Then … Behind the opening credits two views of the Embarcadero announce to the audience that the movie is set in San Francisco. Here, we see from right to left three piers, Piers 37, 39 and 41; Alcatraz and Angel Islands are seen beyond them. A small part of Pier 35 juts in at far right.
… by 1952 … the same scene was captured in this vintage 1952 photo. It was taken from the top of Coit Tower on Telegraph Hill, this wider view also showing Pier 35 on the right.
… and Now, over the years many of the Embarcadero piers have been removed. In this recent photo we see that Pier 39 has been reimagined and rebuilt as a major tourist attraction while Pier 37 on its right is now a marina and Pier 41 mostly off to the left a cruise and ferry terminal. It’s not included here, but the original Pier 35 is still there (map).
Then … As the credits continue we next see streetcars dropping off and picking up passengers on the turn-around loop in front of the Ferry Building. Note the pedestrian overpass on the left that spared them an otherwise risky walk across the Embarcadero - it will make another appearance later in the movie.
… here’s a 1930 photo of the same place. Both images were taken from the top of the Southern Pacific Building on Market Street. The movie image, above in the bottom right corner, captured the edge of that huge billboard. History buffs might be interested to learn that the pedestrian overpass was subsequently sacrificed in the 1940s as scrap iron for the war effort.
Looking down Market Street from the Ferry Building, this pristine c. 1926 image (from Shorpy.com) lets us see the front side of the billboard and, arrowed, the Southern Pacific Building rooftop vantage point for the above shots. Note too the other side of the pedestrian overpass. (The eagle-eyed amongst you may also notice a reversed-image billboard in the lower right quadrant advertising Owl Cigars. Huh?).
Citysleuth begs your indulgence for a moment while he diverts from the movie. Dwell for a moment on the 1926 image above ... now step back a mere 20 years to see how it looked right after the 1906 earthquake and fire. Truly a Phoenix recovery!
And here for comparative completeness are those same buildings pre-earthquake.
Then … At his clinic George receives a call - his wife Susan, who has been ill for some time, has experienced another asthma attack. He hurries home, here approaching the Golden Gate Bridge from Marin County from the north (map), despite the fact that the storyline references the clinic as being in San Francisco (in the real world, the previous post explained otherwise).
… and Now, the aerial view looks down to Cavallo Point and Horseshoe Bay, aka Horseshoe Cove, a historic marina at Fort Baker. Above, the cluster of red-roofed buildings at the water’s edge were built in the early 1940s as a hospital station for wounded servicemen but this recent Google satellite view shows that they are mostly gone. Those that are left now comprise the Bay Area Discovery Museum. Note the popular tourist vista point left of center, devoid of cars during the pandemic (it’s also visible above at far left). Visitors looking across the Golden Gate from there are rewarded with a spectacular view of the bridge and the San Francisco skyline.
His car, seen numerous times throughout the movie, is a 1968 Chevrolet Corvette C3 convertible. In a later interview Jean Sorel waxed lyrical about it, recalling how much fun he had driving it in San Francisco. Note though the continuity goof - the car is heading south into the city with its top up but in the closeup he’s driving north towards Marin with the top down.
Then … We follow him crossing the bridge to the Presidio, the city stretching out ahead of him ...
… and Now, this recent matching photo was taken from Battery Spencer on the Marin Headlands.
Then … As he enters a freeway interchange the business signs next to it are clues to the location (click or tap the image for an expanded view). For example, Dunhan, Carrigan and Hayden was a well-established hardware company opposite 8th Street and Townsend. So this must be the connecting ramp from the east-bound central freeway section of 101 to north-bound 80 (map). The hills of Alameda County are across the bay in the distance.
… and Now, the interchange looks very similar today but the cluster that is downtown San Francisco at far left has been transformed. One thing that hasn’t is the huge billboard in the center. The Dunhan, Carrigan and Hayden building is still there at 2 Henry Adams Street, currently housing the San Francisco Design Center Showplace, as too is the rooftop structure that supported the tank seen above (with the DCH Co sign); but the tank is gone; it looks as though an array of antennae has replaced it.
Then … Now in Nob Hill, he leads a cable car up California Street past the Fairmont Hotel (map). The sign above and behind the cable car advertises the hotel’s popular Tonga Room.
… and Now, barely visible through a tree, there’s still a Tonga sign although the room is temporarily pandemic-closed. The Tonga Room has entertained visitors since 1945; before that its basement space was a swimming pool for hotel guests. On the extreme right is the Stanford Court Hotel which interestingly has been stripped of its balconies.
Then … Now he’s on Twin Peaks Boulevard heading up the hill to Twin Peaks! Wherever his home is, in the real world he won’t find it up there. Clearly the movie’s Italian director was enamored with the city’s breathtaking views. The 3 mile-long arrow-straight diagonal thoroughfare on the left is Market Street knifing its way through downtown to the bay.
… and Now, the view from here (map) is indeed breathtaking, as in this matching 2016 image, benefitting from California’s strict air quality laws that banished the smog-draped vistas of the 60’s and 70s. Once again the comparison highlights the downtown transformation.
