The House On Telegraph Hill - Arrival in San Francisco
Within days Alan and Victoria are married and off to San Francisco for a reunion with Karin's son who is too young to know that his mother is an impostor. Trivia note - during the making of the movie Richard Basehart and Valentina Cortese, who played Alan and Victoria, really did fall for each other and were married shortly afterwards.
Then ... Their train pulls in supposedly at the station in San Francisco, but this footage is from somewhere else ...
... and Now, this is actually Union Station in Los Angeles, seen below in a recent photo. Note the same roof overhangs, angling upward.
And here is an aerial view of how Union Station, which opened in 1939 in the northeast corner of downtown Los Angeles, looks today. The station has a Spanish Mission inspired exterior and Art Deco Streamline Moderne interiors, reflecting the popular tastes at that time.
Then ... The composited panorama below shows them greeting the young boy in the station. Standing in the background is their rather stern-looking housekeeper, Margaret (Fay Baker). Shades of 'Rebecca'! (click image to enlarge).
Reader Sean Beougher provided CitySleuth with details on this location. The scene was filmed at an indoor/outdoor set called “The Train Shed” on the old 20th Century Fox backlot, now part of Century City in Los Angeles. It is described in a coffee table book about the history of the studio, called "20th Century Fox: A Century of Entertainment" which included this set photo taken before the shoot. The display board on the floor includes director Robert Wise’s name , with the description “INT. S.F. TRAIN STATION”. Note the papers and hanging photos on the News Stand - they match up exactly in the movie.
Then ... Their arrival in San Francisco is also announced by this night vista, taken from Twin Peaks, of an arrow-straight Market Street leading to San Francisco Bay.
... and Now, the same view today is even more scintillating. The Bay Bridge now has illuminated suspension cables, the City Hall dome at far left is lit up too and the eclipse of San Francisco's docklands is apparent from Oakland's brightly lit waterfront across the Bay.