Portrait In Black - Fisherman's Wharf
Cathy drives to the waterfront to pick up her boyfriend Blake for a dinner date. The scene was filmed on a pier at Fisherman's Wharf that no longer exists.
This 1950s aerial photo looks west across Fisherman's Wharf in the lower half and Hyde Street Pier above it. In it, we see the pier, an extension from what is now called Al Scoma Way, before it was removed.
... in 1951 ... here's another aerial photo, this one looking north, showing a closer look at that pier.
... and Now, a Google Maps satellite view of the same spot. Dotted lines have been added to show where the demolished pier used to be (a shorter pier next to it was also removed). The arrow marks the end of the pier where the filming took place (map).
Then ... Cathy drives to Blake's tug, berthed at the end of the pier - behind her, across the water, we see the side of Pier 45. Note the gap between the two sheds, more clearly seen in the above aerial.
... and Now, to match this view Citysleuth walked over to the adjacent Hyde Street Pier marina. From this vantage point he could look towards and beyond where the pier used to be.
Then ... In this shot Blake's tug is in the right foreground as we look down the length of the pier behind Cathy's car towards the glowing neon signs of Fisherman's Wharf restaurants. The building on the right at the far end of the pier was a small coffee shop serving the local fishermen.
... and Now, the pier (approximated by the dotted lines) is gone and only a remaining stub-out faces us, now used as the parking lot for the iconic Scoma's restaurant (which started life in 1965 as that coffeeshop). At far left in both Then and Now images is the front corner of Pier 45's Shed B. The white building to the left of the far end of the pier, above, has been replaced by a gabled chapel, below, under the green Alioto's restaurant sign. (Click the image to enlarge it).
... in the 1970s ... this 1970s photo shows the pier as it was when the movie was filmed. The coffee shop on the right of where the pier begins and part of the white building to the left are both visible.
... in 1939 ... This vintage photo reveals a closer look at that white building. CitySleuth has heard, he hastens to say second hand, that it was a rooming house for sailors but was eventually closed down to put a stop to illicit nocturnal visitors. This building also showed up in the 1950 movie Woman On The Run. Pier 45 Shed B with the twin Shed A alongside it is off to the left.
... and Now, the building was replaced in 1981 by the Fishermen's and Seamen's Memorial Chapel. Inside hang plaques bearing the names of those whose lives were taken by the sea and a bell in the campanile tolls periodically in their honor.
But Blake sends Cathy away - still smarting from Mason cancelling his tugboat contract, he intends to shake him down, unwittingly setting himself up as a prime suspect.