Then … Teddy, conspicuously inconspicuous, heads to Guiglio’s for his dinner with Charlotte.
… and Now, supposedly in North Beach, this was actually filmed in the courtyard of the flamboyantly famous (some would say infamous) lawyer Melvin Belli’s offices at 722 Montgomery Street in San Francisco’s Jackson Square district (thanks to ReelSF reader Notcom for the I.D).
… A vintage photo … this contemporaneous photo shows the same awning as that seen in the Then image above. That’s the Transamerica pyramid soaring in the background (photo - Examiner/Bob McLeod).
… and Now, here’s 722 Montgomery today. The historic building, built in 1849, was bought by Belli in 1959; it functioned as his law offices for the next 30 years. The old brick structure was rendered uninhabitable by the 1989 earthquake and stood empty for 25 years before being strengthened and retrofitted into residential apartments and a retail store.
On the left below is a vintage photo showing Teddy’s view of the courtyard when he walked in (photo - Examiner/Bob McLeod). Note the telephone box, a stunt prop installed by Belli . It was a British K6 telephone box, like the one on the right photographed in London (compare it with the Then image above). But there was no restaurant in the courtyard.
Then … Inside Giuglio’s he arrives just in time to take a call from Charlotte - the murals on the wall with colorful backlit circles above them offer clues to its identity.
… Oh, no, she can’t make it! Her work has taken her to Los Angeles, but she invites him to fly down and join her overnight, an offer he can’t refuse. Along the length of the bar there’s a colonade of archways and marble columns.
… and Now, there wasn’t a Giuglio’s restaurant anywhere in North Beach - so where was this filmed? Citysleuth has yet to find the location: it could have been in San Francisco or Los Angeles. Any blog reader who recognizes it from the two images above is encouraged to leave a comment or notify citysleuth@reelsf.com.
Then … He rushes to a Western Union Telegraph office to send a telegram to himself supposedly from his office saying he has to attend a meeting in L.A. right away.
… and Now, he was in the Jackson Square district running east across Columbus towards the Western Union office at 560 Jackson Street, but the sign was a movie prop - the actual tenant at this address back then was the Robert Domergue Antiques Gallery. Note the unchanged doorknob, locks, doorbell and overhead light on the 560 Jackson door. Oh, and the matching lamppost.
Then … He must feel guilty because he decides to make Didi an impromptu meal before the telegram arrives. There’s a great view behind him as he drives to a store.
… and Now, it’s the view from the top of Telegraph Hill looking down then up Union Street towards the Russian Hill skyline. This part of town has looked just the same for many decades.
Barbara Bel Geddes’ character Midge in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1958 classic Vertigo lived in a Telegraph Hill apartment with a sweeping vista that included that view, left of center.
Then … his destination is Speedy’s at 301 Union on the corner of Montgomery.
… and Now, this beloved neighborhood store served the top-of-the-hill residents for 93 years before closing down in 2008 since which time it has seen a succession of short-lived tenants. Note the same yellow and black tiles both Then and Now.
Speedy’s has appeared in several movies over the decades including in the 1951 noir House On Telegraph Hill, below. Its official name was still New Union Grocery back then, but the locals still called it Speedy’s (easier to say than Spediacci’s, the name of the family who owned it).
Then … Teddy drives home, here crossing Montgomery Street heading east on Union. But locals viewing this will have a good laugh …
… and Now, because they know in the real world he’s heading into a cul-de-sac! In the distance the Bay Bridge crosses to Yerba Buena Island on its way to Oakland. (That cul-de-sac continuity goof also happened in Vertigo when Jimmy Stewart’s character Scottie Ferguson drove out of it on his way to Midge’s apartment).
Then … Herbert needs cash. Fortunately he had brought his landlady’s jewelry with him for this very purpose. He first goes to Blackwell Antiques at 563 Sutter Street near Union Square - they deal in estate jewelry, it’s as good a place as any to try to sell it.
… and Now, Blackwell Antiques closed down years ago; the writing on the window tells us all we need to know about 563 Sutter today.
Then … They agree on a value but the shop owner won’t buy it without first seeing an I.D. which of course Herbert doesn’t have. He gathers up the jewelry and leaves.
… and Now, the buildings seen above across the street have different tenants but otherwise they look the same. The blue sign over the doorway left of center, above, read 560 Sutter; the number is still there but is now in fanciful art nouveau style. The arched entrance next to it has lost its awning but looks better for it.
Later he tries elsewhere … as he approaches a pawnbroker (at far right) a sign next door conveniently displays the address of a business there - 2447 Mission Street. CitySleuth should always be so lucky.
Then … We see more of the storefront as he walks up; the 1978 city directory listed it as the Argonaut Jewelry and Loan Pawnbrokers at 2449 Mission between 20th and 21st in the heart of the Mission District.
… and Now, it has a different owner but it’s still a pawnshop decades later. The storefront tiles are now painted and muraled over.
Then … We see a wider view of the same store when he returns to it later on. Note the movie theater next to it.
… a vintage photo… this 1975 photo captured the Argonaut exactly as it appeared in the movie a few years later. The theater next to it was the Tower Theater at 2465 Mission.
… and Now, the theater opened in 1912 as the Majestic Theatre. It closed in 1996 and remains closed today but recent renovation activity holds promise for a new life for the currently blighted, graffitied site.
