Then… Jo and Steve meet on the municipal pier at Aquatic Park (map), a place popular with local fishermen who enjoy the added bonus of great views in all directions. The 1400 foot-long circular pier was built in 1933; it has slowly deteriorated over the decades resulting in its recent closure to the public in 2022. That’s Pier 45 at Fisherman’s Wharf in the background at upper left, drawn in by the telephoto lens.
… and Now, the fishermen above were between the two lampposts below, near the far end of the sweeping breakwater pier. For the matching photos in this post Citysleuth found online images taken pre-closure. The cylindrical concrete structure seen ahead was meant to be a concessions stand complementing two similar ones on the shore at Aquatic Park but it never was completed.
Then… Steve wants to know why Jo refuses to go to the police about the stolen money. When Jo defends Chan, talking about his struggle to find his identity in America, Steve gets angry. In the background we see the liberty ship S.S. Jeremiah O’Brien berthed at Fort Mason, a rare survivor of the 2,710 liberty ships built to supply troops and critical materiel to Europe during WWII.
… and Now, The Jeremiah O’Brien was berthed here for many years but has since been moved to Pier 35. Note the decaying condition of the municipal pier’s concrete wall; note too the fence that was erected down the middle to exclude the public from this more dangerous seaward-facing half of the pier before it was finally closed completely.
This 1982 photo shows the Jeremiah O’Brien at its Fort Mason berth around the time Chan was filmed (compare it to the Then image above). It has been completely restored and is one of only two liberty ships still operational today. Interesting trivia - its engines were filmed for the engine room scenes in the movie Titanic.
Then… Steve lays into Jo, telling him there are no identity problems in the community any more. His voice rises … “What are you tripping on this sh-t for? The guy f-cked up man, he couldn’t cope with it”.
… and Now, in both photos we see an art deco building alongside the Aquatic Park beach at far left. Originally a bathhouse, it’s now a maritime museum.
… in 1948 … The pier and the bathhouse are seen here in 1948, nine years after the depression-era W.P.A-funded Aquatic Park project officially opened to the public (the aforementioned unfinished concessions stand is visible at the end of the pier). Designed to resemble an ocean-going ship the sleek streamline-moderne building provided swimmers with changing rooms and showers . At one time it also housed a private upscale restaurant and nightclub until outraged protests succeeded in shutting it down. Note the sidewalk waves lapping against the Beach Street entrance - a touch of whimsy.
… and Now, The bathhouse became a maritime museum right after troops who used the building during WWII handed it back. Hey, those waves are still there today!
Then… Steve gets increasingly agitated but Jo is adamant; he won’t report his friend to the police. They separate, backs turned.
… and Now, the Golden Gate bridge is but one of the many fine views from here. The pier wall was showing damage 40 plus years ago, above, but is far worse now, below.
Back at Chester’s Cafe they sit, wordless, Steve silently stewing. Chester’s was popular with workers from the cable car barn at the end of the block, some of them seen here in the background.
Then ... Larsen has been assigned to tail suspect Camerero, beginning at a small gym alongside the bay.
... and Now, the gym, still there, belongs to the Dolphin Swimming and Boating Club at 502 Jefferson Street at Aquatic Park (map). On the right, above, the schooner moored at the Hyde Street pier is the Wapama; it has since been dismantled and in its place, below, we now see the square-rigged sailing ship Balclutha. On the left, there's a small jetty...
... here's a view of the gym in a recent photo looking back from that jetty. The Dolphin Club is cheek by jowl with another club, the South End Rowing Club on the left.
Then ... next up, an energetic game of handball.
... and Now, the court, in the same building, continues to keep club members on their toes.
Then ... Camerero moves on to a hairdressers with a window view that identifies this location... that's Fredericksen's venerable Cow Hollow hardware store across the street.
... and Now, the same view from inside the store that currently occupies this site. To the left it has since been expanded into the store next door.
The store is currently the Simply Chic boutique at 3038 Fillmore (map) but back then it was a men's hairstylist called Forum II.
Fredericksen's has been serving the Cow Hollow neighborhood at 3029 Fillmore since 1896. In this recent photo the part of the store visible through the hair stylists' window in the Then image above is outlined in yellow.
Then ... The surveillance continues in a parking garage as the suspect walks to his car.
... and Now, this was filmed on level A of the underground garage of One Embarcadero Center in the Financial District.
Then ... But when Camerero exits the garage, this isn't One Embarcadero Center...
... and Now, instead, it's the Clay Street exit of the Golden Gateway Garage across the street from One Embarcadero Center (map), viewed from a pedestrian bridge spanning the road.
Then ... Jake follows him to a narrow street and watches him pull up outside a club where an awning marks a discreet entrance.
