Then … Once again Callahan has been summoned to the mayor’s office; Scorpio has sent another ransom note. The camera, filming from the Civic Center Plaza, slowly pans across the east side of City Hall (map). The impressive Beaux Arts building was completed in 1915 after its predecessor, a block away on Larkin Street and McAllister, was destroyed by the 1906 earthquake.
… and Now, City Hall anchors the Civic Center surrounded today by the not-quite-identical-twin Opera House/Veteran’s Buildings, Symphony Hall, Art Museum, Main Library, Civic Auditorium and other city and state government buildings.
On a history note, the north-facing image below left shows the original City Hall in 1900 three years after it was built (that’s Larkin Street at far left)). Just 6 years later it was reduced to ruins, below right. 27 years of planning and construction, 9 years of use. Such are the vicissitudes of life. Read more about it here in a FoundSF article with interesting archival photos and videos.
Then … When Callahan arrives he looks up to see Lt. Bressler, his boss, waiting for him on a 2nd floor balcony spanning the Polk Street entrance.
… and Now, this is the gilded balcony outside the mayor’s office.
Then … On the balcony Bressler enjoys a panoramic view across the plaza; at that time in 1971 it was bisected by a long reflecting pool.
… and Now, CitySleuth received permission to visit the Mayor’s office to take matching ‘Now’ photographs for his blog. Here he is enjoying the same view, wondering why the pool was taken out.
Then … Callahan enters City Hall; in following him to the office we are taken on a mini tour through the building. Here, he’s just inside the Polk Street entrance, approaching the entrance to the rotunda.
… and Now, these days, daytime visitors to the rotunda will often find themselves surrounded by newlyweds and their photographers.
Then … He effortlessly bounds up the Grand Staircase (no easy task), the centerpiece of the majestic rotunda. In addition to official business the rotunda is used year round for many community events including galas, weddings, dinners and celebrations. For a full pictorial tour that captures the grandeur of this magnificent building go here, lean back and wait a couple of seconds for the photos to begin scrolling by.
… and Now, this bride and groom are probably unaware they shared this spot with Clint Eastwood.
Then … He enters the mayor’s office suite, Room 200 on the second level.
… and Now, the U.S. and California State flags flank the doorway. When people leave the office they have a view down to the Grand Staircase on the lower level of the rotunda.
Then … The entrance door opens to an anteroom; Bressler greets Callahan there and leads him to the mayor’s office.
… and Now, same door, different desk. The portraits (former mayors Ed Lee on the left , George Moscone on the right) are by artist Elaine Badgeley Arnoux.
Then … They pass along a dimly-lit corridor.
… and Now, brighter now, the corridor links a number of small offices and, then as now, it’s lined with portraits of every mayor of the city …
… beginning in 1834 with the alcaldes under Mexican rule, a nod to the city’s Spanish heritage. Several of the most recent portraits were also done by Elaine Badgely Arnoux.
Then … In the mayor’s office they hear details of Scorpio’s ransom note. He wants $200,000 dollars and a jet aircraft to be ready and waiting for him at Santa Rosa Airport.
… and Now, incumbent Mayor London Breed has brightened the office with color and moved her desk across the room to the opposite wall ...
They receive a call from Scorpio and hear that he has kidnapped a school bus and the children will start dying if his demands are not met. He tells them the route they’ll be taking on the way to the airport, cautioning … “I don’t want to see any police cars, helicopters, whatever”.
Then … The mayor confirms the money and the jet will be ready at the airport, guaranteeing there will be no interference … “I give you my word of honor on it”.
… and Now, the wall-mounted flag trifecta behind the desk, above, has been replaced by a mirror and the formality of the space has been further mitigated by the addition of comfortable furniture. This photo was taken from behind the desk.
Callahan is disgusted. “When are you people gonna stop messing around with this guy? He’s gotta be stopped now!” When the police chief asks if he’ll take the money to Scorpio, he’s had enough: “You can just get yourself another delivery boy”. He turns and walks out.
(An earlier scene was also filmed in this office. Click here for that post).
