Myra's new-found happiness comes crashing down when she overhears Lester and Irene scheming to kill her for her money - captured by her dictating machine that had been inadvertently left on.
Then ... After she gets over the shock her playwriting skills kick in and she begins to formulate a plan to beat them to it, requiring her to gain entry into Irene's apartment. Below, she makes her way there.
... and Now, the Tamalpais Apartments building at 1201 Greenwich Street really does exist on the corner of Hyde Street on Russian Hill (map). The signs are no longer there but there are still traces of the mounting screws.
... and Now, if you go up those steps, above, you will see the building name displayed alongside the main entrance.
On a trivia note, this building appeared in the 1947 movie Dark Passage when Humphrey Bogart climbs down its fire escape.
... and Now, viewed from Hyde Street, it hasn’t changed at all.
Then ... Myra walks up from Hyde Street and heads for the rear door. In the distance Greenwich Street climbs up Telegraph Hill to Coit Tower.
... and Now, a wrought iron fence has since been added at far right to create a secure parking area for the tenants.
Then ... She uses a copy of Irene's door key, retrieved from Lester’s room, to gain entry.
... and Now, the rear door today.
Inside the apartment Myra finds some note pads monogrammed with Irene’s name and a gun, soon to be a part of her punitive strike.
Kirsten Arnesen works as a secretary (that of course would be Personal Assistant today) in the Pacific Gas and Electric building at 245 Market Street (map). Here's a recent photo of the building, built in 1924 then subsequently strengthened and renovated following the 1989 earthquake.
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Then ... After his embarrassing first meeting with Kirsten Joe visits her office to make amends. He is seen below approaching the entrance lobby from the left. The address 245 is on the door.
... and Now, the lobby's inside set of glass doors (on the right, above) have been taken out, a muni bus stop has been added outside and across the street the whole block has been replaced by an office highrise.
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Then ... Joe puffs away as he waits for an elevator inside the lobby. Note that elegant brass lampstand...
... and Now, security neurosis, sad to say, has led to the inclusion of subway-like turnstiles. Even the lampstand, still there over 50 years later, can't make up for the loss of the clean, uncluttered look. On the plus side the elevator doors have had a classy upgrade.
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Then ... Joe tries his best to make up but Kirsten plays hard-to-get and they end up awkwardly waiting for the elevator outside her office.
... and Now, this typical floor at the PG&E building by the elevators shows some similarities to the movie view above - renovation changes may have been made over the years - but CitySleuth thinks, based on several differences spotted during this scene, that the office interior was filmed elsewhere.
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Then ... As Joe leaves the building we see the Ferry Building standing guard at the end of Market Street as best it can given the eyesore two-level Embarcadero Freeway standing in its way.
... and Now, thankfully, those stylish lamps flanking the entrance are still there. As, just visible, is the Ferry Building. The trees block the view from here but, hallelujah, the freeway is gone.
Kirsten runs after him and makes up for her aloofness by suggesting he ask her out to dinner. Surprised, he suggests the well-known Place Pigalle.
An earlier post described how Vera Simpson's mansion was a virtual building located where Coit Tower stands on Telegraph Hill (map). When Joey visits her again we see further evidence of the subterfuge.
Then ... As the scene opens, the camera follows the butler out of the home to an exterior patio.
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... and Now, this is one of the south facing doors of Coit Tower's mural rotunda which leads out to a lawn.
... and Now, here's the door, looking back from the lawn. Coit tower, built in 1933, rises 210 feet vertically above it.
Then ... The butler announces Joey's arrival to Vera who is enjoying lunch on the patio, built for the movie on the Coit Tower lawn. The sweeping city view behind her may well have dictated this choice of location.
... and Now, the lawn as it now looks. Most of the downtown skyline is obscured by trees and newer highrises abound but at far left the Ferry Building and one of the Bay Bridge towers still match up
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now.
Then ... When Joey leaves he exits to the right of the patio and heads down a narrow path, again with a great view past downtown to Potrero Hill in the distance.
... and Now, the path has been extended and upgraded with steps but the view, sadly, is blocked.
Then ... Later in the movie Linda visits Vera and we see her leaving the home by way of the 'front' steps. Some steps!
... and Now, not surprisingly these are the steps leading down from Coit Tower's north entrance at the parking lot. Trees now hide Alcatraz Island from here but you can still see Belvedere Island across the bay at top center.
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A series of vignettes depict Myra and Lester settling down into the social whirl of 1950s San Francisco.
Then ... First, celebrating the 30th season at the opera.
... and Now, the drawing on the brochure cover above is San Francisco's War Memorial Opera House, a grand Beaux-Arts building opened in time for the 1932/33 season. (From 1923 - 1931, the newly-formed opera company had performed at the Civic Auditorium). Below, the opera house today, at 301 Van Ness Avenue (map).
Then ... We are shown a glimpse inside the theater ...
... but this isn't the War Memorial Opera House - archival footage filmed on stage 28 of the Universal Studios lot in Universal City, California was used instead. Originally built for the 1925 movie Phantom of the Opera (see below), the theater set has been featured in many movies over the years. Citysleuth thanks reader Paul Penna for pointing this out.
(Update - The stage was demolished in 2014).
... and Now, the War Memorial Opera House interior is very different.
Then ... Next up, a day at the races at Tanforan, the racetrack of choice for city high-rollers from 1899 until it burned down in 1964. It was located at 1150 El Camino Real in San Bruno, near the San Francisco International Airport (map).
... in 1950 ... The 1950 Bing Crosby movie Riding High was filmed at Tanforan racetrack and in this scene from it a huge sign, South San Francisco, The Industrial City, can be seen on the south side of San Bruno Mountain.
... and Now, with the racetrack gone a shopping mall, The Shops At Tanforan, has been built on the site. In this view across the mall from El Camino Real we see that the huge cement letters of the iconic sign, dating from the 1920s, are still there.
The famous racehorse Seabiscuit used to practice at the Tanforan racetrack in the 1930s and shoppers today can see a memorial statue of it in front of the Barnes and Noble store at the mall.
Then ... This double exposure shows the newlyweds swept up by the action down the home stretch. Note the oil derricks in the distance to the left - but this footage wasn't filmed at Tanforan; the distant oil derricks suggest Southern California.
... and Now, the oil derricks appear to be those at Signal Hill, Long Beach, in which case this would be the Los Alamitos Race Course (map). Here's a recent photo of it below - the derricks were removed long ago when the oil fields dried up.
Then ... and finally they go dancing at the Cirque Room, a popular dance spot in the Fairmont Hotel (map) ...
Then ... where they party the night away.
... from the 1950s ... Here's a postcard photo image taken in the Fairmont's Cirque Room at about that same time.
... and Now, the Cirque Room is still there but available only for private parties. This recent photo captured its art deco bar and original circus-themed murals.
Lester hears back from his shady lady friend Irene Neves. She has been working on her lawyer boyfriend and found out -"It took five martinis" - that Myra is about to donate the bulk of her fortune to a charity, news that doesn't sit well with the scheming pair.
