The Last Edition - Tailing Red Moran - 1
Once again when the action hits the streets the director cuts at random between scenes filmed in San Francisco and Los Angeles …
Then … Clarence slowly tails Red Moran to find out where he will deliver the bribe. As he crosses an intersection, note the streetlight post, mailbox and power pole tightly stacked together on the corner at right; these helped confirm the location.
and Now, This was filmed in Hollywood. They were heading east on Hollywood Boulevard, crossing Wilcox Avenue (map).
CitySleuth’s fellow gumshoe Notcom found this location. This vintage photo from the 1920s clearly show the streetlight, mailbox and power pole at Hollywood and Wilcox outside the Hollywood Public Market at 6500 Hollywood Boulevard. (There’s now a 7-Eleven at this site).
And this 1924 photo looking north up Wilcox with Hollywood Boulevard crossing ahead shows the same grouping at left. In addition it shows the white square pattern below the corner store window at right that is seen in the Then image above. Proof positive!
Moran sneaks into the office of deputy assistant D.A. Ray McDonald (Tom’s son) and leaves the bribe - a whopping $50,000 - on his desk.
Clarence accosts him as he leaves, resulting in an extended knock-down drag-out fight between them through the building.
Moran eventually prevails and rushes towards the exit. CitySleuth is curious as to where this interior was filmed, with its tiled walls and distinctive pillars.
Then … He flees the building (that’s Clarence’s car parked outside).
and Now, In the storyline the exit was from San Francisco’s City Hall but it was filmed in L.A. at the Masonic Temple at 6840 Hollywood Boulevard which today is the home of the Jimmy Kimmel late night television show.
Then … He leaps into a passing cab (in front of the building that’s next to the Masonic Temple).
and Now, This is the Mary Moll Building, still there at 6912 Hollywood Boulevard. Interesting and sad how a chunk of the classis building to the right of the entrance was demolished to make way for the nondescript store in its place.
Then … The cab cuts across town. The two hotels make this location easy to find. We are back in San Francisco: the Odeon was at 40 7th Street, the Atlanta at 92 7th Street. So the cab is heading east on Market at 7th.
and Now, The Federal Building at 90 7th Street and its plaza now sit where the two hotels used to be. It opened as an innovative energy-saving structure in 2007 to critical acclaim by fellow architects but considerable criticism by those who work in it. The doorway in the center both Then and Now with the carved masonry pediment above it was then, and still is, the entrance to the Odd Fellows Hall.
Then … Clarence follows; he’s also travelling east on Market, between 7th and 8th Streets just passing the Civic Center Market at 1143-1145 Market, the National Hotel at 1139 Market and the Army and Navy Goods store at 1133 Market.
and Now, These are those same addresses today. The building on the right that housed the Civic Center Market has since been replaced by a white-walled office building.