Time After Time - New Dollars for Old Pounds
Herbert needs cash; he goes to a bank to change his Victorian pounds into dollars. The foreign exchange manager (Bob Shaw) tells him they are only worth “… twenty five dollars and fifty cents”. But it’s a start - he can also sell some jewelry that he had brought with him.
Then … As Herbert stands up to leave (left of center) a camera shot from above reveals a dramatic high-ceilinged lobby with a central circular teller station. Fortunate, because this enabled ID’ing the location; R. Christian Anderson, moderator of the excellent Lost San Francisco blog, recognized it as California First Bank at 350 California Street (map). Sansome Street is seen through the window; it was 3-lane one way northbound back then (it’s two way now).
… and Now, the matching shot today shows significant changes. The centerpiece teller station is gone, now a seating area, and the open desk area alongside the Sansome Street wall has been converted to enclosed offices. There’s still a bank in the lobby though - US Bank.
… and Now, here’s an exterior view of 350 California, a brutalist structure built in 1976. The street-level windows along Sansome seen in the Then interior image above are now mostly covered with US Bank advertising posters.
Then … To check if Stevenson might also have exchanged money Herbert embarks on a tour of neighboring banks in the city’s Financial District, beginning with the Bank of Canton of California’s main branch at 555 Montgomery on the corner of Clay (map).
… and Now, here’s the same corner today, but … this is an entirely different building, built on the site in 1984-85 six years after the movie was filmed. A bank still occupies the first floor here - East West Bank.
Then … shortly afterwards we see Herbert exiting the bank. In the left glass pane there’s a reflection of the Renaissance-Revival Bank Of Italy building across the street at 550 Montgomery, further confirming the location.
Worthy of mention historically: back then the Bank of Canton of California had another branch at 743 Washington Street in Chinatown (it’s an East West Bank branch today, below left). It was housed in the historic Chinese Telephone Exchange building (seen, below right, in the 1947 movie The Lady From Shanghai when it was still operating as an exchange). When it opened in 1901, the operators had to know every Chinatown customer by name and address because it was considered rude to refer to a person by number. Each operator also had to speak the many dialects of Chinese spoken by the residents.
Then … Next up is the Bank Melli Iran. Once again a window reflection of the building opposite helps identify where this was.
… and Now, Bank Melli Iran’s San Francisco’s branch was on the first floor of the 43-story Wells Fargo skyscraper at 44 Montgomery Street. Built during 1964-67, it was briefly the city’s tallest building until the Bank of America building at 555 California Street surpassed it in 1969. Bank Melli Iran was most likely in the Mongomery/Sutter corner space occupied until recently by First Republic Bank (bottom left) (map). The reflection in the glass both Then and Now is the French Renaissance Revival Hunter-Dulin building across the street. (Related trivia - in November 1979 following the Islamic Revolution the Jewish Defense League claimed credit for a bomb explosion outside the Bank Melli Iran office).
Then … A brief close-in camera pan reveals the next bank: Golden State Sanwa Bank. The city directory listed it at 300 Montgomery Street, a building occupying the whole block, but where exactly in that high-rise was it? This panorama yields significant clues ... note the metal plate on a column at far left and the reflection of the Russ Building at the corner of Montgomery and Pine.
… and Now, in this view 300 Montgomery’s main entrance is at far left but the bank’s entrance was in the corner at Pine in the space currently occupied by Walgreen’s (large arrow) (map). Look carefully and you’ll see damage marks on the column to the left of the entrance where the metal plate used to be (small arrow).
Then … Finally, a peek at a Bank of the Orient sign. The 1978 city directory listed its address as 233 Sansome Street (map).
… and Now, it’s still there!