Then … With airplane ticket in hand Monica continues on to JFK International airport.
… and Now, her cab was heading southwest along FDR Drive on the Lower East Side of town towards Manhattan Bridge directly ahead (map). To reach the airport the cab would cross the bridge then continue through Brooklyn to Queens …
Then … But for reasons only film editors would understand the next shot is back in Midtown where her cab is passing 30 Rockefeller Plaza next to the seasonal ice rink (map). Today that short street between W. 49th and W. 50th Is now a pedestrian precinct.
… and Now, skating at the ice rink, seen here in a recent photo, continues to be a popular New York City winter pastime. Both Then and Now images showcase Prometheus, the 1934 gilded bronze sculpture by Paul Manship. 30 Rockefeller Plaza faces us at street level.
Then … She reaches her destination - the iconic TWA Flight Center at John F Kennedy International Airport, the busiest international air passenger gateway into North America (map).
… and Now, the soaring creation by architect Eero Saarinen opened in 1962. It closed in 2002 for restoration and integration into a new 512 room hotel complex.
Pictured here in this fine promotional photo, the TWA Hotel opened in 2019.
Then … Monica crosses the arrivals lounge of the flight center.
… and Now, it’s been faithfully restored as part of today’s hotel.
… and Now, in this promotional photograph of the terminal we see the overhead walkway from which the Then and Now images above were taken.
Monica heads straight for a restroom to shed her blonde wig and green contact lenses, revealing her true self and confirming she is indeed Susan Dumurrier, no surprise to anybody by now.
Then … She completes the transformation by turning her reversible coat inside out then walks through one of the two tubes connecting the terminal to the gates.
… and Now, still there, the tubes now join the hotel to an adjacent newly built Jet Blue terminal.
At the gate she now matches her passport photo for the flight to Paris.
Seemingly Director Lucio Fulci was as enamored with New York as he was with San Francisco. When the storyline shifts over there he takes us on an tour through the city.
Then … Following George’s conviction for murdering his wife the police now turn their scrutiny to Monica. But she flees; we see her traveling through New York City by cab, in this shot heading north on 1st Avenue past the United Nations General Assembly building (map).
… and Now, most of the changes here since then seem to be of the foliage kind.
Then … She is reflected in the rear-view mirror as the cab encounters busy traffic. Eagle-eyed observers will see the subway entrance sign on the right, behind the pole - ‘6th Ave Subway’, the clue to this location.
… and Now, Sure enough, they were on E. 42nd Street approaching 6th Ave. Bryant Park is off to the left. Many but not all of the buildings seen along 42nd have been replaced.
How cool is this? CitySeuth came across a matching vintage photo taken from the same spot back in the 1930s, an image dominated by the 42nd Street station on the IRT 6th Avenue elevated railway. The dirty, noisy but nostalgic ‘El’ opened in 1878, eventually being demolished in 1939, replaced by the underground 6th Avenue line.
Then … The huge sign atop the highrise behind her shoulder is the giveaway for this location, this is Essex House, a luxury hotel in New York situated center-block on Central Park South.
… and Now, the cab was in Central Park heading north on Center Drive (map). The Essex House sign, more clearly visible in this photo, has been there since 1932.
Then … She is dropped off at a Midtown post office.
Then … The camera cuts to her entering the post office lobby.
… and Now, the post office, located at 909 3rd Avenue on the corner of E. 54th St. (map), has traded the two double doors for revolving doors. Through the glass two escalators can be seen connecting the lobby to the post office upstairs. It’s interesting to compare the Then and Now reflections of the buildings across the street; the old cheek-by-jowl brick residential buildings were replaced in 1983 by a shiny office tower.
Then … Fulcio cleverly filmed the reflection of Monica in the 2nd floor ceiling as she ascended the up escalator, requiring CitySleuth to invert this image (note the ceiling’s recessed lights). The parallel escalator heads down.
… and Now, again the comparison shows entrance doors replaced by revolving doors (this photo of the escalators was taken in 2018 when the revolving doors, currently bronzed, were gold colored). Downstairs on the left a wall now separates previously open adjacent lobbies.
