Then ... Blizzard continues describing his revenge plan against the City of San Francisco. In his mind's eye, his army of malcontents, wearing straw hats for identification, spring into action, intent on sowing chaos in the streets.
... and Now, this is the northwest corner of Grant and Clay in Chinatown, currently occupied by the jewelry store Jen Ju and Co., at 801 Grant (map). The cable car that once traversed Clay Street no longer does.
This same corner was seen years later in The Lady From Shanghai (1947) when Orson Welles' character darts across Clay Street while on the lam from the police (described here in this blog). Note that the cable car line was still operational then.
Then ... More anarchists charge around a corner near the Ferry Building; the view looks down Commercial Street from Drumm Street (map). Note the pedestrian footbridge in front of the Ferry Building. The roof cornice partially glimpsed on the far left side of the photo belonged to the Harbor Police Station.
... in the 1950s ... this photo taken almost 40 years later shows more of the Harbor Police Station at left. Straight ahead the newly built Embarcadero Freeway isolates the Ferry Building.
... and Now, from the same spot today it's unrecognizable since the entire surrounding area was torn down in the 1960s for the Golden Gateway Redevelopment Project which modernized and transformed it into an extension of the Financial District. The Four Embarcadero Center office complex was built astride this particular location.
... in 1925 ... here's a vintage photo showing the footbridge at the Ferry building that spanned the Embarcadero until the 1940s. Note too that an auto tunnel used to carry traffic beneath the busy plaza where the Market Street trams made a U-turn. The arrow points to the location on Drumm Street where the above scene was filmed.
Then ... Back in Chinatown the mayhem gets serious when a policeman is gunned down.
... and Now, this view looks down Sacramento Street from Grant - the corner store today is the Floating Sushi Boat restaurant at 700 Grant.
The rampage expands, setting buildings ablaze.
Then ... The disruptive tactics are a diversion, intended to draw out and tie up emergency police and fire responders - Blizzard imagines the fire department's Engine 10 company charging from the firehouse at 3050 17th Street in the Mission (map)...
... and Now, the site today is a parking lot.
... a vintage photo ... The Engine 10 and Truck 7 firehouse, built in 1895, is pictured here in this 1952 photo.
By way of a trivia observation, just across 17th Street from the Engine 10 firehouse was the very distinctive Mission Police Station, photographed here in 1924. In the next post we will see the police responding to Blizzard's criminal army but filmed elsewhere. For some reason the moviemakers passed on the opportunity to use this police station even though their cameras were already right there filming the firehouse.
... and Now, this was home for the Mission Police Station from 1903 to 1950 at which time it relocated to a new site on Valencia Street. It remains so marked but is now privately owned; its most recent sale was in 2002 for $2.2M. It still exudes character and suggests only hints of what went on over the decades behind those walls.
(Blizzard's nefarious plot continues in the next post - CitySleuth).
Then ... We next see Harold And Maude enjoying the popular kid-friendly Trabant ride at an amusement park.
... in 1971 ... this scene was filmed at the Santa Cruz Boardwalk, California's oldest (1907) surviving amusement park (map). Here's a photo taken in the year the movie was released showing the ride at far right next to the Ferris Wheel.
... and Now, The Trabant ride is no longer there; a new ride, the Pirate Ship, occupies its location and the Ferris Wheel has been moved to the east end of the boardwalk. A map of today's Boardwalk can be seen here.
Then ... Wrapped up against a chilly Santa Cruz breeze they walk into the covered arcade.
... and Now, the arcade has undergone some changes including multi-colored capitals added to the column tops at left.
Then ... As they watch a model train layout check out the bearded dude between them - it's director Hal Ashby making a cameo appearance, Alfred Hitchcock-style.
... and Now, this is the Casino Arcade at the far west end of the Boardwalk. All of the attractions and machines have been changed but the columns, topped by ornate capitals, are still there holding up the ceiling; they guided CitySleuth to the right spot.
Then ... Harold stops at a metal-typer machine and, after checking that Maude isn't watching, spells out 'Harold Loves Maude' on a token.
... and Now, as viewed from the same place, but the typer machine is gone.
CitySleuth couldn't find the typer during his recent visit but other boardwalk visitors in the recent past came across one and posted photos of it and a token.
Then ... Meanwhile, still in the Casino Arcade, Maude applauds a lively competitive game.
... and Now, the staircase on the left side has since been remodeled away.
