Ed responds to Lois’s plea for help, driving over to her home - it’s seen several times throughout the movie. The address in the movie is 2370 Del Mar and indeed the front entrance is so numbered.
Then … Ed pulls into the driveway, giving us a wider view of the home’s exterior including an interesting old-style street lamp. There’s an upstairs balcony over the entrance supported by decorative metal posts, seen up close above.
… and Now, the house has hardly changed in over 70 years. Even the street lamp is still there. But it’s not in San Francisco - this is 2370 N. Vermont Avenue in Los Feliz, a hillside neighborhood in the greater Hollywood area of Los Angeles (map). Last sold in 1973 for $80,000, the home is currently valued at over $4 Million.
Then … In another scene we see the entrance from a different angle, revealing more of the house.
… and Now, from here we can see one small change: a pair of railings, matching the original posts in style, have since been added on the steps.
Lois lets him in. She’s in a tizzy as she pours out some startling news. The expansive interiors of the Frazer home were most likely filmed on a sound stage at the General Service Studio in Hollywood (in which case they did a nice job here matching the front door with its sidelites; compare it from the outside in the first image above).
O’Hara and Grayson accuse Dr. Neva, whose laundry had contained the handkerchief carrying a secret formula, of treason. She vehemently denies any knowledge of passing on secrets, admitting only of being in love with fellow top scientist Dr. von Stolb.
When von Stolb is discovered dead in his quarters of an apparent suicide by poison it didn’t take them long to work out that he had in fact been murdered. Now they wondered if perhaps somebody else might have been responsible for both the leaks and the murder.
They recheck their video of the scientist’s meeting looking for clues that might implicate one of the other attendees: director Townsend, Dr. Forrest and Dr. Allen. Once again they see nothing suspicious but later O’Hara has an ‘Aha!’ moment, recalling that Dr. Allen, on the right, had pressed the palm of his hand on the paper containing the formula that had been smuggled out.
They and the local police follow Allen to a remote house where he rendezvous with the members of the spy ring. A furious gun battle ends up with Braun, Krebs and the other spies dead and Allen in custody.
Denying everything, Allen insisted he had been kidnapped by the spies …
… but was caught in a lie when O’Hara grabs his hand and wets it with a solution that reveals the formula, still there. They finally got their man!
Then … the movie fades to black as our intrepid G-men exit an elevator and stride purposefully away as the narrator intones the stern reminder that “… those who walk the crooked miles are followed by such men as Grayson and O’Hara”. The ‘Tower Express’ signs on the elevators suggest this was filmed in Los Angeles’ classic City Hall, whose landmark art deco tower has a public viewing gallery on the 27th floor.
… and Now, indeed it was; our two heroes above are striding across the building’s 3rd floor byzantine rotunda. The 10 marble columns bordering the rotunda each have their own distinctive and colorful patterns, all of them different. In the recent matching photo, below, visitors walk past the elevators towards the rotunda, approaching the same set of columns.
… and Now, and here’s a reverse view of those columns looking back from the rotunda.
Los Angeles City Hall opened in 1928. Its architecture is a blend of styles, with an Art Deco tower and an entrance announced by elegant columned arches. It has been a popular location site for moviemakers over the years, a fitting place for the final scene of this San Francisco/Southern California based movie.
Back at Janet’s high-ceilinged studio Andy can’t fathom why Ed is so dismissive of important clues in the murder case. He is close to realizing that his brother is covering up his own involvement. These interior scenes were most likely filmed on a studio sound stage.
But when later in the movie Ed drops Janet off in front of her studio, this was filmed at a real location …
Then … She heads for her front door, a novel entrance with a drawbridge. CitySleuth is indebted to Craig Owens, host of the entertaining blog bizarrela.com, for finding this interesting building.
… and Now, It’s supposed to be in San Francisco but the building is actually in Los Angeles, at 2064 Argyle Avenue in the Hollywood Hills (map). It still looks exactly the same. (Photo by Craig Owens).
… and Now, No. 2064 is flanked on either side by similar Tudor-styled units but is the only one with the drawbridge feature. The red bricked square in the sidewalk marks where the tree in front of the building was in the Then image above.
With Val missing, the search for Arlene's killer becomes even more urgent. When a will from Arlene is found all are astonished to learn that she had all along been secretly married, to an Arthur Burchard. Her father remembers the name and that he came from Los Angeles. The manhunt turns to Burchard.
Then ... Burchard it seemed owned a small yacht and the search now concentrates on scouring the waterways for it. For these shots, locations in Los Angeles and in San Francisco were used. This one shows a Douglas Dolphin flying boat leaving its embarkation dock within the Los Angeles Harbor's Slip No. 5.
... in 1938 ... here's a vintage photo of that same flying boat at the dock; it was right next to the Wilmington Catalina Terminal (map). Instead of taking a ferry boat from the terminal, the well-heeled could fly to Catalina Island for the $5 fare advertised below. (That's a different building seen above across the slip).
... and Now, the terminal building is gone and this corner of today's Slip No. 5 has become very industrialized.
Then ... the flying boat continues searching off the coast.
... and Now, the coastline is that of San Pedro with the Palos Verdes Hills in the background. The fly-by above was probably filmed from the Los Angeles Harbor lighthouse perched at the end of a long breakwater (map); this recent photo of it shows the same coastline.
Then ... Tony too joins the search for Burchard's boat in the Los Angeles Harbor. The harbor's distinctive clock tower can be seen across the Turning Basin towards the right beyond the ship's smokestack.
... c 1920 ... this early photo captured the 1917 cruise terminal and clock tower in its glory days. They were demolished in the late 1940s.
... and Now, the cruise terminal and clock tower were rebuilt in expanded form in 1963; here it is today (map).
This 1956 photo of the Los Angeles Harbor highlights the locations seen during the search for the killer.
Then ... The search continues but this time stock footage was used of two ferryboats in San Francisco Bay - the first is close to the Ferry Building.
... and Now, this is the Southern Pacific Railroads' ferryboat 'Berkeley' which operated between the Oakland Pier and the Ferry Building from 1898 to 1958. After a spell as a tourist mall moored in Sausalito (where it was briefly seen in the 1972 movie 'Play It Again Sam'), it ended up in the San Diego Maritime Museum, still there between two other historic vessels.
Then ... Another ferryboat is seen off Hyde Street Pier where Russian Hill in the background climbs halfway to the stars.
... in 1935 ... one year before Fog Over Frisco was released this same ferryboat was photographed passing by the partially constructed Bay Bridge. It's the Southern Pacific Golden Gate Ferries 'Lake Tahoe'. Later the boat was moved to Puget Sound and renamed the 'Illahee' where it operated until retirement in 2007. It is currently awaiting the scrap merchant.
Tony succeeds in finding Burchard's boat and rescues Val. What he learns blows the lid off the case. It turns out that Burchard and Arlene's 'secret lover' Mayard are one and the same person; he it was who killed Arlene in an argument over letters she had written that implicated him in the stolen bond scheme.
Tony returns and tips off the police ... they finally get their man.