A number of times during the movie director Wayne Wang takes us on a tour of Chinatown by way of a succession of images of people and places - windows, as it were, into the community.
Then … This first montage, lyrically set to a Chinese pop song about someone wandering without a home, plays out as Jo, hoping to see Chan Hung, waits outside his residentional hotel, the St. Paul at 935 Kearny (map).
… and Now, across the street the Chinatown service station at 900 Kearny on the corner of Jackson Street has been replaced by a modern building attached to the venerable Sentinel building seen at far left. Across Jackson on the right the empty lot that was the site of the International Hotel is now a low-income residential and community building.
Then … We next see a visual feast of Chinese language signs and banners along the 900 block of Grant Avenue. Even in black-and white it’s a colorful peek into the heart of Chinatown.
… and Now, here it is today in full color. The ever-popular Li Po lounge at 916 Grant on the right is still there. Its distinctive sign has survived, as has another directly above it, just out of the frame (it’s seen in the next image).
This recent image of the cave-like entrance and glowing neon signs hints at why Li Po has been a magnet for the thirsty since it first opened on February 10, 1937 (Chinese New Year's Eve), making it one of the first post-Prohibition bars in Chinatown. (Photo by Will Charczuk).
Then … On the corner of Grant Avenue and Clay Street a decorative street lantern aligns with a building built after the 1906 fire in a style, like many others in Chinatown, that met American preconceptions of traditional Chinese architecture.
… and Now, Grant Avenue’s ornate lanterns have been there since the 1939 Golden Gate International Exhibition. (Note Then and Now the cut-out that enabled the store awning to extend way out). 815 Clay Street in the background has long housed the Chin Wing Chuen Benevolent Association: Chinatown has many such tax-exempt organizations created for the benefit of community interests.
Then … Three generations of Chinatown residents gather outside New Maxim’s Bakery at 1249 Stockton Street. The Kum Yuen Restaurant at 1247 Stockton was next to it on the left.
… and Now, Both storefronts have since been modified but there’s still a restaurant, New Moon, at 1247 and a bakery, Little Swan, at 1249.
A little related history: New Maxim’s bakery at 1249 and its neighbor to the right at 1251 Stockton replaced a movie theater, the Times, after it was closed down in December 1976. Here’s a 1976 photo of the Times Theater. (The boarded-up store on the right would soon open as Hing Lung Barbecue which stayed in business there until closing in 2024 to the dismay of its many fans).
The theater, originally named the Acme Theater, was built in 1909. In this 1918 image its cheap pseudo-rococo frontage was more inviting than the modernized version, above. Check out too that wonderful 5-globe streetlamp.
Then … The background song closes with this shot of Steve and Jo walking on a busy street where a glimpse of an awning with the name Blanco’s is the clue to the location ...
… and Now, … Blanco’s Cocktail Bar was at 905 Kearny when the movie was filmed so this shot looked south along Kearny Street where Jackson Street crossed just ahead.
Then … Jo is listening to the radio in his cab while approaching the south portal of the Stockton Street Tunnel where Bush Street crosses over (map) . The tunnel, 2 1/2 blocks long, was built to provide a level streetcar connection from the Union Square neighborhood to Chinatown. It opened in 1914.
and Now… this portal has long been a favorite with film directors, having appeared in several movies. Note the same two blade signs Then and Now, at upper left. The Sutter-Stockton Parking Garage on the right has been there since 1960.
Before the tunnel was built this block of Stockton Street climbed an 18% grade to Bush Street. The 1913 image below shows the dig in preparation for boring the tunnel. The Bush Street apartment building facing us at upper right, built 5 years earlier in 1908, is still there today - it’s now a Wyndham Destinations time-share.
Then … As he drives through the tunnel he hears the radio announcer talking about the arrest of the 82 year old Mainland Chinese supporter who shot and killed a man at the Chinese New Year parade because he was waving a Taiwanese flag; the same incident as that described in the newspaper cutting that Jo had found in Chan’s jacket pocket.
and Now… the northern portal welcomes traffic to Chinatown just south of Sacramento Street. The construction site on the left, above, has been fully built out, below. Note the walkway railings on both sides of the tunnel, added in 1984 after a pedestrian was killed by a passing car (a classic case of closing the barn door).
