Then … The time traveler is fascinated by the sight of boxes containing moving images at a store on a street corner. Note the windows wrapping around a structural column at left and on the right window pane there’s a reflection revealing a crosswalk behind Herbert showing a post on a short flared pedestal across the street.
Then … This view looking out from inside the store reveals a matching post and pedestal on this side of the crosswalk; it has a parking meter next to it.
… and Now, ReelSF blog reader Al identified this location (see his comment below) as the Chinatown TV store at 653 Kearny on the corner of Clay Street. Since then it has been remodeled; the windows that caught Herbert’s attention above are only half their original width to make room for an added Clay Street entrance but the structural column is still there. The store became a Subway sandwich shop from 2001 until 2019 and is currently a museum dedicated to the history and memory of the Chinese Railway Workers who helped build the U.S. Transcontinental Railroad.
… in 1964 … here’s a vintage photo of the Chinatown TV store. This view, looking east along Clay Street across Kearny, shows its original facade with corner windows twice as wide as those above; it was still there when the movie was filmed in 1979. The name has changed today but that’s the same sign, above, as the one in 1964. (Nostalgic Dixieland jazz lovers will appreciate the sight of Earthquake McGoon’s club at 630 Clay down the road on the far left).
For additional confirmation, here’s a 2015 Google Street View looking in the opposite direction west along Clay Street that showed the two matching poles and pedestals on either side of the crosswalk that are seen in the movie images (only one is there now), plus a parking meter next to the one by the corner store (it’s since been removed). Portsmouth Square is off to the right.
Then … Herbert’s search for Stevenson takes him to several more banks beginning with Banco Di Roma.
… and Now, this is the California Street entrance of the Kohl Building at 400 Montgomery. Note Then and Now the matching ornamentation and flagpole wall cleat and halyard at the side of the entrance. There’s a different bank there now, a branch of Sterling Bank and Trust.
Then … Between bank visits he’s seen on the corner of Montgomery and Clay with the 1972 TransAmerica Pyramid headquarters behind him. Further back, left of center, is the original 1909 TransAmerica headquarters on the corner of Montgomery and Columbus.
… and Now, the same view today. The original TransAmerica building is barely visible from this viewpoint but it’s still there, now owned by the Church Of Scientology.
In this photo looking back along Columbus the old and the new TransAmerica headquarters buildings are nicely juxtaposed.
Then … More banks … next up is First Enterprise Bank at 260 Montgomery Street on the corner of Pine Street.
… in 1980 … A fire broke out in this building in July 1980, taking the life of a fire captain and injuring 13 others. Read here the harrowing accounts of firefighters who experienced the deadly collapse.
… and Now, a 15 story commercial building, addressed as 250 Montgomery, was built on this site in 1986.
Then … The Sumitomo Bank of California is next. (Note another Sumitomo branch across the street reflected in the window).
… and Now, this main office and agency were at 351 California Street per the 1978 city directory; the same directory listed a Sumitomo branch across the street at 320 California. The window below is the one seen in the movie - the street level space has been home to various retail businesses over the years and is currently being redone for the next tenant.
Then … And finally, the French Bank of California at 130 Montgomery Street. But no luck, Stevenson hadn’t stopped by any of them.
… and Now, here’s the same doorway today.
… and Now, it’s worth stepping back to admire 130 Montgomery Street. It’s a 1930 Art Deco gem, a delightful surprise sandwiched between two much taller office buildings.
Then … The next scene begins with a shot of a classic 1980s mansard-roofed McDonald’s with an Arco gas station next to it.
… and Now, This was filmed at the McDonald’s at 505 Serramonte Blvd in Daly City (thanks to ReelSF blog reader Al for recognizing it). The diner has since been moved back from the road and rebuilt in a modern style. The sign appears to be the original one and the gas station, on the corner of Gellert Blvd, is now a Speedway station.
… in 2019 … as recently as 6 years ago the original diner was still there, looking the same as in the Then image above except that the rooftop beams had been removed (sometime after 2008) and it was a Mobil gas station on the corner of Gellert.
