Tom’s son Ray McDonald (Ray Hallor) has exciting news to share with his family. Outside his parent’s home he waves to a passing cable car.
Then … The cable car is heading east on the Pacific Avenue cable line that at one time ran west to Divisidero and south down Larkin to Brannan. This style of cable car, known as a cable train, was comprised of a grip car pulling an enclosed passenger trailer car - (go here for a wonderful 1929 Movietone Newsreel video of a cable train on the Pacific Avenue line and a link to a detailed article on its history). As the cable train passes the Victorian home below the highlighted buildings in the background establishes where this was filmed - at the corner of Pacific and Gough in Pacific Heights.
… and Now, the Pacific Avenue cable line closed in 1929 and the Victorian home, at 1895 Pacific Avenue (map) was replaced in 1931 by this five story Art Deco apartment building. The buildings highlighted above aren’t visible now from street level, but…
… this higher perspective reveals that they are still there ; this is the rear of 1810 and 1824 Jackson Street, built in 1917.
An interesting aside: while it’s a shame, looking back, that yet another of the city’s fine Victorians was sacrificed, at least the replacement brought its own architectural charm as exemplified by this recent photo of the eye-catching art deco detailing in its lobby.
Ray excitedly shows his mother an acceptance letter from the San Francisco D.A.’s office offering him his first job as a deputy assistant attorney. Mary (Lila Leslie) couldn’t be more proud.
Then … Tom and Polly are next to arrive at the McDonald home (its street number is 1421 per the image at the top of this post).
… and Now, it’s supposedly in San Francisco but in fact this was 1421 N. Hudson Avenue in Hollywood (the wave to the cable car was a bit of a stretch!). But the charming original house and the one next to it are no longer there; they were replaced in the 1950s by this group of multi-dwelling buildings.
Then … Clarence Walker (Rex Lease), a San Francisco Chronicle reporter who has taken a fancy to Polly, also shows up.
… and Now, The houses behind Clarence are also gone, victims of commercial creep from the adjacent Wilcox Avenue. What disappoints CitySleuth is how multi-dwelling and commercial properties have pushed aside the charm of what used to be a lovely residential street.
They all congratulate Ray on his appointment. Tom too has news to share - his foreman is leaving and he fully expects to get the job.
Then … There’s more action on this street; we next see Tom’s dog stealing the newspaper from the steps of a neighboring house for his master.
Then … The irate homeowner lives in # 1425. He’s seen this before - he glares towards Tom’s house right next door.
… and Now, Lo and behold! This house, at 1425 N. Hudson Avenue, was built in 1906 and is still there. Over 100 years old but it’s exactly the same. Compare the porch, the posts, the siding, the windows and the steps with the two movie images above. Many thanks to reader Notcom who found this location for CitySleuth.
When Tom returns to work he is bitterly disappointed to learn that in spite of having been recommended for the foreman job it has been given to ‘Bull” Collins (Tom O’Brien) (on the right). It doesn’t help that he’s a failure as a printer (the facial acting of the silent movie era is perfectly captured in this frame).
CitySleuth delivered a San Francisco Public Library online presentation on Feb 2, 2024 on how film noir directors used locations to enhance their storytelling and why they often chose Telegraph Hill when they filmed in San Francisco. SFPL hes posted it on their youTube channel - you can watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9r7fB3P6hA
Jo’s paranoia continues while he walks the streets of Chinatown. He keeps glancing back to see if he’s being followed. Below, he’s at a movie house next to a poster display of stereotypical (at that time) images of Asian actors. Director Wang was making a point.
Then … As he moves on, passing another poster display, we see details of the theatre - it’s the Bella Union Theatre at 825 Kearny Street.
… in 1979 … here’s a vintage photo of it pictured as it was when the Chan Is Missing scene was filmed there. The poster displays are clearly visible, as too is the ticket booth.
… and Now, the theatre closed in 1985; the remodeled building is now a self-help academy for the elderly.
A little history: the theatre opened in the 1890s as the Shanghai Theatre offering Chinese drama, seen below in a contemporaneous postcard. Around 1912 it was renamed the Kearny Theater, switching to burlesque entertainment. It became the Bella Union in 1948, until it closed 37 years later.
Then … Jo heads north on Kearny, nervously looking back. Across the street is the Chinatown Chevron gas station on the corner of Jackson and straight ahead Kearny climbs towards Telegraph Hill. The store alongside him is next to the Bella Union; it’s on the right in the 1979 image above.
… and Now, in today’s matching photo the gas station has been built over and the distant view up the hill is hidden by trees. An apartment building that looks architecturally out of place on this block has replaced the store on the left.
Then … Next he’s seen walking south on Grant Avenue approaching the triple arched entrance to Central Bank at 933 Grant and just past that, Chung Fat grocery at 921 Grant. Li Po’s bar is visible across the street.
