One On Top Of The Other - Tragic News
Then … George has a meeting with a potential investor in Reno, Nevada. Jane accompanies him on the drive there from San Luis Obispo, on the way passing a small town alongside the snow-blanketed freeway. Note the metal structure arrowed on the right, a clue to this location.
… and Now, They were driving east on Interstate 80 with a view of Truckee, California, right after passing the Truckee exit (map). Trees along the freeway’s edge now block most of the town from here but that structure (railway control lights are mounted on it) is still there; it spans the railway line that passes through Truckee.
Then … They arrive at their destination, here driving under the famous Reno Arch on the way to their hotel (map).
… and Now, The arch, on N. Virginia St. at Commercial Row, first appeared here in 1926 but has seen several changes over the years. The one seen above in the movie was a 1963 redesign, the second version. Today’s (third) version was installed in 1987 and repainted in 2018 (photo by Richard Wong). Elsewhere in this blog is the original arch, seen in the 1947 noir movie Born To Kill.
Trivia time: What happened to the old arches? They are still around - the first arch was relocated in Reno to Lake Street near the Truckee River; the second was bought by the northern California town of Willits who discarded its gaudily colored plastic panels and reconfigured it to pronounce their town ‘The Gateway To The Redwoods’.
Then … While playing the slot machines at their hotel George receives an urgent phone call from his brother Henry; Jane can see from his face that it’s not good news. George’s wife Susan has died from an asthma attack.
… circa 1960 … ‘Mapes Casino’ was visible on the slot machine above, revealing where it was filmed - in Reno’s Mapes Hotel. This vintage photo of the art deco-style building, built in 1947 at the junction of N. Virginia and the Truckee River (map), closed down in 1982 before being spectacularly demolished by implosion in 2000 (watch it here).
… and Now, the site of the grand hotel is now a city-owned plaza.
More trivia … the Mapes Hotel casino also appeared in the 1961 movie The Misfits. The Mapes served as the production center for the movie and many cast and crew stayed there, including Marilyn Monroe and then-husband Arthur Miller, pictured here in their hotel suite after a day’s shooting. They were to divorce very shortly afterwards, ending five years of marriage.
George rushes back to his San Francisco home and, with Henry and Susan’s sister Martha, gazes down on Susan for the last time in this solemn scene. Martha, still angry at George’s lack of commitment to the marriage, angrily asks him to leave.
They watch as Susan’s body is transferred into a hearse. Citysleuth is still looking for this location, described earlier in more detail. The license plate on the hearse is Q 25 416 which was the California commercial plate format (1 letter + 5 numbers) in the 1960s when the movie was filmed. So was this a California location? Maybe, maybe not. Can any reader amongst you shed light on this?