On a trivia note, the radio announcer was Jim Clancy, a reporter at that time at the local KGO-TV station; he would go on to a 34 year career at CNN. Here he is c. 1979 interviewing tourists on a cable car. (Photo by Nancy Wong).
Then … Jo and Steve wait for customers in front of the Holiday Inn Hotel at 750 Kearny Street under the bridge that crosses over from Portsmouth Square plaza. Jo is puzzled: why did Chan have that newspaper cutting about the flag-waving murder in his pocket? Steve shrugs … “ Shit, the Chinese they love to fight, man … over mahjong, food, anything”.
and Now… this is the ‘Bridge To Nowhere’ which is hardly ever used. That will soon be even more so; city planning approval is well underway to remove it as part of yet another major plaza redesign (will they ever get it right?) scheduled for completion by 2026.
Then … Jo drops in on Steve and his sister Amy (Laureen Chew) to speculate on how Chan might be involved with the flag-waving murder.
The kitchen scene above was filmed in the Richmond home of actress Laureen Chew. It appeared again in Wayne Wang’s follow-on 1985 movie Dim Sum: A Little Bit Of Heart, below. Everything matches, including the patterned kitchen tiles.
and Now… the home, in the center, is 416 20th Avenue in the Richmond district. The house also doubles later in the movie as Chan’s wife’s home.
Then … Jo next meets Henry the cook on that same bridge (we saw him earlier hilariously cooking in the Golden Dragon restaurant). This time he’s smartly dressed in a 3-piece suit, surprising at first until we learn he owns eight restaurants and is quite rich. Director Wang has Henry alternate between English and Mandarin as he speaks so that the English-speaking audience understands while at the same time experiencing the lilt of the Chinese language. Henry thinks that Chan, an FOB immigrant (‘Fresh Off the Boat’), went back to China because he was never accepted here by Americans nor by ABC’s (‘American Born Chinese’). Jo is not so sure.
and Now… behind them, above, is a decorative ornament and a sign for the Garden Restaurant at 716 Kearny, both of which are still there. The 14-sided polyhedron however has been reoriented.
and Now… the ornament is one of many arrayed in the reoriented position along both sides of the span of the bridge. The scene with Henry was filmed at the far end near the Holiday Inn (the hotel was renamed the Hilton Financial District in 2006). The 716 Kearny building is on the right.
Then … A school bus approaches on 15th Avenue on the west side of Grandview Park in the Golden Gate Heights neighborhood (map). It stops at the steps over on the left that lead down to 15th Avenue’s lower level.
… and Now, other than the new homes on the left side this looks the same today (and the lamppost and fire hydrant are still there). The spectacular north-facing vista looks across the Sunset to the green swath of Golden Gate Park , with the Richmond District beyond that. The clear view of the fog-free Pacific Ocean on the left and Mount Tamalpais in Marin County in the distance at far right are an added bonus.
Then … Scorpio appears. He hustles up the graffitied steps towards the bus as some of the schoolchildren are getting off.
… and Now, The steps link the upper and lower levels of 15th Avenue. Note that 40+ years later the battle between graffiti and cleanup continues. The summit of the small park is crowned with trees.
Several children are on the bus as he forces his way in with a chilling message for the driver (Ruth Kobart):
… “Hear me, old hag. I’m telling you to drive or I’ll decorate this bus with your brains.”
(On a trivia note, Ruth Kobart was a former opera singer, stage, film and TV actress and for decades a regular member of San Francisco’s American Conservatory Theater).
Then … the bus continues on down the same road; confusingly, this stretch is named Noriega Street.
… and Now, there are newer homes built on either side.
Scorpio turns and encourages the children to sing a song. They begin with ‘Old MacDonald Had A Farm’ but don’t be fooled; the mood will soon change for the worse.
Then … A view looking down to the departing bus from the park’s steep hillside captured the hilly terrain of this part of the neighborhood.
… and Now, that view from here is not as unimpeded as it was but the hillcrest houses are all recognizable.
