In Stevenson’s Hyatt Regency hotel room Herbert announces that he has pursued him through time in order to turn him in. A scuffle breaks out - Stevenson flees, Herbert in close pursuit.
Then … They find themselves one in each of side-by-side elevators heading down to the hotel lobby.
… and Now, this is the same view today craning up from the hotel’s lowest floor. Three of the elevators are visible from this vantage point. The elevators have been replaced, now without external strip lights.
Then … Herbert makes the wrong choice trying to run down the up escalator in the lobby as Stevenson forces his way down the other.
… and Now, updated, but the escalators are still there. Citysleuth got tired of waiting for two elevators to be here at the same time for the perfect match to the ‘Then’ image above. He was experiencing random motion watching them go up and down.
The chase continues through the adjacent Embarcadero Center complex of high-rise office buildings, shown here in this map. (When the movie was filmed 4 Embarcadero Center was not yet built).
Then … Stevenson runs out of the hotel; here he’s on the Promenade level of Three Embarcadero Center.
… and Now, he was running towards the footbridge that connects to Two Embarcadero Center.
Then … He flees across that footbridge.
… and Now, the bridge, crossing Davis Street, hasn’t changed; the planters, though similar at first sight, have slightly different bases.
Then … Which way did he go - across the footbridge or down the staircases that spiral down on either side of him?
… and Now, looking across the footbridge towards Two Embarcadero Center.
Then … He descends the steps leading down from the footbridge to Two Embarcadero Center.
… and Now, there’s a little more greenery now.
Then … Instead of crossing the footbridge Herbert instead chooses the spiral stairs down to their lowest level.
… and Now, there’s now a large fern shrub planted there.
Then … Herbert is on the Lobby level of One Embarcadero Center as he runs past stainless steel sculptures. The one on the left will be seen again as the chase unfolds - it’s 82 feet tall.
… and Now, those sculptures, created in 1971 by Swiss artist Willi Gutmann, are still there but the surround has since been ‘modernized’.
Then … Teddy’s buddies drive him to link up with Charlotte at a photoshoot on the waterfront. Here they are heading north on Taylor approaching Broadway.
… and Now, take the trees away and you see a totally unchanged street over 40 year later - other than the mailbox on the right, that is.
Then … they make a downhill right turn into a very steep block of Broadway, this junction obviously chosen for the view. At left bright lights illuminate the stretch of Broadway that is North Beach’s red light district. Over to the right the TransAmerica high-rise office pyramid pierces the sky.
… and Now, it’s still a great view but even better at night.
Then … they drop him off at the corner of Market and Steuart in front of the Ferry Building (map). Market Street runs straight as an arrow as far the eye can see.
… and Now … note the streetcar tracks, not there in 1984, above. Market Street used to have as many as 4 sets of tracks beginning in 1906 until they were removed when the underground Muni Metro service began in the early 1980s. The tracks seen here today were installed for an historic streetcar service from the Castro to Fisherman's Wharf in 1995.
Here are two of the wonderful vintage streetcars on Market Street at the 1995 opening of the F Market service. They continue to invoke nostalgic delight today.
Then … Charlotte’s photoshoot is set up on the Embarcadero Plaza (formerly named Justin Herman Plaza) between the Ferry Building and the Embarcadero Center seen in the background. Note the giant illuminated tulip flower sculpture up top.
… and Now … a temporary padel racquet court currently occupies the space on the plaza where Charlotte’s photoshoot took place. The concrete tulip sculpture, by neofuturistic architect John Calvin Portman Jr., is still there.
Then … Teddy is expected - he is ushered in by a crew member whose hat shamelessly advertises the Hollywood company, Mole-Richardson, who provided the lighting for the shoot. Note the clock face behind Charlotte, brought in close by the telephoto lens.
… and Now … the clock, looking back across the plaza, is that on the Ferry Building tower.
In the early morning light the shoot is over and Charlotte’s limo whisks them back to her apartment. Hmmm. (Heading down Market Street they have just passed the same spot where Teddy was dropped off, three ‘Then’ images above).
Then … Armed with Stevenson’s address Herbert exits the chartered Bank of London at 465 California Street; he watches a woman hailing a cab then mimics her. The large building facing us at the end of California is the 1917 Southern Pacific Building at One Embarcadero.