... and Now, this is Ritch Street, an alley in the SoMa South Beach neighborhood close to AT&T Park, home of the San Francisco Giants (map).
Then ... As Camerero enters the club the awning displays the address - 330 Ritch Street. This was the Ritch Street Health Club, one of the many bath houses that catered in the pre-Aids era to the gay men's community before they were all shut down by the City in the interest of public health.
... and Now, that same doorway has since been re-addressed as 360 Ritch Street. Comparing the Then and Now images you can see the identical outline of the bricked-in former windows next to the doorway. Today retail and commercial businesses occupy the building including the Little Skillet whose Southern Comfort food serves an eager lunch crowd daily from the shuttered window on the left.
Here's a vintage poster advertising the club that left no room for the imagination as to the activities inside.
Then ... Inside the club entrance a stairway draped with a colorful tapestry leads up to their "exciting psychedelic 3rd floor".
... and Now, a storage closet has been built under the stairway at left and plain white walls make for a more appropriate approach to the offices above.
Then ... Another day but still tailing. Larsen tries his best to look inconspicuous when Camerero walks right by him after exiting the narrow alley flanked by the pair of concrete bollards. Note the vertical sign - 'Poster Alley'.
... and Now, this is Union Street in Cow Hollow - Larsen was sitting at the steps of 1960 Union Street (map) in the center of the seven-block stretch that back then was a much-touted tourist shopping favorite. Poster Alley ran alongside the Artisans poster and framing store at 1964 Union, there since the early 1950s. Customers could view posters and prints hanging in the alley and buy them in the store.
Artisans is still in business but recently moved to the Sunset district. In a sign of transition the photo below taken in January 2016 pictures the empty store up for lease. The bollards are still there on either side of the garage door that now blocks access to the old Poster Alley.
Prisoners on their way to Alcatraz embarked from a small pier at Fort Mason, adjacent to Aquatic Park (map). (Fort Mason had its own pier numbering system independent of the city's waterfront Embarcadero piers). The sign informs us that these boats also supplied Fort McDowell on Angel Island .
Then ... Larwitt is driven to the pier down a narrow boardwalk alongside the Aquatic Park municipal pier. At far right is the newly built (in 1939) bathhouse building and behind it the Ghirardelli Square clock tower. Coit Tower atop Telegraph Hill is there too, hiding behind the wooden post.
... and Now, the Alcatraz Pier has survived but in poor condition and is now off-limits to the public. CitySleuth captured this matching view from the municipal pier ... considering the passage of 70-plus years it's remarkably similar from here except for the TransAmerica Building on the horizon to the left of the extant clock tower. Coit Tower is clearly seen and in both Then and Now images you can make out the white speaker tower behind the bleachers, one of a pair erected on either side of the bathhouse.
... and Now, taken through the locked gate, here's a recent photo of the Alcatraz Pier. Alcatraz Island is out of the picture to the right.
In this great image Larwitt, flanked by and handcuffed to federal guards, gets his first glimpse of his future home - he won't be needing that natty attire for the next ten years. The bathhouse and the second speaker tower are seen behind him. (This closeup was filmed in a studio with a photo plate backdrop).
Then ... What he sees is Alcatraz sitting there, imposing, intimidating, awaiting.
... and Now, the federal prison was operational only from 1934 to 1963 and is but a part of the history of Alcatraz Island. In the recent photo below, with the Alcatraz Pier in the foreground, a few changes can be seen, including the water tower built in the same year (1940) the movie was released. The island today is a huge tourist destination hosting a million visitors annually.
Then ... The feds lead him down the gangway but a knowledgable observer would recognize that this isn't the same pier, in fact Fort Mason is two miles away, visible from here in the distance just right of center.
... and Now, this was filmed at the small coastguard pier near Crissy Field in the Presidio. A second shed alongside the smaller square one has since been added and an adjacent pier on the right is gone.
On a trivia note here's the same location from the 1958 movie The Lineup by which time that second shed had been built (in fact it was already built by 1947 as seen, together with the adjacent pier, here in the movie Dark Passage.
The red and white markers on the map below show the locations of the two piers relative to each other.
... but as the boat pulls away we are back at the Fort Mason Alcatraz Pier.
Then ... The next shot looks back towards the bathhouse and speaker tower.
... and Now, 1939 coincided with the tail end of the Art Deco period and its Streamline Moderne influence on the speaker tower and bathhouse are clearly evident.
CitySleuth couldn't resist including this cute vintage photo taken the year the bathhouse was built. Intended primarily to broadcast sports events, the speakers went silent decades ago.
Brenda has witnessed the prisoner transfer - the poignant sight of her husband's slowly receding boat heralds a significant life-changer for them both.