Then … At the Forest Hill station Gonzalez’s radio link has picked up Scorpio’s instruction to go to Church and 20th; he immediately races over there. On the way he rounds the corner at the Doggie Diner at 2099 Lombard Street in Cow Hollow (map), one of six in the city back then. Geographically illogical because this would increase the 2 1/2 mile actual trip to a 10 mile loop.
… and Now, The Doggie Diner chain shut down years ago; the Chelsea Motor Inn now occupies the 2099 Lombard site. In the light of day Fillmore is seen from here rising in the distance to Pacific Heights.
… in 1973 … the same corner was filmed in Francis Ford Coppola’s movie The Conversation two years after Dirty Harry.
Then … Callahan’s K-Ingleside car rounds a bend approaching the Church and 20th Muni stop in the Mission Dolores neighborhood, but… hang on, this is the J-Church line , not the K line. The car number is 1169, the same one that he boarded at Forest Hill station so SF Muni was clearly complicit with the filmmakers in this subterfuge.
… and Now, the J-Church continues to be the sole user of this section of the line. While many streetcar lines have over the years been converted to bus lines, the J-Church has not because of the steep grade on the private right of way on Church Street between 18th Street and 22nd.
Then … The streetcar pulls away after Callahan gets off at the stop, a covered bench structure next to a concrete pole.
… and Now, a bare patch is all that is left of the structure but that pole still marks the spot.
Then … He runs across the road as the phone is ringing in the booth on the corner, again reaching it just in time to get his next instruction: “Public phone, hamburger stand, Aquatic Park”. Scorpio cackles, knowing he is sending him all the way back to where the ransom run began.
… and Now, this is the corner of Church Street, left, and 20th Street, right, at the southwest corner of Mission Dolores Park in the Mission Dolores neighborhood (map). Today the J car now crosses 20th from the right side before stopping at the relocated stop just past the left side of this photo.
The park is one of SF’s most popular, especially on the glorious California spring weekend when CitySleuth stopped by. The city’s downtown high-rises rise high in the distance. The tower of Mission High School is towards the left and the domed building on the far right at 650 Dolores is an old church, formerly the Second Church of Christ Scientist. It was built in 1915 but condemned in 2006 after falling into disrepair. A developer bought it and converted it into four 5000 square foot townhouses, each offered for sale at $6.5M in 2016. What do you get for that? Curious wannabe purchasers can check out the townhouses here and the spectacular penthouse, now the developer’s home, here.
Monica is out on bail. Being a suspected accomplice to a murder is not her only problem; one of her clients, Benjamin Wormser (Italian actor Riccardo Cucciolla) is pathetically obsessed with her, often letting himself into her apartment with a spare key she had given him. When she tells him she’s through with him he threatens to kill her if she gives him the heave-ho. She does anyway, with disdain.
Then … The police have made up their mind. Inspector Wald is dropped off to arrest George - he is staying at Jane’s studio near the top of the famous Crooked Street block on Lombard Street in the Russian Hill neighborhood.
… and Now, with Coit Tower atop Telegraph Hill as the centerpiece and the Bay Bridge and the east bay beyond, this has to be one of the most spectacular views in San Francisco.
Then … A second cop awaits him - they head up to the top floor studio at 1083 Lombard Street (also seen earlier in the movie) to make the arrest.
In the police station George is accused of the murder of his wife. When he denies paying Monica for forging Susan’s signature on the life insurance policy Wald produces an envelope found hidden in Monica’s apartment with the money inside and with one of George’s fingerprints on it. He is doomed, subsequently charged, convicted and sent to San Quentin Prison for an appointment with the gas chamber.
Now the police go after Monica, but find her apartment empty; she has fled. Benjamin is there, bereft and in disbelief. The only thing left behind is a painting of a restaurant - Vagenende.
… and Now, Vagenende is a real restaurant - an iconic Belle Epoque brasserie still there at 142 Boulevard Saint Germain in Paris; a later scene in the movie will play out amongst its beautiful Art Nouveau interiors.
Then … Callahan schleps the yellow ransom bag down a slope behind the Forest Hill Muni station heading for the side entrance on the right.
… and Now, an extension has since been built abutting that entrance.
Here’s a 1973 photo of the station showing it as it was when the Dirty Harry crew filmed there. It’s located where Laguna Honda Blvd meets Dewey Blvd in the Forest Hill neighborhood (map). Back then the extension was yet to be added (on the left) so the side entrance used by Callahan is clearly seen. The station is the oldest Muni station in the city; it opened in 1918, one of two with platforms far below ground in the Twin Peaks tunnel. It was originally named Laguna Honda Station - the name is still embossed above the entrance today.
Then … Callahan enters from the left; he hears a phone ringing and rushes towards it past the stairs leading to the platforms - note the snack bar next to them …
… and Now, the snack bar is long gone but the stairs are still in use for access to both outbound and inbound platforms for those passengers who eschew the elevators.
