The Conversation - A Shocker
Stunned after witnessing the deadly attack on the young wife at the Jack Tar Hotel, Caul decides to return to the Director's office to confront him.
Then ... He crosses Grove Street outside his apartment building in Hayes Valley (described in an earlier post) to hail the 21-Hayes bus. Movie director Coppola has described the demolition taking place across the street during the latter phase of the Western Addition clearance as a metaphor for Caul's crumbling state of mind.
and Now ... this is the corner of Grove Street where the bus makes the turn from Laguna. Those apartments across Laguna were replaced but Caul's building at 700 Laguna is still there having survived the clearance. The 21-Hayes still follows the same route.
Then ... He's told the Director is not in but barges past the guard anyway.
and Now ... the same staircase today, at the west end of the lobby level of One Embarcadero Center in the Financial District. If this looks familiar it's because we first saw it in an earlier scene.
Then ... The guards make it very clear he's not welcome.
and Now ... it's more eclectically colorful than it was! CitySleuth prefers the original austere look and suspects the building's creators would agree.
Then ... Caul takes the hint and exits the One Embarcadero building via a walk-through tunnel - the end of it is visible at far right.
and Now ... this was the exit to Clay Street on the north side of the building (map) - it's now closed off and there's a full-height window in its place. The Security Pacific Bank sign partially visible on the concrete overhang, above, has been replaced with a One Embarcadero Center sign, below. See too how those sidewalk trees opposite have grown in the last 40 years.
Then ... His attention is drawn to a swanky limousine, a 1971 or 1972 Mercedes-Benz 600 Pullman. This model is no ordinary limo; it has over the decades been the street transportation of choice for the famous and the infamous (John Lennon, Pol Pot), for the feted and the hated (Elizabeth Taylor, Saddam Hussein), for the simply rich and the filthy rich (Hugh Hefner, Aristotle Onassis),for believers and non-believers (The Pope, Leonid Brezhnev), to name just a few. (Trivia note - Francis Ford Coppola negotiated a gift of a car from Paramount Studios should 'The GodFather' take exceed $50 Million. When it did he chose a 600 Pullman. This one perhaps?).
and Now ... the garage is still there and the mosaic-tiled sidewalk has held up remarkably well.
He looks into the limo and is shocked to see the Director's wife! What the ...!? Isn't she dead? Didn't he just see her brutally attacked at the Jack Tar? How can this be?
Then ... He walks away, flabbergasted, trying to make sense of it all. Just beyond him is the tunnel from which he had exited moments before.
and Now ... as mentioned earlier the exit tunnel is no longer there and the building name has been relocated around the corner of the overhang. An additional sign has been added on the far wall and other changes have been made there to accommodate retail stores.