This time, no questions asked, a deal is struck, but not before Herbert is surprised to see guns on sale there. Unheard of in England, by Jove!
Then … Teddy hears a car honking outside his office window. He looks down and sees the mystery woman proudly beckoning to her image (most likely added post-production) advertising the re-opening of the cable car system.
… and Now, filmed in Los Angeles, she was parked on 5th Street near Grand Avenue alongside the east lawn of the Los Angeles Central Library. In this matching image we see that the dual-upright electrolier street light has survived but the expansive lawn has not; a new library wing was built on it in 1993. Nobody can deny it looked better before.
… a vintage photo … This photo shows the lawn and library in 1949; compared to the Then image above it had changed very little when the movie was filmed 35 years later. ‘X’ marks the spot where The Woman In Red would park next to the electrolier street light.
… a vintage photo … here’s a 1933 photo looking north across the lawn and across 5th Street towards the CalEdison Building (the setting for Teddy’s office). It was from one of its windows that the Then image above was filmed. Note the massive retaining wall supporting the sloping roadway in front of the CalEdison Building and the adjoining Engstrum Hotel Apartments …
Teddy has no time to grab an umbrella as he rushes out into the rain. This is the entrance of the CalEdison Building at 5th and Grand, seen earlier in the movie.
Then … As he swaggers up to her car the view looks west along 5th Street towards the 110 freeway . The Central Library is on the left and the aforementioned retaining wall is on the right.
… and Now, in today’s view the retaining wall is gone (removed in the late 1980s) and the 73-story U.S. Bank Tower, aka the Library Tower, has replaced the Engstrum Hotel Apartments (compare it with the 1933 image above).
Teddy tries to persuade her to go to dinner or lunch but she demurs and tries to drive off. He splays himself on the hood; his desperate rain-soaked expression softens her heart and she suggests they meet that evening at Giuglio’s in North Beach. For the first time he finds out her name - Charlotte.
Then … The time traveler is fascinated by the sight of boxes containing moving images at a store on a street corner. Note the windows wrapping around a structural column at left and on the right window pane there’s a reflection revealing a crosswalk behind Herbert showing a pedestrian next to a post on a short flared pedestal across the street.
Then … This view looking out from inside the store reveals there’s a similar post and pedestal on this side of the crosswalk; it has a parking meter next to it. The two posts and the parking meter helped confirm this location.
… and Now, ReelSF blog reader Al identified this location (see his comment below) as the Chinatown TV store at 653 Kearny on the corner of Clay Street. Since then it has been remodeled; the windows that caught Herbert’s attention above have since been made narrower to make room for an added Clay Street entrance but the structural column inside in the corner is still there. The store was a Subway sandwich shop from 2001 until 2019 and is currently a museum dedicated to the history and memory of the unheralded Chinese railway workers who helped build the U.S. Transcontinental Railroad.
… in 1964 … here’s a vintage photo of the Chinatown TV store. This view looks east along Clay Street across Kearny; it reveals that the Clay Street windows used to be as wide as the windows above them (which are unchanged today). The corner sign is the same one then as it is now, only the name has changed. (Nostalgic Turk Murphy jazz fans will appreciate the sight of Earthquake McGoon’s club at 630 Clay down the road on the far left).
For additional confirmation, here’s a 2015 Google Street View image looking in the opposite direction west along Clay Street when the store, left, was a Subway. It shows the two matching poles and pedestals on either side of the crosswalk that are seen in the movie images (only one is there now), plus the parking meter next to the pole by the store (it’s since been removed). Portsmouth Square is on the right.
Then … Herbert’s search for Stevenson takes him to several more banks beginning with Banco Di Roma.
… and Now, this is the California Street entrance of the Kohl Building at 400 Montgomery. Note Then and Now the matching ornamentation and flagpole wall cleat and halyard at the side of the entrance. There’s a different bank there now, a branch of Sterling Bank and Trust.
Then … Between bank visits he’s seen on the corner of Montgomery and Clay with the 1972 TransAmerica Pyramid headquarters behind him. Further back, left of center, is the original 1909 TransAmerica headquarters on the corner of Montgomery and Columbus.
… and Now, the same view today. The original TransAmerica building is barely visible from this viewpoint but it’s still there, now owned by the Church Of Scientology.
In this photo looking back along Columbus the old and the new TransAmerica headquarters buildings are nicely juxtaposed.
Then … More banks … next up is First Enterprise Bank at 260 Montgomery Street on the corner of Pine Street.
… in 1980 … A fire broke out in this building in July 1980, taking the life of a fire captain and injuring 13 others. Read here the harrowing accounts of firefighters who experienced the deadly collapse.
… and Now, a 15 story commercial building, addressed as 250 Montgomery, was built on this site in 1986.
Then … The Sumitomo Bank of California is next. (Note another Sumitomo branch across the street reflected in the window).
… and Now, this main office and agency were at 351 California Street per the 1978 city directory; the same directory listed a Sumitomo branch across the street at 320 California. The window below is the one seen in the movie - the street level space has been home to various retail businesses over the years and is currently being redone for the next tenant.
Then … And finally, the French Bank of California at 130 Montgomery Street. But no luck, Stevenson hadn’t stopped by any of them.
… and Now, here’s the same doorway today.
… and Now, it’s worth stepping back to admire 130 Montgomery Street. It’s a 1930 Art Deco gem, a delightful surprise sandwiched between two much taller office buildings.