In this 1981 image the snack bar enclosure, on the left next to the stairs, was still there.
Then … In his haste Callahan goes to the wrong phone but grabs the other one in time to catch Scorpio’s terse instruction: “Downstairs. Take the K car. Get off at Church and 20th”.
… and Now, the phone, most likely a movie prop, was located in the corner at the ‘x’ below. Coincidentally there’s currently a vintage public phone box with a dangling phone book holder on display (center).
Then … He rushes down the steps to the inbound platform. CitySleuth can attest to the fact that he traversed 113 steps to get there.
… and Now, it’s held up pretty well this last half century! Looks even better, in fact.
Then … The K car, a light rail/streetcar hybrid connecting downtown with the Ingleside district, is seen here arriving at the inbound platform while Callahan is still scrambling down the steps.
… and Now, here’s the matching photo. Today, inbound K cars are redesignated as a T car. Go figure. A 1985 remodel included changes to the walls, tiles, platform surface and the addition of a sub-ceiling.
This contemporaneous photo of an L-Taraval car at the outbound platform confirmed that the scene in the Then image above was filmed on the inbound platform. Note the right-angled conduit pipe (large arrow) which is just barely visible in the Then image above, at the very top of the image, left of center. Note too the black dot on the wall (small arrow) which is glimpsed in the movie when Callahan’s K car exits the station on its way towards downtown.
He barely gets to the streetcar in time, forcing the doors open to get in. Pheww!!
This next scene demonstrates repeated use of film footage by the filmmakers: Callahan stays on the car when it briefly stops, supposedly at another underground station, below. In the real world that would have been the other Twin Peaks tunnel station - Eureka Valley, open then but abandoned since 1972. But this footage is in fact part of that seen in the two Then images above at the Forest Hill station; the three images are just seconds apart.
Let’s end this post on a nostalgia note with this vintage photo of the first K-Ingleside car on its inaugural run emerging from the West Portal end of the new Twin Peaks tunnel on Feb 3, 1918 with Mayor James Rolph playing trains at the controls.
While looking at photos of fashion models at Jane’s studio George recognizes one of them; she was the nurse who had been on duty at his home the night Susan died. Knowing he is prime suspect number one in the police investigation and vehement in denying culpability, he realizes that finding her might help him.
Then … Jane wants to help George find the nurse. She meets her partner Larry at a photoshoot in the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park (map). The Torri Gate is behind the model posing at the top of the steps and behind that, the multi-tiered Pagoda. At left is the Temple Gate.
… and Now, CitySleuth was disappointed on arrival to find the Pagoda undergoing renovation, wrapped in plastic. A couple of notable changes are apparent: the Temple Gate is now a taller structure following a renovation in 1985 after deterioration of the original and the Torri Gate is gone, having been removed to storage in 2001, also because of deterioration.
But no worries, here’s a 2012 image showing the Pagoda without the offending shroud. The gardens were immaculately kept back then before the pandemic shutdown.
Then … Knowing that Larry had hired the nurse she asks him if he can remember her name or how to get in touch with her. From here the Pagoda is viewed across an ornamental lake; the glimpse of red at far left is part of the Temple Gate.
… and Now, 53 years later here’s that same boulder Jane was resting against. Also the leaning tree trunk next to it.
Then … Elsewhere in Golden Gate Park, Larry (French actor Jean Sobieski) recalls only that the nurse was an occasional hooker on the side.
… and Now, they were a ten minute walk away at the Conservatory of Flowers (map), a botanical garden in a vast greenhouse thought to be inspired by the one in Royal Kew Gardens in Richmond, London. The Conservatory opened in 1879 and over the decades since then has survived two serious fires, years of inadequate maintenance and a devastating wind storm in 1995 that smashed 40 percent of its glass panes, necessitating an 8 year closure. A blessing in disguise because following a $25 million restoration it reopened in 2003 in the pristine condition seen here. Compare it to its shabby state above.
Then … Jane asks Larry to hire Monica to pose for a photo layout at her studio as a ruse to find out if she knows the nurse. He makes the call from a phone booth at Fisherman’s Wharf. (Check out his cool British sports car, a late 1960s Morgan Plus 4).
… and Now, the matching shot was taken from the Red & White Fleet terminal at Pier 43 1/2 (map). The yellow Fisherman’s Wharf circular sign so recognizable to tourists is seen in both Then and Now images.
Car buffs might enjoy this fine example of a 1968 Morgan +4 on display at a concours d’elegance - compare it with Larry’s.
Jane sets Monica up for the shoot in a steamy interaction between the two to the sexy strains of composer Riz Ortolani’s score. She has already found out from inquiries around the club circuit that the nurse’s name was Elizabeth O’Neill and that she was a dancer who had in the past worked with Monica.
But the erotica suddenly ends when Jane flashes an image of Elizabeth on a screen and George appears, offering to pay for information on her whereabouts. Monica, angry, would only say that she had left town some time ago.
