Oakland pier clock , below, captured in the movie, above. At that time the San Francisco sign was mounted on the front of the balcony and there wasn't a Coca-Cola sign over the kiosk.
Then ... Joey's ferry, the Berkeley, pulls out of the slip with Yerba Buena Island and the San Francisco - Oakland Bay Bridge ahead. San Francisco itself can be seen in the distance at far left.
... and Now, cranes have replaced trains in the same view below looking west from 7th Street across the port facilities that now occupy the terminal site.
Then ... On the ferry Joey seems more interested in eyeing the pretty ladies (a recurring theme throughout the movie) than the fine view past the Bay Bridge to the hills of Marin County. Yerba Buena island is on the right and the Golden Gate bridge is in the upper left corner.
... and Now, the Oakland Pier is gone and the ferry now leaves from nearby Jack London Square but it plies the same route and enjoys the same view.
Then ... The city draws closer with the clock tower of the Ferry Building, left of center, marking the ferry's destination. Dead center on the hilltop skyline are the Mark Hopkins and Fairmont Hotels. The Brocklebank Apartment building (featured in the movies Impact and Vertigo) is to their right.
... and Now, over sixty years later a thicket of Financial District highrises has transformed this same view. At its zenith in the 1930s the Ferry Building was the second busiest terminal in the world until the two new Bay Bridges brought on its decline. The busiest? ... Charing Cross Station in London.
Then ... On arrival he passes through the Ferry Building's waiting room.
... and Now, the waiting room was at the south end of the second floor. In 2003 the Ferry Building reopened after a huge renovation, magnificently transformed from a decaying structure into a popular public space. That waiting area has been built into offices, preventing a matching shot. The photo below shows the offices (on the left) as viewed from the adjacent Grand Nave.
Then ... The lady at the Travelers Aid kiosk is not amused by Joey's risque wisecrack ...
"Can I give you aid, young man?"
"What did you have in mind?"
... and Now, this was right next to the central exit (map)- the Embarcadero (the main waterfront road) is through the arches on the right.
Then ... Passengers spill onto the Embarcadero as Joey keeps clear of the two cops. The Ensign Cafe across the way was on the corner of Market Street.
... and Now, the Embarcadero block housing the Ensign Cafe, Murray's Restaurant (also seen above) and numerous taverns was razed as part of the Embarcadero Redevelopment Project and is now an open plaza. A throwback to the past though, captured in the recent view below, is one of the wonderful fleet of vintage streetcars that ply Market Street and the Embarcadero daily.
Rivera, now sure Howard Mason is the blackmailer, plots a way to dispatch him. He gets Sheila to invite him to her home at night on a pretense of signing a document. She will signal his departure to Rivera, waiting outside with a gun, in time for him to do the dirty deed. Although she detests the man, she turns on the charm when he arrives ...
Then ... From her upstairs window, Sheila watches Mason drive off. She opens the curtains and Rivera, at the top of the hill, sees the signal.
... and Now, here's the same Baker Street block viewed from street level at her home at 2898 Broadway (described in an earlier post).
... and Now, The only vantage point where Rivera could see the house would be the top of the block, at Baker and Pacific (map, blue marker, with the house at the red marker). This recent view from that junction looks to Sheila's home, marked by the arrow. This is the block the movie should have shown, but it didn't (... duh).
Instead, looking back with Rivera through his car's rear window we see Mason's car approaching up a totally different block. CitySleuth hasn't found it yet; fellow San Francisco sleuthers are invited to seek it out.
Rivera fires at Mason as he drives by but narrowly misses. The intended victim, badly shaken, returns to Sheila's place only to realize that she and Rivera were behind the attack. Enraged, he is about to strike her with a poker when Rivera arrives and fires again, this time right on target.
Re the title of this post - yes, CitySleuth is a diehard Beatles fan.
Back to the movie - the newlyweds visit a number of popular Bay Area destinations as Myra proudly shows off her home town.
Then ... They stroll down a trail through a grove of tall redwoods past the snapped-off tip of a tree impaled in the ground.
... and Now, this is Cathedral Grove at Muir Woods, a national monument since 1908, one of the few remaining stands of old growth coastal redwoods remaining in the Bay Area, just 12 miles north of San Francisco in Marin County (map). Today, the trail is lined by fences but the tree tip is gone - the arrow marks the exact spot where it used to be.
... a vintage photo ... How did CitySleuth find this exact spot? Well, during a visit to Muir Woods he came across this undated photo in the Visitor Center bookstore. Wouldn't you know it, this is the same tree tip, photographed from the opposite direction. It was in the Cathedral Grove next to a plaque honoring the memory of Franklin D Roosevelt.
... and Now, the plaque is still there but the tree tip has been removed, perhaps because it was in the middle of the trail (never mind that the tree tip was there first). The arrow marks the spot.
For those inclined to visit, Cathedral Grove is indicated on the park map below (click image to enlarge).
Then ... They drive up to the best of the City's vista points - Twin Peaks - to take in the evening glitter looking down Market Street to the Bay (map). A year earlier this same vista was used in the movie The House On Telegraph Hill.
... and Now, a recent view from the same lookout is even more impressive. The glowing dome of City Hall to the left and the illuminated suspension cables of the Bay Bridge were unseen at night sixty years ago. The rapid growth of the Oakland waterfront across the bay over the last sixty years adds to the glittering chiaroscuro.
Then ... They next visit the Golden Gate Bridge, shot here from halfway up the north tower looking towards San Francisco.
... in 1935 ... it's interesting to see the same view while the bridge was under construction, taken from higher up on the bridge's tower. The huge parade ground of the Presidio military base is clearly visible in the upper left and the dark strip above the Presidio is Golden Gate Park bifurcating the Richmond and Sunset districts.
... and Now, a recent photo on a foggy day. The bridge, enshrouded by fog about half of the time, requires constant repainting.
Then ... Lester and Myra lean over the bridge's railing perhaps thinking of the two sad souls per month on average, year in year out, who climb over it on their final journey. The real railing however, though still controversially low, isn't quite as bad as this.
... and Now, this is the real railing. Look at the movie railing above - it's lower, has no rivets at the rail tops and has a different width to spacing ratio. The movie footage was filmed in a studio using a background projection of the waters of the bay. Below, Angel Island and part of Belvedere and Tiburon are in the distance and Horseshoe Bay's Presidio Yacht Club marina is closer in on the left.