Then … George finally arrives at his home, a Greek Revival Plantation-style mansion. CitySleuth spent a lot of time searching for this without success. He even tracked down the movie’s location manager but he couldn’t recall where it was. So, he appealed to his readers to help…
… and Now, (2023 update) … it took 2 1/2 years but it was worth the wait. ReelSF reader Brad alerted CitySleuth that an Italian website had revealed its location: the mansion at the historic Oak Knoll Ranch in California’s Napa Valley wine country, a property with a fascinating history. The address is 2200 W. Oak Knoll Avenue, Napa, Ca (map).
Then … As he gets out of his car we see there’s a fountain in front of the main entrance, covered to keep out fall and winter leaves.
… and Now, this photo from a reception held at the mansion in 2023 pictured the same fountain, still there.
The styling of the house, with 8 doric columns spaced along its front, is very similar to the historic 1839 mansion at Oak Alley Plantation in Vacherie, Louisiana, even down to the 3 gabled dormers on the roof. This is no coincidence; the 19th century Oak Knoll Ranch mansion was originally a Victorian until a former owner remodeled it, closely copying the Oak Alley Plantation mansion design (it’s pictured below).
Then … He walks around the house and enters a side entrance (this part of the house is completely different from the Oak Alley Plantation mansion). Note the sports court outlined on the asphalt in the foreground...
… and Now, this aerial view shows that same side of the house. The sports court is no longer there in the guest parking area.
The Lamoreaux family are the current owners of the Oak Knoll Ranch. They feature an image of the mansion on their wine label.
A feeling of antipathy pervades the house as his ailing wife Susan (Austrian actress Marisa Mell, in the rear) and her sister Martha (American actress Faith Domergue) harangue George for devoting too much time to his clinic. Clearly this is not a happy marriage.
He attempts to make amends by hiring a nurse (Italian actress Malisa Longo) to attend to Susan while he is away. At the medicine cabinet he stresses to her that she must never administer Susan’s nightly tranquilizer while she is taking her asthma medication - it could be a fatal combination.
The ransom note is addressed to the city’s mayor (John Vernon). He summons the chief of police to his office at City Hall in the Civic Center and reads it out; it demands a ransom of $100,000 or else one person will be killed every day. It is signed ‘Scorpio’.
Then … Harry Callahan has been assigned to handle the case; he joins the police chief (John Larch) and his boss Lt. Bressler (Harry Guardino) to brief the mayor on his progress.
… and Now, CitySleuth was allowed in the mayor’s office in May, 2023 to take matching photographs. Incumbent Mayor London Breed has moved the desk across the room and mitigated the formal decor with wall art and comfortable furniture. Both Then and Now images show the same two doors in the background.
Then … The mayor decides to tell the killer that the city will pay but will need time to get the money together. Callahan protests, convinced this will lead to more people dead. He wants to first make contact with the killer but is overruled because of his vigilante reputation.
… and Now, the window behind the mayor is one of two that look out across the Civic Center Plaza from the office. A mirror has since been added between them.
(Another scene was filmed in this office later in the movie. Click here for that post).
Then … The story begins at a medical facility, a clinic run by Dr. George Dumurrier.
… and Now, but in the real world this is actually a hotel. And what’s more although the story sets it in San Francisco, it’s located 120 miles south of there on the Monterey Peninsula. This is the Lodge at Pebble Beach, a world-renowned golf resort (map). Was the movie’s director, Lucio Fulci, a golfer?
Then … The entrance is identified by a sign above the door.
… and Now, as is the resort’s, modestly.
Then … Another great view, captured by the panning camera - this one filmed from the rear of the Lodge as Henry Dumurrier, George’s brother, hurries across the lawn carrying a newspaper.
… and Now, taken from close to the same spot. The 18th green is visible just past the lawn with the beautiful coastline of Monterey Bay beyond it. The narrow white line in the middle distance is the white sands of Carmel.
Then … He walks up the stairs at the rear of the clinic.
… and Now, the Lodge today has seen some remodeling since then. The stairs have been expanded and now climb in two directions, the balcony has been widened over part of its length and its windows have been restyled.
Inside the clinic Henry (Argentinian actor Alberto De Mendoza) demands an explanation from George (French actor Jean Sorel, on the left), for an article in the paper announcing a heart transplant operation at the clinic. It’s fake news, planted by George to reel in a potential investor in Reno. (Interior scenes throughout the movie were filmed at the legendary Cinecittà Studios in Rome, Italy).
The newspaper page is very odd. First look at the date - the 8 in the year has obviously been changed. February 25 1968 was a Sunday, not a Tuesday; in fact this is the February 25 1969 front page of the Chronicle with an inserted article about the transplant. The caption on the photo is in Italian - a translation of the English caption. This apparently was for the benefit of Italian audiences (the director was Italian and the movie was first released there) but is totally unrealistic in an English-language newspaper. And what’s with the bizzare photo? Sloppy work, Lucio!