Then … Herbert of course has never seen a McDonald’s diner before; he listens carefully to the customer in front of him then repeats the same order for himself, adding “…and tea, to go, please”. Spoken like a true Brit. But these interior scenes were not filmed at the location above…
… in 1975 … instead, they were filmed in the McDonald’s located on the lobby level of San Francisco’s Two Embarcadero Center (thanks go to ReelSF blog reader Notcom for finding it). It had newly opened in 1975 when this photograph was taken; the counter filmed above is at the far end. (Note the circle-patterned floor tiles outside the entrance - a design feature throughout the public areas of the entire Embarcadero Center complex of buildings).
… and Now, McDonald’s closed down at this site in 2014 or 2015. Today a One Medical primary care clinic occupies and overlaps its former space. Below, the McDonald’s entrance used to be where the reception desk is, right of center at the rear of the One Medical lobby.
This floor plan detail of the Two Embarcadero lobby level shows today’s One Medical footprint. Click or tap the image to see exactly where McDonald’s used to be.
Then … Herbet is fascinated by the lacquered table top, telling the man next to him that he’s never seen wood like that before. Also in this scene there’s a mis-spoken moment where you can clearly see his lips mouth the (British) word ‘chips’ but you hear ‘fries’, substituted post-production. Note the corner planter behind them…
… that corner planter enables us to deduce which table was used for the scene above. In the 1975 photo (four images above), his table is behind the tall trash enclosure mid-aisle, partially visible above at the far right.
Herbert needs cash; he goes to a bank to change his Victorian pounds into dollars. The foreign exchange manager (Bob Shaw) tells him they are only worth “… twenty five dollars and fifty cents”. But it’s a start - he can also sell some jewelry that he had brought with him.
Then … As Herbert stands up to leave (left of center) a camera shot from above reveals a dramatic high-ceilinged lobby with a central circular teller station. Fortunate, because this enabled ID’ing the location; R. Christian Anderson, moderator of the excellent Lost San Francisco blog, recognized it as California First Bank at 350 California Street (map). Sansome Street is seen through the window; it was 3-lane one way northbound back then (it’s two way now).
… and Now, the matching shot today shows significant changes. The centerpiece teller station is gone, now a seating area, and the open desk area alongside the Sansome Street wall has been converted to enclosed offices. There’s still a bank in the lobby though - US Bank.
… and Now, here’s an exterior view of 350 California, a brutalist structure built in 1976. The street-level windows along Sansome seen in the Then interior image above are now mostly covered with US Bank advertising posters.
Then … To check if Stevenson might also have exchanged money Herbert embarks on a tour of neighboring banks in the city’s Financial District, beginning with the Bank of Canton of California’s main branch at 555 Montgomery on the corner of Clay (map).
… and Now, here’s the same corner today, but … this is an entirely different building, built on the site in 1984-85 six years after the movie was filmed. A bank still occupies the first floor here - East West Bank.
Then … shortly afterwards we see Herbert exiting the bank. In the left glass pane there’s a reflection of the Renaissance-Revival Bank Of Italy building across the street at 550 Montgomery, further confirming the location.
Worthy of mention historically: back then the Bank of Canton of California had another branch at 743 Washington Street in Chinatown (it’s an East West Bank branch today, below left). It was housed in the historic Chinese Telephone Exchange building (seen, below right, in the 1947 movie The Lady From Shanghai when it was still operating as an exchange). When it opened in 1901, the operators had to know every Chinatown customer by name and address because it was considered rude to refer to a person by number. Each operator also had to speak the many dialects of Chinese spoken by the residents.
Then … Next up is the Bank Melli Iran. Once again a window reflection of the building opposite helps identify where this was.
… and Now, Bank Melli Iran’s San Francisco’s branch was on the first floor of the 43-story Wells Fargo skyscraper at 44 Montgomery Street. Built during 1964-67, it was briefly the city’s tallest building until the Bank of America building at 555 California Street surpassed it in 1969. Bank Melli Iran was most likely in the Montgomery/Sutter corner space occupied until recently by First Republic Bank (bottom left) (map). The reflection in the glass both Then and Now is the Hunter-Dulin building across the street. (Related trivia - in November 1979 following the Islamic Revolution the Jewish Defense League claimed credit for a bomb explosion outside the Bank Melli Iran office).
