Seemingly Director Lucio Fulci was as enamored with New York as he was with San Francisco. When the storyline shifts over there he takes us on an tour through the city.
Then … Following George’s conviction for murdering his wife the police now turn their scrutiny to Monica. But she flees; we see her traveling through New York City by cab, in this shot heading north on 1st Avenue past the United Nations General Assembly building (map).
… and Now, most of the changes here since then seem to be of the foliage kind.
Then … She is reflected in the rear-view mirror as the cab encounters busy traffic. Eagle-eyed observers will see the subway entrance sign on the right, behind the pole - ‘6th Ave Subway’, the clue to this location.
… and Now, Sure enough, they were on E. 42nd Street approaching 6th Ave. Bryant Park is off to the left. Many but not all of the buildings seen along 42nd have been replaced.
How cool is this? CitySeuth came across a matching vintage photo taken from the same spot back in the 1930s, an image dominated by the 42nd Street station on the IRT 6th Avenue elevated railway. The dirty, noisy but nostalgic ‘El’ opened in 1878, eventually being demolished in 1939, replaced by the underground 6th Avenue line.
Then … The huge sign atop the highrise behind her shoulder is the giveaway for this location, this is Essex House, a luxury hotel in New York situated center-block on Central Park South.
… and Now, the cab was in Central Park heading north on Center Drive (map). The Essex House sign, more clearly visible in this photo, has been there since 1932.
Then … She is dropped off at a Midtown post office.
Then … The camera cuts to her entering the post office lobby.
… and Now, the post office, located at 909 3rd Avenue on the corner of E. 54th St. (map), has traded the two double doors for revolving doors. Through the glass two escalators can be seen connecting the lobby to the post office upstairs. It’s interesting to compare the Then and Now reflections of the buildings across the street; the old cheek-by-jowl brick residential buildings were replaced in 1983 by a shiny office tower.
Then … Fulcio cleverly filmed the reflection of Monica in the 2nd floor ceiling as she ascended the up escalator, requiring CitySleuth to invert this image (note the ceiling’s recessed lights). The parallel escalator heads down.
… and Now, again the comparison shows entrance doors replaced by revolving doors (this photo of the escalators was taken in 2018 when the revolving doors, currently bronzed, were gold colored). Downstairs on the left a wall now separates previously open adjacent lobbies.
… and Now, this wider view shows the entrance, left, and the Post Office name, upper right, which were presented separately in the Then shots above. E. 54th is on the right.
Monica opens P.O. Box 802 to retrieve an airplane ticket inside. Her next stop, on the way showing more views of New York City, will be the airport for a flight to Paris, France.
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.
Then … 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 at the next 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 a 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.
