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 take 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.
Then … George exits the Broadway Parking Station on the left in North Beach at 425 Broadway, close to Montgomery Street (map). Across the street looking west down Broadway we see the colored signs of the Finocchio club at 506 Broadway, Vanessi’s restaurant at 498 Broadway and the Chi Chi club at 440 Broadway.
… and Now, All of those establishments have since closed - Chi Chi’s is currently The Cosmo Bar and Lounge - but parking is still available where the Broadway Parking Station was.
Then … He turns the corner and heads two blocks south to 807 Montgomery Street where he enters Varni’s Roaring Twenties nightclub, famous for its nude girl-on-a-swing. A gas station, Tripoli’s was adjacent to it on the corner of Jackson Street and the Jackson Square garage (with the Chevron sign) was on the corner across Jackson.
… and Now, the club closed down years ago; the building is now either vacant or closed during the pandemic. A new office building replaced Tripoli’s gas station in 1987.
In Blake Edward’s terrific 1962 noir Experiment In Terror, Glen Ford watches Lee Remick enter the same club, described in more detail here.
In 2010, Citysleuth took this photo of the club building which at that time was occupied by the law offices of well-known lawyer Arnold Laub, a risible change from its preceding licentious tenant.
Then … The club was on two floors. The upper was at street level; it had a large opening in the center, protected by a surrounding railing which allowed a clear view down to the lower floor where we see George walking to his table. Check out the girl-on-a-swing.
… and Now, Arnold Laub let Citysleuth access the building in 2010. This is the street level - the Montgomery Street entrance is straight ahead. By then the floor opening had been filled in and the space completely remodeled into offices.
Then … Jane figured out where George had gone and joined him. From here the railing at the upper level can be seen at the top of the stairs behind the girl-on-a-swing.
… in 2010 … the filled-in upper floor opening is partially visible here looking up from what used to be the club’s lower level.
To the titillation of the audience the featured stripper, Monica Weston (Austrian actress Marisa Mell, again) performs a strip-tease astride a gold-plated 1958 Harley-Davidson Duo Glide.
They both watch, open-mouthed - the stripper is a dead ringer for George’s dead wife, Susan. Meanwhile in the background we spot the insurance agent, still watching George’s every move.
On a trivia note, a year earlier George C Scott dined in the upper level of Varni’s Roaring Twenties club in the 1968 movie Petulia. There’s the girl-on-a-swing again! This scene was definitely filmed at Varni’s but differences in the railing and the swing details between the two movies gives Citysleuth a sneaking feeling that director Fulci recreated the club at the Cinecittà Studios in Rome (where most if not all of the movie’s interiors were filmed), inspired perhaps by Hitchcock’s studio recreation of Ernie’s restaurant in Vertigo.
Then ... The Barbary Coast is not a place for the faint of heart, nor the overly inebriated, as this unfortunate imbiber is about to find out. He makes the mistake of accepting an offer from a shady lady, Barbary Nell, to join her for a drink. He's so out of it that she practically has to carry him into the bar.
Lon Chaney and director Wallace Worsley returned to the same location in 1922 to film Voices Of Spring. Here they are on the sidewalk next to the same sign seen above.
... a vintage photo ... This 1920s photo reveals where this was filmed - at the entrance vestibule of the Hippodrome dance hall at 560 Pacific Avenue (map).
... and Now, the building, constructed in 1910, has since been modernized and rebuilt into offices. But note the narrow building on the right - it still retains its original exterior. This mix of cheek by jowl old and new typifies today's Jackson Square neighborhood.
When the drunk passes out she helps herself to the contents of his wallet and stuffs it into her stocking...
... but as she sneaks out an unsavory addict known as Frisco Pete (perennial villain James Mason - the other one) demands the spoils. She resists, a fatal mistake ... he callously thrusts a knife into her.
Then ... The crowd on the dance floor, alerted by Nell's screams, pursue the fleeing killer.