Then … A brief close-in camera pan reveals the next bank: Golden State Sanwa Bank. The city directory listed it at 300 Montgomery Street, a building occupying the whole block, but where exactly in that high-rise was it? This panorama yields significant clues ... note the metal plate on a column at far left and the reflection of the Russ Building at the corner of Montgomery and Pine.
… and Now, in this view 300 Montgomery’s main entrance is at far left but the bank’s entrance was in the corner at Pine in the space currently occupied by Walgreen’s (large arrow) (map). Look carefully and you’ll see damage marks on the column to the left of the entrance where the metal plate used to be (small arrow).
Then … Finally, a peek at a Bank of the Orient sign. The 1978 city directory listed its address as 233 Sansome Street (map).
… and Now, it’s still there!
Down in the boiler room Red Moran, determined to avenge the Chronicle’s exposé of his boss, plies the boilerman with booze and challenges him to a coal shoveling contest, having first closed off the steam line. Tension mounts as the camera cuts repeatedly to the pressure gauge slowly moving into the danger level, an audience suspense-building technique often used later by the master of suspense, Alfred Hitchcock.
Then … His sabotage causes an explosion and fire at the Chronicle headquarters; multiple alarms summon a frantic response from the city’s fire brigade.
… a vintage photo … here’s a 1915 photo image showing the Chronicle Building as it was when the movie was filmed.
… and Now, the building, also seen earlier in the movie, is still there today at 690 Market on the corner of Kearny Street. It has since been remodeled and doubled in height to create the swanky condominiums of the Ritz-Carlton Club and Residences.
Then … Firehouses in San Francisco and in Los Angeles were filmed for the response scenes. The director jumps all over the place with random cuts between firehouse and other scenes but for this post Citysleuth presents the firehouses sequentially. After this first truck exits the firehouse (below, left) the camera cuts to a wider view allowing us to see where it was filmed.
… in 1950 … here’s that location, unchanged even though this c. 1950 photo was taken 25 years later. The arched doorway at the bottom right corner is where the fire engine exited, top left above. In San Francisco, this is the Truck Company 1 firehouse at 418 Jessie Street, South of Market, in what’s now known as Mint Plaza (map).
… and Now, a recent view of Mint Plaza today, again mostly unchanged except the firehouse is no longer there; today it’s the restaurant Burma Love, now readdressed as 8 Mint Plaza.
Then … In this shot the building on the left looks familiar …
… and Now, that’s because we are still in Mint Plaza alongside the old Mint Building. The restaurant that replaced Truck Company 1’s firehouse is over on the right side and the building facing us is the one on the left, two images above.
Then … Inside the next firehouse a message is received on a Gamewell Punch Register (top corner) that identifies the source of the originating alarm on a ticker-tape. Firemen waste no time manning a fire engine (on the left) and a fire truck (on the right). Fire engines usually carried water; fire trucks usually did not , instead carrying a rescue ladder and other equipment such as jaws of life.
Then … As the fire engine leaves, the firehouse name is the clue to its location; this was filmed at the Engine Company 24 / Truck Company 1 firehouse in Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo district at 204 South Hewitt Street (map).
… in 1922 … here’s a vintage 1922 photo showing the station three years earlier. At that time a different truck company, No. 5, shared the building with Engine Company 24.
… and Now, the station, on the corner of S. Hewitt and E. 2nd Streets, is no longer there; the space is now a parking lot. What a waste of a fine old building.
Then … Two engines from Engine Company 2 at 460 Bush Street in San Francisco’s Financial District are the next to respond. The compact 1908 firehouse, at far left, was the first firehouse rebuilt following the 1906 earthquake. The columned building next to it was a Pacific Telephone & Telegraph Company building at 444 Bush Street.
… and Now, the classy Beaux Arts firehouse building is still there but it has been converted to office space.
