Time After Time - Consummation
Then … Amy takes Herbert to a movie at the Cinema at Ghirardelli Square at 901 Beach Street in the Marina District where he’s scared out of his wits by the violent action, the likes of which he has never seen before. Below, they have just exited the theater. The movie name is interesting, The most recent Exorcist movie back then then was Exorcist 2 … this was a dig by director Meyer at the Hollywood penchant for sequels (but years later he would himself co-write the sequels Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.)
… And Now, the cinema is no longer there; the site now houses commercial offices.
This Dec 1974 photo shows the cinema as it looked whenTime After Time was filmed. with the same Marquee sign. The preceding tenant in the building (it used to be an old Power House) was the Hungry-I nightclub which had moved there in the 1960s from its better-known North Beach location. The cinema opened in Aug 1971 but never did well, closing in Dec 1986.The movie entrance was the 3rd archway from the left; today that has been remodeled as a matching window and the entrance is now in the first archway on the left. On the right, Polk Street tees into Beach.
Then … They walk by a newspaper stand not noticing, but we do, the chilling headline … is Stevenson up to his old mayhem again? Behind the gawkers across the street is an interesting building …
… and Now, this is part of the ship-shape ship-shaped port-hole windowed Maritime Museum at Aquatic Park.
Then … By now Herbert is more than happy to tag along with Amy and when she invites him to her place for dinner he readily agrees. Her home happens to be in the Marina district across from the Palace of Fine Arts (we get to see it later in the movie) so her way home after buying some food she swings by to introduce him to the grand edifice.
… and Now, the Palace was one of the many structures built for the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition. It underwent an extensive rebuilding program from 1964 to 1974. This view looks across the lagoon from Bay Street near the corner with Baker Street. The fountain is still there!
This south-east facing enhanced vintage aerial photo shows the grand scale of the glorious exposition. The Palace, at lower right, is the sole on-site surviving structure. (There’s one other survivor, Firehouse No. 9, now called Firehouse No. 35, which was moved in 1915 to the Embarcadero next to Pier 22).
Then … She walks him through the Palace’s grand rotunda. Originally a wood and plaster structure, the replacement, seen here, was built with steel and concrete.
… and Now, the Palace is exactly as it was other than an accumulation of grime but the Baker Street residences in the distance have undergone significant changes.
There’s nothing quite like an intimate dinner and a glass of wine to put one in the mood. He stays over and they do it.
But he is jolted out of his reverie by a radio news bulletin about a second North Beach brutal murder of a prostitute. Startled, he realizes who must be responsible.