... and Now, Were these interior scenes filmed inside the Hippodrome? In hopes of finding the answer CitySleuth is searching for but has yet to find a contemporaneous photograph that may show that stage as confirmation. But, just in case, here's the hip interior of 560 Pacific Avenue now.
Then ... The pursuers rush out into the street between the twin columns that flanked the Hippodrome's entrance.
... and Now, in the same view today the yellow-capped parking meter stands where the columned entrance used to be. During the Barbary Coast era the older building on the left at 574 Pacific - with an exterior retaining its original character - was Spider Kelly's Bar Room.
Then ... The caption moves the story to its next phase where the camera looks towards the Ferry Building on the left then, slowly panning to the right, reveals the Financial District.
... and Now, the city today is even richer. Both panoramas, facing east across San Francisco Bay, were taken from the Fairmont hotel on Nob Hill (map). (The reverse view from the bay was seen earlier in the previous post). Note the Bay Bridge below, at upper left; the movie image above, filmed early in 1920, preceded its opening by 16 years. Old St. Mary's Church tower in the center foreground is a common denominator in both images.
The amputee is now an adult, known only as Blizzard (Lon Chaney), with an enormous axe to grind, intent on avenging the malpractice inflicted on him as a child. He makes his entrance, below, a little later in the movie. To get in character Lon Chaney doubled his legs back, strapped his ankles to his thighs then attached specially designed wooden stumps. It was painful; he had a limited time for each scene before having to take them off. An oversized coat hid his legs and he wore padding beneath his clothes to maintain proportion. Quite the sacrifice, making his remarkable performance even more so.
Then ... The city panorama is followed by views of contrasting neighborhoods that illustrate the socially opposed lives of the movie's main characters. First we see the now successful and respected Dr. Ferris being chauffeured from an enclave of exclusive homes.
... and Now, this is Presidio Terrace on Arguello Blvd at Washington at the edge of the Inner Richmond district (map). The gated (but it's always open) community of 36 luxury homes, most of them built between 1905 and 1920, has been home to the city's smart set ever since.
... and Now, in this aerial view the mostly Beaux Arts, Mission Revival and Tudor Revival homes flank a circular road. When the enclave opened, its advertised policy reflected the blatant discrimination of the time ... "There is only one spot in San Francisco where only Caucasians are permitted to buy or lease real estate or where they may reside. That place is Presidio Terrace." Many dignitaries over the years have lived here including Senator Dianne Feinstein whose former home was 30 Presidio Terrace, the English Tudor at far left above. Typical sales prices for these homes are in the $5 - 10 million range.
Then ... Next, a street in a shabbier neighborhood, Blizzard's stomping ground. The pagoda-like tower in the background suggests this is Chinatown, mostly rebuilt since its devastation by the 1906 earthquake and fire only 14 years earlier.
... and Now, sure enough, this is Chinatown's Grant Avenue looking south from Clay (map). The pagoda belongs to the Sing Chong Building on the corner of California Street. The neighborhood, because of its tradition, resistance to change and absence of trees, has maintained its look and feel for over a century. Long may that continue! And what if the old man crossing the street above were time-transported into the scene below? He might be forgiven if he thought the lady on the left was nursing an earache and the man on the right was reading his own palm.
Then ... And, at the far end of the social scale, the infamous and licentious Barbary Coast where the two sailors entering the Diana Hall saloon are oblivious to the policeman harassing a couple of prostitutes in the street. The bar next to it is Spider Kelly's, and next to that (with the columns) the Hippodrome, a drinking and dancing establishment which will play a part as the story unfolds.
... and Now, This is the north side of the 500 block of Pacific Avenue between Montgomery and Kearny (map) in what is today known as the Jackson Square neighborhood having traded its early 20th century pimps, prostitutes and bartenders for lawyers, interior designers and high-end office and boutique workers while still retaining its old commercial character.
