Luigi lets Perry Mason borrow his restaurant kitchen to cook a crab dinner for friends. Over coffee Wilbur Strong, the local coroner, gets a call about a man, Gregory Moxley, who had died four years ago but was reportedly recently seen on the street. The Grand Jury wants Wilbur to open the coffin. Mason has just heard a similar story from his old friend Rhoda so he invites himself along.
The coffin reveals not a body, but a wooden effigy of an American Indian! The plot thickens …
At a Western Union office Mason discovers that a blackmailing telegram received by Rhoda was sent by Gregory Moxley, residing at 316 Norwalk. He wastes no time going there …
…only to find the police inside investigating Moxley’s murder. This is how Errol Flynn, who plays the Moxley role in this, his first Hollywood movie, made his screen entrance - under the sheet. (He is seen later though in a flashback).
Then … But where was this filmed? The movie address is fictional but this was 1850 Sutter Street in Japantown, revealed by the name C. P. Ocampo on the dentist’s sign at far left in this shot of Mason leaving the house. The dentist’s address was listed in the 1935 city directory as 1852 Sutter.
… and Now, this sidewalk tree is in front of where 1850 Sutter used to be (map). It was demolished during the Western Addition Redevelopment Agency project, created to rid the city of so-called blighted areas. Beginning in 1956 the city used eminent domain to clear the largely African-American Fillmore of property and residents; later the carnage expanded into the Japantown neighborhood. Approximately 880 businesses and 2500 Victorians, including 1850 Sutter, were victims. New buildings now flank the site and, ironically, the building at 1840 Sutter, below on the right, today houses the Japanese Cultural and Community Center.
Here’s the 1935 city directory listing of dentist Conrado P. Ocampo.
Fortunately not all of the Victorians were lost - there are survivors dotted around, like these at 1811, 1815 and 1825 Sutter on the same block as Moxley’s place.
Then … As Jane’s train approaches the San Luis Obispo station, the camera zooms out from a closeup of the station name. But hold on… there’s snow on the ground… in Southern California’s San Luis Obispo? Gimme a break! A business sign on the left reveals where this was really filmed - at the Reno SP station in Northern Nevada (map). (Incidentally, this train is heading towards San Francisco!).
… c. 1930 … Reno’s SP Depot dates back to 1868 but this was the fifth building, built in 1926, following four fires that destroyed its predecessors. Smartly (duh!) constructed with brick and stucco it has survived to this day. Here’s a vintage postcard image of it.
… and Now, the depot building, at upper right, hasn’t changed (except it’s now an Amtrak station) but the train tracks surely have. In 2005 a deep trench spanning several blocks was excavated to lower the tracks to enable unimpeded bridge crossings for the city streets.
As the train grinds to a halt note the railcar with a dome and a name-plate on its side…
Jane gets off the train looking morose, as though she regrets splitting up with George. The trains pulls out, revealing the name of that coach: Silver Chalet.
This was one of the Vista Dome cars belonging to Western Pacific’s California Zephyr that regularly ran between Chicago and Oakland, each of which had a unique name - here’s a vintage photo of it. Reader CDL points out in the comments that the California Zephyr did not run through Reno; what’s more, the locomotive pulling the train (top photo) is a Southern Pacific, not Western Pacific, locomotive. Western Pacific discontinued the Zephyr in 1970; perhaps they sold some railcars to Southern Pacific prior to then.
Then … But, surprise! George’s mad dash to catch the train got him there in time.
… in 1928 … another early postcard image shows the depot from the same perspective; Lake Street crosses the tracks in the foreground.
… and Now, a recent Google Street View image taken from the same spot shows why the train tracks were lowered; no need since then for street traffic control like that seen above.
Their eyes meet, her face lights up …
Then … Reunited, they are an item again.
… in 1947 … 22 years earlier Lawrence Tierney and Claire Trevor had been filmed on the same platform in the excellent noir Born To Kill.
Back at the office Callahan is less than enthusiastic when Chico Gonzalez (Reni Santoni), a college graduate, is assigned to replace his recently injured partner.
Then … The next scene unfolds at a park adjacent to a Catholic church.
… and Now, This is the park at Washington Square in North Beach (map); the church is the twin-spired Saints Peter and Paul Church at 666 Filbert Street. The statue of Benjamin Franklin, seen above in the center of the park, is still there now but surrounded by trees (partially visible below, right of center). The park is a popular hang-out for residents, the crowd below showing a disdain for masks in the early months of the pandemic, an attitude that fortunately changed later on.
Then … The camera then pans to the Dante Building, on the right at 1606 Stockton Street, an office/retail building on the corner of Union Street.
… and Now, trees line the perimeter of the park but the building remains the same, as does the home of the San Francisco Italian Athletic club next to it on the left (where, incidentally, CitySleuth has taken evening classes in Italian). To its left is the local U.S. Post Office and Coit Tower; the sentinel of Telegraph Hill is in the upper left corner.
Then … The Scorpio killer is on the roof of the Dante Building, disgusted at the city’s delaying tactic in coming up with the ransom and determined to carry out his ‘one-a-day’ threat. The Nob Hill skyline includes the Brocklebank at far left - home to Madeleine in Hitchcock’s classic Vertigo.
… and Now, 50 years on the skyline is surprisingly the same but the rooftop only partially so. The gravel roof has been resurfaced and the ductwork is mostly but not all gone. The flagpole survived!
Then … He scans the park for a potential victim.
… and Now, here’s the same view today. The first Saints Peter and Paul church stood a block and a half away on the corner of Filbert and Grant from 1884 until 1906 when it was destroyed by the earthquake and fire. The extant church is approaching its centennial - it was built in 1924.
This recent aerial view shows the Dante Building relative to the park and church.
Then … From a police helicopter passing over North Beach a couple of blocks from the park the policemen spot Scorpio on the Dante building rooftop, just out of this view on the left.
… and Now, this is the junction of Union Street (crossing right to left) and Kearny, seen below in a recent Google satellite view.
Scorpio notices a gay couple crossing the park. When they sit on a park bench he gleefully takes aim but is startled by the police above him and he dashes off, giving them the slip but sparing the target.
Ed responds to Lois’s plea for help, driving over to her home - it’s seen several times throughout the movie. The address in the movie is 2370 Del Mar and indeed the front entrance is so numbered.
Then … Ed pulls into the driveway, giving us a wider view of the home’s exterior including an interesting old-style street lamp. There’s an upstairs balcony over the entrance supported by decorative metal posts, seen up close above.
… and Now, the house has hardly changed in over 70 years. Even the street lamp is still there. But it’s not in San Francisco - this is 2370 N. Vermont Avenue in Los Feliz, a hillside neighborhood in the greater Hollywood area of Los Angeles (map). Last sold in 1973 for $80,000, the home is currently valued at over $4 Million.
Then … In another scene we see the entrance from a different angle, revealing more of the house.
… and Now, from here we can see one small change: a pair of railings, matching the original posts in style, have since been added on the steps.
Lois lets him in. She’s in a tizzy as she pours out some startling news. The expansive interiors of the Frazer home were most likely filmed on a sound stage at the General Service Studio in Hollywood (in which case they did a nice job here matching the front door with its sidelites; compare it from the outside in the first image above).
