Then … When the scientists leave the lab after their weekly meeting FBI agents follow them and see Dr. Toni Neva drop off laundry at the Elite Laundry in town.
… and Now, this scene was filmed in Van Nuys, Southern California. CitySleuth thanks reader NotCom for finding it. The store was the Half-Hour Laundromat, renamed for the movie, at 14519 Sylvan Street, part of a group of stores that have since been replaced by the building housing the Van Nuys campus of the Los Angeles ORT College (the campus closed operations in 2018). But those stores seen down the block from it have survived; the Country Home Shop (neon sign, above) at 14513 Sylvan is currently the Solares Express Shipping Co.
Then … As she gets out of the car we get a clear look at businesses on the opposite side of the street, including a typewriter store. Note too the sign at right advertising the Valley Times. Two good clues as to the location.
… and Now, these four adjoining stores are still there. Van Nuys Typewriter Co., above, was at 14514 Sylvan which since 1962 has housed Luigi’s Tailoring, owned by Luigi Della Ripa, known to locals as “Mr. Van Nuys”. Over on the right hand side at 14518 Sylvan was the Van Nuys Valley Times office (which explains the poster), now housing VIP Printing. Moisant’s barber shop was between them at 14516 Sylvan and there’s still a barber shop there today - darned impressive, that’s a span of 72 years.
The taller building at the far left of the Then image above was the California Bank Building on the corner of Van Nuys Blvd. This vintage photo captured it in 1949, the year after the movie was filmed. The bank sign is on the Van Nuys Blvd side; the Sylvan Street side looks just as it did in the movie shot. The Country General Store now occupies a banalized version of the building (above).
Meanwhile, a third painting by suspect Igor Braun has been intercepted; it concealed a stolen formula which had been revealed for the first time ever in that earlier scientists’ meeting. It appears that one of the scientists is the mole. But which one?
(The preceding painting, described in an earlier post, was of a hotel in Montmartre, Paris. Could this, another French scene, be of that same area? Speculation, yet to be verified).
The realization that laundry drops from the lab may be a weak link in the security system prompts agent Grayson to apply for a job at the Elite Laundry to keep a watch on the activity there.
Then … Malatesta is near death in a local hospital. As his family and the police wait to see him the window view gives the barest clue as to this location. Not much to go on, but CitySleuth recognized that row of Spanish Colonial-styled houses visible across the flat rooftops in the foreground.
… and Now … These houses, located at 1314 to 1330 Taylor Street in Nob Hill (map), are the ones in the above window view.
Those same houses were the site of the rooftop chase in the opening scene, below, of Alfred Hitchcock’s 1958 classic movie ‘Vertigo”. Note the same Spanish Colonial roofline facade.
But where was the hospital? It turns out that the only place with that view would be the rooftop of an apartment building located around the corner and tall enough to see over the flat rooftops opposite. There are two such buildings, 1134 and 1142 Jackson Street. Obviously then the hospital scene was filmed in a studio, or elsewhere, making use of a photo taken from the rooftop of one of these buildings to imply the location, a common movie trick.
Here’s 1134 and 1142 Jackson, both tall enough for a rooftop photographer to have a clear view across the street towards the Taylor Street buildings.
Malatesta asks to speak with Joe alone. He confides to him that after confession the priest wanted him to go to the police; he killed him to spare his family the stigma that would follow. Joe forgives him and leaves the room while the last rites were being given.
The movie ends when the police, needing a confession to pin the murder on Malatesta, want to know what he said … Joe chose to preserve the family’s integrity, telling them “The accident beat me to it - I didn’t find out a thing”.
The FBI agents know that somebody inside the Lakeview Research Laboratory is stealing and passing on the latest scientific findings on a regular basis. They brief the Lab’s director; all agree the mole must be ferreted out without delay.
The director takes them on a tour of the facility to explain the security protocols in place. CitySleuth suspects that this was filmed at an energy plant in Southern California but he has not been able to find the location. In case a reader may be able to recognize it, here are four views of the site, starting with this one looking towards the entrance gate.
Looking out from inside the entrance we see adjacent buildings across the street which could help identify the location.
On the left in this panorama from inside the entrance gate the agents follow the director into the plant.
And here we get a closer look at some of the infrastructure within the facility.
Because the research results are being stolen almost as quickly as the lab’s scientists come up with them, agents O’Hara and Grayson decide to secretly film the director’s weekly review meeting with the lab’s four head scientists. Although they all have impeccable reputations and fully vetted backgrounds, could one of them be the mole? But everything seemed normal; nothing suspicious was seen or heard (other than the furtive kiss and cuddle that two of them got into after the meeting broke up).
Then … Joe is convinced that Malatesta is Father Tomasino’s killer. But why? He goes to see him at his restaurant with a plan ...
… and Now, The location of the restaurant was described in detail an earlier post. Today, much larger and modernized, it’s the well-known Scoma’s in Fisherman’s Wharf; back then it was a small waterfront cafe called Andy’s Lookout.
Joe lies to Malatesta, telling him that he, Joe, is a suspect in Father Tomasino’s murder and that, despite being innocent, he intends to kill a man who is blackmailing him by threatening to incriminate him. “Don’t do it”, says Malatesta … “You’ll never be able to live with it”.
He surprises Joe by confessing that he himself has been through that - he had killed somebody - a girlfriend who was about to run off with another man during the war. When Joe asks if he had confessed to Father Tomasino, Malatesta realizes he had revealed a motive and snaps, attacking Joe in a desperate fight.
Then … Malatesta breaks away and rushes blindly outside just as a truck is approaching …
… and Now, Scoma’s dining room has expanded into much of the original boardwalk.
Then … the truck hits him, leaving him mortally injured.
… and Now, this is Al Scoma Way, Scoma’s approach road thats tees off Jefferson Street, crossing at the far end.
