Time After Time - Herbert Meets Amy
Herbet is at his wit’s end after visiting bank after bank in the Financial District in an unsuccessful search for Stevenson. But suddenly across the street he spots something that warms the cockles of his heart and snaps him to attention (click the image to see his reaction - there’s more to acting than saying lines).
Then … The sight of the Chartered Bank Of London nostalgically adorned with the Union Jack gives him hope that surely Stevenson had been there. It occupied the first floor of the Merchants Exchange Building at 465 California Street.
Then … Herbert cheerily doffs his cap as he walks through the entrance lobby.
… and Now, there’s little change here; the lobby has retained its marbled grandeur but the center doorway ahead has a little more glass and all three doors have newer handles.
Then … The doors open into the bank hall. Herbert meets Amy Robbins (Mary Steenburgen), the bank’s Foreign Currency manager. He is very interested to encounter a woman in that position; she is very interested in him, period. Note the mural on the back wall…
… and Now, that mural, depicting a merchant ship in rough seas, is still there, one of five in the room that were commissioned by young architect Julia Morgan who helped redesign the space after significant earthquake damage in 1906. The hall is now empty, used by the Clint Reilly Organization as a high-end social and entertainment space; they own the Merchant’s Exchange Building and are headquartered there.
For Amy, it’s love at first sight. Perhaps because of this she doesn’t hesitate telling him that Stevenson was indeed there and that she had recommended the Hyatt Regency Hotel on Drumm Street to him as a place to stay. She also gives Herbert her card and offers to show him around town. (As an aside, the real H.G. Wells wrote about Women’s Lib; now he’s experiencing it first hand). Herbert leaves, happy to have hit the jackpot twice. (Note the photo of Queen Elizabeth on the right).