Then ... They find a place with a good view of a fireworks display across the water above the glittering boardwalk. Enthralled by Harold's token, she echoes her love for him then flings it into the sea... "So I'll always know where it is". Robert Ballard, you're needed.
... and Now, the matching shot is from the wharf that juts way out into Monterey Bay from the boardwalk (map). The Giant Dipper stands out both Then and Now in the center background.
The climactic fireworks appropriately segue to Maude's railcar. Finally, they did it.
Then ... Fleeing from the reporters, Val, driving her sister Arlene's car, heads north on Gough Street, about to turn right into Washington, here passing the corner steps at Lafayette Park.
... and Now, this is the northeast corner of the park (map).
A word about the car that Val is driving: it's a 1932 Packard Light Eight coupe roadster; at $1750 it was the cheapest of a range of similarly styled models including the Standard Eight and the ultra-classy long wheelbase Twin Six. The actor Clark Gable owned a Twin Six; he paid $4,250 for his when just 2 years into his MGM contract. When he posed for the photograph below in 1933 he had added wheel discs and a rear-mounted trunk.
Incidentally, the same car, refinished and reupholstered, won First in Class at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance in 2009 and subsequently sold for $1,210,000 at the 2016 RM Sotheby's auction at Amelia Island, below.
Then ... On Washington Street a cable car rumbles downhill past the Crest View Garage, far left, as she turns into her own garage, far right. In the movie her garage is part of her mansion home, but in the real world this location is a block away from the mansion which, as we saw earlier was at the corner of Washington and Laguna at the other end of the park.
... and Now, Washington Street lost its cable car line in 1956 but the garage building on the left is still there, now privately used by residents of the adjacent CrestView Apartments. The building at right, 2080 Gough Street, was replaced in 1963; its side garage is at the same spot as was the Bradford's garage.
After Val takes an elevator up to her room prying reporters open the rumble seat of the car and are shocked to find the lifeless body of Arlene Bradford stuffed inside. They take a grisly photograph and decide to hold off informing the police until their newspaper breaks the sensational story.
For years Blizzard has been developing a plan of revenge against the city of San Francisco. With unbridled glee he describes to his lieutenant-in-crime O'Hagan why he has asked him to gather together an army of thousands of disgruntled foreign laborers.
Then ... He intends to strike at the heart of the city's institutions and wealth, represented as he speaks with this shot toward Market Street's Financial District taken from the top of the Fairmont Hotel in Nob Hill. In this southeast view two tall structures stand out; at far left is the Hobart Building at 582 Market at Second Street and at far right the distinctive dome of Claus Spreckels' Call Building.
... and Now, the Call Building, flagged by the arrow, still stands at 703 Market at Third Street. But it changed drastically in 1938 when it was extensively remodeled to a Moderne style, losing its dome. Known today as Central Tower, it was once the tallest building this side of Chicago but is now dwarfed by surrounding high-rises. The Hobart Building too has survived but is hidden behind newer structures.
In Then and Now views looking east down Market street, here's a closer look at the transformation of the Call Building.
Then ... Blizzard goes on to describe how a bomb will be detonated to alert his army of anarchists, spread across the city, to spring into action. This view too was filmed from the top of the Fairmont Hotel, this time looking to the north to Russian Hill as he visualizes in his mind's eye the explosion rising above the tree-covered slope. Alcatraz Island lurks at far right in the distance.
... and Now, this photo taken from a Fairmont Tower suite window shows us the same view, now eyesored with incongruous apartment buildings on Russian Hill. Note both Then and Now the twin-towered Our Lady Of Guadalupe church right of center at 906 Broadway. At far left, blocking the view of the cable car barn seen clearly above, is the rear of the Brocklebank Apartments, home in 1958 to Kim Novak's enigmatic Madeleine in Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo.
... a vintage photo ... Here's Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe church in 1924. It was constructed on this site by and for the local Mexican residents before suffering severe damage in the 1906 fire then was rebuilt with concrete in its present form in 1912. Over time this once-thriving Hispanic community migrated to the Mission District , especially after the 1950s Broadway tunnel project leveled many of its homes and businesses.
... and Now, the church was closed in 1991 and for much of the time since then it has functioned as St. Mary's, a Chinese school. Since 2011 the building has been vacant but was recently sold for $3.3M by the Archdiocese to a developer who, thanks to its City Landmark designation, is required to preserve its exterior.