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).
Then … Still searching for Stevenson, Herbert hasn’t given up on the idea that surely he must have been to a bank to get cash; he heads back to the Financial District, beginning here at the main entrance of the United California Bank Building at 405 Montgomery Street.
… and Now, that location has seen a succession of exterior street level changes since it was built as the Financial Center Building in 1926. In 1956 the facade was modernized, including replacing the original cast stone with polished granite cladding - this is how it was when the movie was filmed (above). Later, in 1997, the Omni Hotel acquired the building and by 2001 redid the exterior to closely revert it to the original 1926 style (see the recent photo below). Click or tap the image to see where Herbert’s entrance used to be.
The three images below show the Financial Center Building’s evolution over the past century. The 1926 photo on the left reveals a tall , arched main entrance located dead center on the Montgomery Street side. The 1990s photo in the center shows the 1956 facade modernization - the entrance as seen above in the Then image was in the same spot, between the flagpoles. The architect rendering on the right shows the 1997 Omni Hotel remodeled as it still looks today; the styling mimics the original except the entrance was moved to the California Street side, its address concomitantly becoming 500 California Street. (Images courtesy of Dean Randle, head architect for the Omni Hotel conversion).
Then … Next up, Mitsubishi Bank of California, conveniently in the building right next door at 425 Montgomery Street.
… and Now, the facade on this building too has been redone since then but the unchanged windows on the 2nd and 3rd floors just visible in the Then image above confirm where the 425 Montgomery bank entrance was, indicated by the arrow.
Then … He also tries the Western Women’s Bank a few blocks away at 237 Front Street.
… in 1989 … Ten years after the movie was filmed this remarkable photo captured the 237 Front Street building, on the corner of Halleck Alley, shortly after it was damaged by the Loma Prieta earthquake. At that time it was occupied by the Golden State Bank who had discarded the awning used by the Western Women’s Bank.
… in 2022 … The building has since been rebuilt, minus the top floor. A McDonald’s diner moved in, becoming a fixture here for 29 years; it’s pictured below a year before it closed in 2023. Its neighbor, the historic Harrington’s Bar & Grill Irish pub, has fared better; it opened in 1935 and is now back in business after surviving an extended covid epidemic-induced shutdown.
… and Now, the building is currently vacant in search of a tenant.
Then … Banco Do Brasil at 540 California Street is next on his list. Again, all we are shown is a brief camera pan of the bank’s name above the entrance.
… and Now, 540 California is located in the 550 California office high-rise next door to the aforementioned Omni Hotel. The arrow points to where the Banco Do Brasil name used to be.
Then … and finally Wells Fargo Bank. As he exits he’s clearly demoralized having drawn a blank with all five banks.
and Now, Wells Fargo is still there, with an updated sign, at 464 California Street. Note the same fire department standpipe connections Then and Now protruding from the wall.
Then … Teddy, conspicuously inconspicuous, heads to Guiglio’s for his dinner with Charlotte.
… and Now, supposedly in North Beach, this was actually filmed in the courtyard of the flamboyantly famous (some would say infamous) lawyer Melvin Belli’s offices at 722 Montgomery Street in San Francisco’s Jackson Square district (thanks to ReelSF reader Notcom for the I.D).
… A vintage photo … this contemporaneous photo shows the same awning as that seen in the Then image above. That’s the Transamerica pyramid soaring in the background (photo - Examiner/Bob McLeod).
… and Now, here’s 722 Montgomery today. The historic building, built in 1849, was bought by Belli in 1959; it functioned as his law offices for the next 30 years. The old brick structure was rendered uninhabitable by the 1989 earthquake and stood empty for 25 years before being strengthened and retrofitted into residential apartments and a retail store.
The vintage photo on the left below shows Gene Wilder’s view of the courtyard when he walked in (photo - Examiner/Bob McLeod). Note the telephone box, a stunt prop installed by Belli. It was a British K6 telephone box, like the one on the right photographed in London (compare it with the Then image above). But there never was a restaurant in the courtyard.
Then … Inside Giuglio’s he arrives just in time to catch the hostess (Deborah May) taking a call from Charlotte - the paneled door, the mural on the wall with the colorful backlit circle above it and the mirrored wall opposite the bar offer clues to its identity.
… Oh, no, she can’t make it! Her work has taken her to Los Angeles, but she invites him to fly down and join her overnight, an offer he can’t refuse. Another location clue - there’s a colonade of arches atop short marbled columns behind the bar
… and Now, there wasn’t a Giuglio’s restaurant anywhere in North Beach - so where was this filmed? Citysleuth has yet to find the location: it could have been in San Francisco or Los Angeles. Any blog reader who recognizes it from the two images above is encouraged to leave a comment or notify citysleuth@reelsf.com.
Then … He rushes to a Western Union Telegraph office to send a telegram to himself supposedly from his office saying he has to attend a meeting in L.A. right away.
… and Now, he was in the Jackson Square district running east across Columbus towards a Western Union office at 560 Jackson Street, but the sign was a movie prop - the actual tenant at this address back then was the Robert Domergue Antiques Gallery. Note the unchanged doorknob, locks, doorbell and overhead light on the 560 Jackson door. Oh, and the matching lamppost.
Then … He must feel guilty because he decides to take home an impromptu meal for Didi before the telegram arrives. There’s a great view behind him as he drives to a store.
… and Now, it’s the view from the top of Telegraph Hill looking down then up Union Street towards the Russian Hill skyline. This part of town has looked just the same for many decades.
Barbara Bel Geddes’ character Midge in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1958 classic Vertigo lived in a Telegraph Hill apartment with a sweeping vista that included that view, left of center.
Then … his destination is Speedy’s at 301 Union on the corner of Montgomery.
… and Now, this beloved neighborhood store served the top-of-the-hill residents for 93 years before closing down in 2008 since which time it has seen a succession of short-lived tenants. Note the same yellow and black tiles both Then and Now.
Speedy’s has appeared in several movies over the decades including in the 1951 noir House On Telegraph Hill, below. Its official name was also New Union Grocery back then, but the locals still called it Speedy’s (easier to say than Spediacci’s, the name of the family who owned it).
Then … Teddy drives home, here crossing Montgomery Street heading east on Union. But locals viewing this will have a good laugh …
… and Now, … because they know in the real world he’s heading into a cul-de-sac! In the distance the Bay Bridge crosses to Yerba Buena Island on its way to Oakland.
That cul-de-sac continuity goof also happened in Vertigo when Jimmy Stewart’s character Scottie Ferguson drove from town to Midge’s apartment, seen here driving up the same block out of Calhoun Terrace, a two-level cul-de-sac.