… and Now, the venerable Li Po is still there and 933 (with a remodeled entrance) is still a bank - Cathay Pacific’s Chinatown branch. But the grocery is now a gift shop.
Then … Just around the corner from Grant on Washington Street Waverly Place tees in from the left at the Wonton Noodles sign. Ping’s Place restaurant straight ahead is at 835 Washington (check out the little girl passing by - she has just spotted the camera).
… and Now, in a recent view from the same spot what’s notable is the Chat Hai Jeweler’s store across the street at 864 Washington. The same long-lived business and sign can be seen in the Then image above.
Then … Watch out for this moment in the movie; as it was being filmed the newspaper vendor, not prepped in any way, slowly turns back, glimpsing the camera without even the slightest hint of a reaction.
… and Now, this is the southwest corner of Grant and Washington - the view looks along Washington. The distinctive tiles above, now behind the corner store’s security bars, have been plastered over…
… but more than 30 years earlier those tiles were seen behind Rita Hayworth as she crosses Washington in the 1947 movie The Lady From Shanghai (compare them to the Then image above - they are identical). Waverly Place tees in along the block.
… and Now, the matching view today.
Tom has arranged to pick up his daughter Polly at work - she’s employed by the telephone company as a switchboard operator supervisor. Outside the building on the sunny side of the street he blows the horn.
Then … Two buildings were used to represent where this was filmed. First we are shown the Pacific Telephone building downtown in SoMa at 140 New Montgomery Street (map). This is the northwest-facing side taken from the old Call Building (now known as the Central Tower Building) a few blocks away on Market Street. The flag touts Bell Telephone’s bell logo and the east bay is out there somewhere in the distance. (However, don’t be fooled, the scene above wasn’t filmed in SoMa - neither as we will see was it filmed in San Francisco).
… and Now, when completed in 1925 during the economic boom of the Roaring 20s the beautiful white Art Moderne building (“A shimmering, gleaming monument to Talk” per the SF Examiner), was the tallest in San Francisco. In this recent Google 3D image it continues to stand proud, unchanged as it nears its centennial.
A street-level look at the northeast side on New Montgomery Street makes nostalgists amongst us pine for the days when highrises had class and majesty. Now a for-lease mixed-use building, it has been completely modernized inside (while retaining its spectacular period lobby). Note the Bell logo above the main entrance at bottom (photo by Alexis Madrigal).
Polly (Frances Teague), pert and pretty in the fashionable style of the flapper era, hears the car horn…
… she grabs her coat, gets her hat, leaves her worries on the doorstep then heads out, on the way pausing to chat to the switchboard girls. But - where was this filmed? Not, as it turns out, at 140 New Montgomery in San Francisco...
This clipping from a 1925 industry newspaper describes where actress Frances Teague was taught how to operate the switchboard for her movie scenes - Southern California Telephone Company’s new Whitney telephone exchange, so the exchange interiors may have been filmed there.
Then … When she skips down a set of steps as she leaves the building this exterior was definitely filmed in Los Angeles - check out the addresses on the employee entrance doors behind her:
Business Office, 740 S. Olive Street
Public Station, 6099 Sunset Boulevard
… in 1926 … CitySleuth thanks reader Notcom for coming up with this filming location - the Southern California Company Exchange building in Hollywood at 1429 N. Gower Street (map) , indicated below in a 1920s photo by the round circle. It’s a half block from the public station at 6099 Sunset Blvd referenced on the doorway above and it’s across from a group of low budget film studios, aka ‘Poverty Row’, which included FBO Studios who distributed The Last Edition. What’s more, the fence alongside California Studios at 1432 N. Gower indicated by the elliptical circle is where Tom’s vehicle was filmed in the first image in this post.
Further confirmation that the telephone building was here came when silent movie czar John Bengtson spotted the same building in the 1925 spoof movie short Hollywouldn’t in a scene filmed on N. Gower Street. (Watch it here - https://www.eastman.org/hollywouldnt). There are two palm trees on the lawn whose leaves are reflected in the entrance door panels in The Last Edition ‘Then’ image above. The wall plaque mostly hidden by the tree, below left, reads ‘Southern California Telephone Building’, stacked vertically; its final letters can also be made out in The Last Edition image.
… and Now, here’s a recent image of 1429 N. Gower today, much changed and expanded but still a telephone company property.
Confirmation of where Tom parked follows: In this frame of him pulling in to the kerb note the gate hinge near the bottom of the fence, the row of patterned holes near the top and the shadow of the tree against the fence…
Another scene from the 1925 movie short Hollywouldn’t filmed on N. Gower Street across from the telephone building captured the same fence hinge, patterned holes and (!) the real clincher, the identical tree shadow…
… and here at lower right we get a closer look at the fence, abutting the California Studios building at 1432 N. Gower Street.
