Who doesn’t enjoy a good time-travel movie? The opening scenes of this cleverly-written, well-acted romp about science-fiction writer H.G. Wells’ pursuit through time of the infamous Jack The Ripper are set in Victorian London in 1893; they were filmed at the Warner Brothers Studios in Burbank, California ...
A young woman staggers out of a bar and giggles her way down a foggy street in Whitechapel. A well dressed gentleman (seen only from the back) propositions her and takes her down a nearby alley. ZZZZIP! - another victim of Jack The Ripper meets her fate.
Meanwhile H.G. Wells (Malcolm McDowell), an up-and-coming author, has invited a group of close friends to his home to make a startling announcement. He has invented and built a Time Machine. He proudly takes them down to his basement to explain how it works.
It’s quite simple, actually. Captured sun’s rays are converted to electricity which juxtaposes fields of energy, creating friction that lifts the machine from one time sphere into another. There you have it. Herbert, as he is known to his friends, extracts a red key from the dashboard, telling them that without it the time traveler cannot return. Behind him Dr. John Leslie Stevenson (David Warner), a renowned surgeon who has just arrived late, seems to take a special interest in what he is hearing.
Later they are interrupted by the appearance of the police conducting a house-to-house search for The Ripper.
When they find a bloodied glove in Stevenson’s bag they know they’ve found their man. One small problem - during the hubbub he had made his escape.
After everyone leaves, Herbert returns to the cellar … the machine is gone! Clearly, Stevenson must have made his escape in it. As he watches, the machine, sans occupant, returns, materializing before him. Wells can see on the instruments that it had journeyed forward 86 years to 1979. Determined to find and stop Stevenson before he can continue his murderous ways he resets the machine to the same time coordinates, grabs some money and valuables and launches himself into the time and space continuum.
After a wild ride he arrives, - but where is he? He climbs down from the time machine and looks around, perplexed; he appears to be in an exhibit about his life at a museum! The sign explains that the machine, on loan by the British Museum, had been unearthed in London two years earlier. (The museum exhibit scenes, like the London scenes above, were filmed at the Warner Brothers Studios in Burbank).
Then … Clarence and the police motorbike escort head up California Street during their dash across town to get Blotz. Kearny Street crosses at the end of the block.
… and Now, most of the buildings lining California street have since been replaced. Still there though way at the bottom of the hill is the Southern Pacific Building, built in 1917 as the headquarters of Southern Pacific Railway. Beyond it is the Bay Bridge, not built until 11 years after the scene above was filmed.
Then … They overtake a cable car as they speed up California. The landmark Sing Chong Building is on the corner of Grant Avenue.
… and Now, a century later it’s still there.
The Pagoda-styled Sing Chong Building was built in 1907. Local residents and Benevolent Societies had wasted no time rebuilding Chinatown following the 1906 earthquake and fire as a statement to city government that they were not about to be resettled anywhere else.
Then … The cop leans his bike to his right around a tight bend…
… then leans over to his left, apparently negotiating an S - curved street. More of the building behind him is now revealed, helping to confirm this location.
… and Now, here’s that building, still there. It’s 60 Leavenworth, an apartment building with street level retail stores on the corner of McAllister. Credit to reader Notcom who found it.
In this late 1920’s aerial photo you can see the curved street 3 blocks east of City Hall.
It’s more clearly seen in this 1931 aerial photo; tap or click the image to see how it looks today. The curve was straightened out in the mid-1930s to make way for the Federal Office Building at 50 U.N. Plaza.
Then … Continuing on, in the next shot the Geary-Mason Drugs sign on the right is a giveaway to this location. That drugstore was at 400 Mason so this view looks south along Mason Street with Geary crossing in the foreground. The Hotel Minster sign on the left a block down was at 312 Mason.
… and Now, 312 Mason is still a hotel; more specifically an international hostel.
Then … Almost there! This shot revisits a junction appearing twice before during the frantic dash. Here they head west on Market Street having just driven out of Golden Gate Avenue over on the right. The turrets of the Granada Theater can be seen near the end of the block beyond the car.
… and Now, the Granada Theater has long since been demolished and replaced.
Viewed from the opposite direction this vintage photo captured the Granada in 1921, the year it opened. The opulent theater was one of many that sprung up along the length of Market Street during the silver screen heyday of the 1920s and 1930s. It was renamed the Paramount in 1931 and eventually demolished in 1965.
They arrive in time - it’s game over for Blotz, Red Moran and, at City Hall, D.A. Fuller.
As the bad guys are hauled into their cells, Tom and Ray are released from theirs to a joyful welcome by Mary and Polly McDonald. Even Chronicle Proprietor Hamilton gets in on the act, proclaiming to Tom … “They’ve found their man McDonald, and I have found mine!” All’s well that ends well.
