Then … The chase continues along the waterfront towards Pier 33 with the vengeful pod people in hot pursuit of Matthew and his friends.
… and Now, The pier, on the Embarcadero near Bay Street (map), is now widely known as the ferry terminal point for daily Alcatraz Island visitors. What used to be a large doorway at far right, above, is now the Alcatraz Landing Cafe, below.
Then … They head into the cavernous pier, running towards us in this dramatic backlit shot.
… and Now, here’s the interior of Pier 33 on a quiet Sunday morning as CitySleuth found it when he recently stopped by.
Then … They exit a side door but their flight is arrested by a metal fence.
… and Now, This is is at the far end of the east side of the pier (map). As it turns out their chance of escape would have been stymied anyway by the waters of the bay. There’s now an additional fence erected in front of the original one.
Jack offers to divert the fast-approaching pod people. In the blinding glare of a helicopter searchlight aimed from above he kisses wife Nancy goodbye.
Then … He runs off, shouting loudly. But she chases after him.
… and Now, the landing runs alongside Pier 33 (it still has an old railway track, no longer in use) in this view looking back to the Embarcadero. One of the Alcatraz ferries is seen on the left.
Then … The ruse works; the angry aliens chase after them, leaving Matthew and Elizabeth safe, for now.
… and Now, dimly seen above but clearly visible in the daylight below are, from left to right on the skyline, The Transamerica Pyramid, the former Bank of America Center (now named 555 California Street) and Coit Tower, rising from the top of the Filbert Steps.
It’s the morning after the night before; they are lovers now. Allan drops Linda off at her home.
Several scenes at different times during the movie were filmed outside this house, a turn-of-the-century Victorian located at the north end of Pacific Heights at 2614 Buchanan Street between Broadway and Pacific (map). The recent photo below shows the building today … it houses four living units - Linda’s was the one with the red front door. But the three-car garage has been added since the movie was released.
Then … At the front door, it was painted white then, they seal their new-found intimacy with a tender kiss.
… and Now, from the street the garage blocks the view of the steps but the repainted door is clearly the same one - compare the matching details of its inset window lites and the door carvings.
Then … later in the movie this panorama of Linda leaving her home reveals that there used to be a low wall in front of the house.
… and Now, garages have replaced that wall and low jutting brick walls (which used to symmetrically match) flank the property’s entrance, now with a security gate. The adjacent property has upgraded garage doors and it too has added a security gate.
Matthew, Elizabeth, Jack and Nancy rush from Matthew’s Telegraph Hill home pursued by a horde of pod people. In desperation they flee down the Filbert Steps towards the Embarcadero.
Then … Through the stairway we see them run towards us along the side of a house and around past the front entrance.
and Now, this is 32 Napier Lane at the far end of a narrow lane that tees off the Filbert Steps (map). The house has since seen several changes; those stairs leading up to the second floor balcony have been removed and the front entrance has been modified. The door on No. 28 to the right though is the same one, as evidenced by the unchanged door handle.
Then … They dash on, passing a brightly lit window.
and Now, this is the window of 8 Napier Lane. Ahead, number 32 faces us at the end of the alley.
Then … Napier Lane tees in to the Filbert Steps from the left; from there they charge on down the steps. Note both the official street sign and a hand-painted one.
and Now, the same junction today. The city’s sign with the block number is still there and what could be the original hand-painted sign at left has a more recent one below it.
Then … They finally descend the lower part of the steps leading to the flats east of Telegraph Hill.
and Now, the view is from Filbert Street at Sansome (map). The steep steps test the fitness of a steady stream of visitors and locals every day.
Those same lower steps were also seen in the 1947 movie Dark Passage when hecklers gave Humphrey Bogart a hard time as he struggled up them. Back then the steps were made of wood, far more precarious, and the heavily quarried rock face was only beginning to sprout a covering of foliage.
And in 1973 the movie The Laughing Policeman included a view from the same spot as well as other locations on the Filbert Steps. (Erosion of the rock face eventually prompted the City to condemn and subsequently demolish those apartments overhanging the hill).
With husband Dick out of town Linda visits Allan who, with constant prompting from his imaginary hero Humphrey Bogart, makes his move.
Bogart: “Now move closer to her”.
Allan: “How close?”
Bogart: “The length of your lips”.
It works. Just like Rick and Ilsa in ‘Casablanca’ they finally embrace and share a long passionate kiss, professing their love for each other.
For Bogart fans curious about the poster behind them, this advertises the 1942 movie ‘Across The Pacific’, co-starring Mary Astor and Sydney Greenstreet. Here’s a look at a lobby card (with slightly different credits) that shows the whole image …
Then … We had seen the poster in an earlier scene in Allan’s bedroom, previously described here.
… and Now, here’s the same bedroom recently photographed by CitySleuth at a realtor’s open house at 1212 Lombard Street in Russian Hill.
The next morning they travel back to Linda’s home on one of San Francisco’s iconic cable cars. In voiceover they talk about how they should break the news to Dick.
Then … The camera zooms out, revealing where this was filmed …
… and Now, it’s the Powell-Hyde line looking south along Hyde from Bay Street in Russian Hill (map). Patience rewarded CitySleuth when a cable car finally came along to allow a matching shot. The cars have been renumbered since the movie was filmed … # 517 above became car 17 in 1973: the one below, # 18, used to be car 518.