… and Now, in today’s view the e-biker deliverymen arrayed outside a takeout restaurant out of the frame next to the bank is a common sight today across the city.
Then … The cabbie, asked to drive as fast as possible, complies by roaring through the city streets at breakneck speed. Here he crests California Street at Powell (incidentally, four blocks down the hill he will pass the bank where he picked up Herbert). Note the quaint signal booth on the corner at far right.
… and Now, it’s still there today. This junction is the only place where two cable car lines cross; the manned booth controls each passing car while the gripman drops the underground cable in order to coast over the one that crosses.
… in 1968 … the booth and the crossing cable car lines were filmed from above in the movie Petulia.
In 1935 the booth was knocked over by a reckless driver; It came to rest a short way down the hill in front of the Alta Casa Apartments entrance at 897 California, the corner building seen above (a newer building has since replaced the Alta Casa).
Then … They barrel down California, here approaching Grant Avenue (there’s the Southern Pacific Building again where California ends, with the Bay Bridge visible beyond). Chinatown’s iconic pagoda-styled Sing Fat building on the right and Sing Chong building on the left at Grant were built shortly after the 1906 earthquake in a style meant to look classically oriental to occidental eyes.
… and Now, this view hasn’t changed but ownership of the building at far right has - it’s now the Ritz-Carlton Hotel whereas when the movie was filmed, above, it was the home of Cogswell College.
Then … the cab reaches the end of California at the cable car terminus. Unlike the Powell Street Lines there is no turntable here because the California Line cable cars are double-ended.
… and Now, today’s tourists waiting to board the cars outnumber those in the 1970s.
Then … The cab arrives at the Hyatt Regency California Street entrance.
… and Now, that entrance is still used by those on foot but guests arriving by car are now dropped off around the corner on Drumm Street in the covered porte-cochère seen on the left. Note how it has been opened up by removing some of its original concrete posts.
Then … Our first view of the inside is the spectacular atrium enclosed within the balconies surrounding the hotel’s 17 stories. Opened in 1973 the brutalist-styled hotel immediately made an impact. The centerpiece sculpture, Eclipse, is by Charles O. Perry and behind it are pod-shaped glassed elevators that treat guests to breathtaking views.
… and Now, the floor layout has changed over time but the sculpture and the elevators have not.
Then … Herbert gazes up in awe as he enters the atrium from street level. (That’s one of the elevators on the right next to the escalator).
… and Now, this is the only escalator serving the atrium - here it is now.
Stevenson can’t believe that Herbert has tracked him down through time.
Herbet is at his wit’s end after visiting bank after bank (15, no less) in the Financial District in an unsuccessful search for Stevenson. But suddenly across the street he spots something that warms the cockles of his heart and snaps him to attention (click the image to see his reaction - there’s more to acting than saying lines).
Then … The sight of the Chartered Bank Of London nostalgically adorned with the Union Jack gives him hope that surely Stevenson had been there. It occupied the first floor of the Merchants Exchange Building at 465 California Street.
Then … Herbert cheerily doffs his cap as he walks through the entrance lobby.
… and Now, there’s little change here; the lobby has retained its marbled grandeur but the center doorway ahead has a little more glass and all three doors have newer handles.
Then … The doors open into the bank hall. Herbert meets Amy Robbins (Mary Steenburgen), the bank’s Foreign Currency manager. He is very interested to encounter a woman in that position; she is very interested in him, period. Note the mural to the left on the back wall…
… and Now, that mural, depicting a merchant ship in rough seas, is still there, one of five in the room that were commissioned by young architect Julia Morgan who helped redesign the space after significant earthquake damage in 1906. The hall is now empty, used by the Clint Reilly Organization as a high-end social and entertainment space; they own the Merchant’s Exchange Building and are headquartered there.
For Amy, it’s love at first sight. Perhaps because of this she doesn’t hesitate telling him that Stevenson was indeed there and that she had recommended the Hyatt Regency Hotel on Drumm Street to him as a place to stay. She also gives Herbert her card and offers to show him around town. (As an aside, the real H.G. Wells wrote about Women’s Lib; now he’s experiencing it first hand). Herbert leaves, happy to have hit the jackpot twice. (That’s a photo of Queen Elizabeth on the right).