In the movie’s final frames Polly turns to Clarence, the derring-do hero of the day. Boy, does she owe him!!
Then … Teddy arrives home in his Mitsubishi Tredia and is seen here about to climb the steps to his front door at 720 Steiner Street in the Alamo Square neighborhood of San Francisco.
… and Now, the house is one of the famous Painted Ladies, aka the Seven Sisters, facing Alamo Square Park. The house at far left is the original home of Matthew Kavanaugh, the builder of the iconic row - note that it’s styled differently from the other six. 720 Steiner is the only house in the row whose steps are on the right; perhaps Mr. Kavanaugh wanted to distance himself from his neighbor’s comings and goings?
… in 1978 … several movies over the years filmed scenes at one of these homes including Invasion of the Body Snatchers in 1978 whose leading lady Brooke Adams’ character also lived at 720 Steiner (see her below about to walk up the front steps and note that its basement hadn’t yet been converted into a garage). Director Phillip Kauffman’s better composition of his shot captured all 6 of the similarly styled Victorians.
Another name for the houses is Postcard Row because of their ubiquitous presence on postcards like this one.
Teddy’s daughter Missie, (Kyra Stempel) lets him in. In this shot of them in the lobby we see a vestibule between it and the front door…
… which tells us that the interiors were not filmed at 720 Steiner. In the photo below taken in the real 720 Steiner living room the front door can be seen on the left. No vestibule there, it’s a completely different spatial layout.
Chuckles from the movie audience are understandable when Teddy meet’s his daughter’s boyfriend, Shelley (Michael Zorek) who, as we will later see, has a thing going on with Teddy’s wife.
Clarence suspects that Sam Blotz and his crony Red Moran are responsible for the fire. He also remembers that he had overheard Blotz ask the operator to connect him to someone in City Hall. He lobbies the City’s Chief Of Police to allow Polly at the local telephone switchboard to report the address if that number is called again. The Chief (played in a cameo by the real San Francisco Chief Dan O’Brien) agrees to help.
Chief O’Brien served as the city’s Chief from 1920 - 1928. Because it was so uncharacteristic for him, the press at the time reported on his movie role.
Sure enough Blotz (top left) calls his crony, Assistant D.A. Gerald Fuller, at City Hall (top right) - he who had falsely accused Tom’s son - to crow about the Chronicle’s plight. But not before Polly at the switchboard (bottom left) had delayed connecting them while she looks up the originating caller’s address. She quickly notifies the Sergeant (bottom right) at the local police station.
The movie presentation alternates between shots of the car and the responding fire engines - as with the fire engine scenes posted earlier, Citysleuth has separated out the car scenes to present them sequentially...
Then … Clarence again hangs onto a car, this time with a police motorcycle escort, dashing across town to get Sam Blotz. Here we see them turning from Grove Street into Larkin Street.
… and Now, the background both Then and Now showcases San Francisco’s grand City Hall.
Then … Next they make a turn where behind them a store sign advertising E. J. Margett’s wholesale and retail rug store heralds this location.
… and Now, per the city street directory, Margett’s was at 989 Market in the corner building at 6th Street so this was filmed as they turned from Market into Golden Gate Avenue. Note the small retail building to the left that a century later is still there, still sandwiched between two larger buildings - Oxford Street menswear is its current tenant.
Then … And here they pass a cable car at the turntable at the south end of Powell Street at Market. Clinton’s Cafeteria is on the right at 18 Powell in the Flood Building.
… and Now, today’s Powell-Mason line terminates at the same spot alongside the Flood Building where the cable cars still depend on manpower to rotate them on the turntable. This block is now a car-free precinct, unusually free of tourists when CitySleuth stopped by on a beautiful winter’s day.
For the nostalgists out there, check out this photo taken in 1945 at the same spot; it was 20 years after The Last Edition was filmed but Clinton’s Cafeteria was still there.
Then … This next corner was seen in an earlier dash across town - the view looks west along Market Street as they turn into Golden Gate Avenue (it’s a reverse look at the same turn in the 2nd Then image in this post).
and Now, Twin Peaks in the distance is clearly visible below but hard to see in the poorer quality Then image above. The most recognizable extant building is 1020 Market at far right on the corner of Golden Gate Avenue.
Then … this is a continuation of the above Then clip as they enter Golden Gate Avenue. On the right is the Golden Gate Theatre; it had opened four years earlier in 1921.
and Now, the theatre continues to be an active performance space to this day. Note the traffic flow - it was two-way a century ago but now it’s one-way.
This 1930 photo shows the junction as it was when the above clip was filmed. That’s Market Street across the bottom with Golden Gate Avenue on the left and Taylor Street on the right. One of the city’s many Owl Drug stores is on the corner at far right.
Polly continues to cut off Blotz’s connection, apologizing profusely each time, holding him there as long as possible.
