Teddy coaches his buddy Mikey on when and how to call him that evening pretending he’s urgently needed at the office. That will clear the way for Teddy to go to the dinner date he’s (he thinks) made with the Woman in Red.
After helping with the blind man prank (previous post) Mikey makes the call. But by then Teddy has found out he has to stay at home with Didi to babysit their grandkid. In a hilarious response he demands the bewildered Mikey tell the bosses to take their request and shove it up their (you know where). (Watch the movie to see why Didi has that inappropriately positioned gun).
Then … Mikey rejoins his buddies, finding them in a fracas with local louts in front of a Carls Jr. diner. It’s time for more sight gags as Buddy, still playing the blind man (on the left), punches away. The phone number posted at the adjacent business on the right led CitySleuth to this location.
… and Now, both Carls Jr. at 305 W. 6th Street in the Wilshire/Vermont neighborhood of Los Angeles and the Olympic Auto Body Shop (with the same phone number) are still there today. The shot was filmed looking across Virgil Avenue (map).
Teddy doesn’t know that it was Ms. Milner who had answered the call and received his offer of a date. She doesn’t know it was meant for the Woman in Red. She patiently waits for him to arrive.
He never does - she ends up closing the place. But where was this filmed? Teddy referred to it as “…La Primavera in North Beach”; but this looks way too swanky for North Beach. There’s a later scene in the movie filmed at the Prince Restaurant in Los Angeles but these interiors appear to be somewhere else. If anyone recognizes it they are encouraged to email citysleuth@reelsf.com.
The time machine has transported Herbert 86 years into the future smack in the middle of a museum exhibit about his life. A sign advertises it outside the museum.
Then … the camera pans down to Herbert as he leaves the building. He has no idea yet where he is. (But CitySleuth does - many moons ago he attended a light show at the planetarium here, set to Pink Floyd’s Dark Side Of The Moon album. Super cool.)
… and Now, this was filmed at the California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park, one of the world’s largest natural history museums (map). The Academy tore down the original building in 2005 to make way for an innovative Renzo Piano-designed replacement, below, which opened in 2008.
Then … Here’s a contemporaneous 1970s photo of the original academy.
… and Now, this is the new one. Popular with old and young alike, its exhibits include an Amazonian rainforest, a spectacular aquarium, a penguin habitat, a planetarium and a green, living roof referencing the hills of San Francisco.
Then … Herbert looks across the large concourse spread out before him; over to his left he sees a bandshell structure.
… and Now, this is the Spreckles Temple Of Music, a gift to the city in 1900 by sugar magnate Claus Spreckles. Still in continuous use, it has hosted famous musicians and bands over the decades, from Luciano Pavarotti to the Grateful Dead, for up to 20,000 appreciative attendees.
Then … Herbert exits the park frantically scribbling in his notebook, recording strange sights alien to his Victorian eye (and ours).
… and Now, this, the Golden Gate Park entrance on Fulton Street at 6th Avenue incorporating curved bench seating (map), looks the same today.
Then … the junction is clearly street-signed here as the plastic-wrapped lady sashays across the road.
… and Now, the addition of a garage around the corner resulted in the reduction of the two first floor windows on the left.
Then … Herbert steps out oblivious to a Do Not Walk sign causing screeching tires and metal-on-metal. Confused and alarmed, yes, but fortunately he is unscathed.
… and Now, thanks to road work Citysleuth was able to stand here with impunity while taking this matching photo. Of interest is the gabled structure on the left (just visible beyond Herbert, above) - it’s the old Powell Street Railroad Company’s rail stop at Fulton Street and 7th Avenue.
It was built in 1889. Viewed from the park looking towards Fulton Street we see it’s been maintained in fine condition to this day.
The next scene is played purely for audience laughs, tapping into Charles Grodin’s comedic background. The idea was to cheer Joey up after his wife left him. Today people are likely less likely to find it funny.
Then … Joey watches from outside as Buddy, pretending to be a blind man, and Mikey approach the bar in a swanky restaurant.
… and Now, this was filmed in the restaurant Cafe Alma at 13362 Ventura Blvd in the Sherman Oaks neighborhood of Los Angeles (map). Very shortly afterwards the restaurant was taken over by the Great Greek; it’s still there today under that name - in the recent photo below note how similar it still looks with its mirrored pillars and curvilinear-topped partitions.
Then … The blind man orders two cocktails then becomes agitated when he realizes his sighted guide has moved away. He swings around, bellowing out for him, his arm sending drinks and ice cubes across the room. When the flustered bartender (Billy Beck) hastily replaces the drinks he swings back and it happens again. And again. And again. And again.
… and Now, the Great Greek’s bar is still there at the same spot.
Mayhem ensues as Buddy stumbles around, bumping into diners and knocking over waiters bearing laden trays.
The strategy is working, Joey is in stitches watching the pantomine unfold. Mikey, too.
Then … But it’s rapidly becoming out of hand so Mikey runs back in to retrieve Buddy.
… and Now, these frosted glass partitions are now clear glass. Both Then and Now the same retail stores are visible across the street.
Then … Buddy plays the blind man right until he climbs behind the wheel of his classy Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham outside the restaurant. The store numbers 13367, 13365, and 13363 are clearly legible across the street, the clue that led CitySleuth to this Ventura Blvd location.
… and Now, current tenants include an orthodontist at 13367, a coffee shop at 13365 and a garden/antique decor shop at 13363.
The barman and a waiter (Danny Wells) can only stare in total disbelief.
And here’s a recent photo of the Great Greek. With a wine store and two side-by-side restaurants it’s all you can eat and drink on this corner.
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).