… and Now, this wider view shows the entrance, left, and the Post Office name, upper right, which were presented separately in the Then shots above. E. 54th is on the right.
Monica opens P.O. Box 802 to retrieve an airplane ticket inside. Her next stop, on the way showing more views of New York City, will be the airport for a flight to Paris, France.
Steve Larwitt (George Raft), known in the press as the King of Broadway, has clawed his way up from humble East Side New York origins to become the wealthy owner of nightclubs, gambling dens and more. He has just married Brenda Bentley (Joan Bennett), one of his chorus girls; everything looks rosy until a fellow racketeer tries to bump him off. It's a near miss and Brenda is convinced they will try again.
She has a plan - she knows the IRS are investigating her husband's personal finances and she also knows he's been short-changing them. She quizzes their crooked lawyer Slant Kolma (Lloyd Nolan) to find out what sort of sentence he might get if caught. When he tells her "Some dough and one year in prison ... max", she figures the trade-off is worth it to keep him safely out of harm's way. So she quietly mails some incriminating evidence ...
The New York footage was primarily interior scenes filmed at a Southern California studio but two exterior shots were used to set the location ...
Then ... Larwitt's stomping ground was seen in this night-time view looking south down Broadway towards Times Square from W. 49th St (map). The swanky Yoeng's Chinese-American dining and dancing place (formerly Churchill's) is at far right at 1609 Broadway and two blocks down, on the corner of W. 47th St. at 1579 Broadway, is the Strand Theatre. Partially visible at upper left of center is the vertical Loew's State Theatre sign at 1540 Broadway.
... and Now, it's no surprise that three quarters of a century later such an entertainment mecca would bear little resemblance to its former self. Yoeng's, the Strand and Loew's State Theatres are long gone.
Then ... Larwitt takes Brenda and Slant for a day out at the races. While he's watching the action from the grandstand two G-men show up from the FBI to pull him in on tax evasion charges.
... and Now, obviously the director just used some handy stock footage because this is the Santa Anita race track in Arcadia, California, the nation's first horse-racing track (it opened on Christmas Day, 1934). In this recent photo taken at a summer concert the left end of the grandstand is the same section as in the Then image above. The grandstand has over the years been significantly upgraded and extended to almost 300 yards in length.
... from a vintage postcard ... this postcard image shows the grandstand as it was back in 1940 when the movie was released. A pedestrian footbridge (also visible in the Then image above) can just be seen linking the grandstand to the adjacent Clubhouse on the left.
At the trial he is sentenced to ten years at Alcatraz and Brenda is furious when she realizes Slant had deliberately bungled the defense because he was in love with her and wanted Larwitt out of the way.
After Myra's play has become a huge hit she decides she needs a rest and catches a train to her hometown San Francisco.
Then ... She is seen off at New York's Grand Central Terminal at tracks 24/25.
... and Now, this wonderful Midtown Beaux Arts building at 42nd Street and Park Avenue (map) still operates as a rail terminal. It has hardly changed over the years, attracting tourists as well as travelers. Here are those same doorways in a recent photo.
On the train who should show up but Lester Blaine (Jack Palance) who Myra had fired for not being romantic-looking enough for her new play. For the duration of the cross-country journey Lester turns on the charm, seeming to harbor no grudge whatsoever.
Then ... They board the luxury California Zephyr at Chicago and share a quiet moment in one of the Zephyr's Vistadome viewing cars. In a great irony Myra finds herself falling for him.
But hang on ... reader CDL has informed CitySleuth that the Vistadome car seen above with square, angled windows was never used on the California Zephyr; its domes were styled with rounded windows (see below left). Next to it is the same style dome railcar as used in the movie, pictured at San Diego's ATSF Depot. Apparently the movie train scenes were filmed in Southern California using an available railcar.
... and Now, the Zephyr was inaugurated in 1949 but suffered severe passenger fall-off in the 1960s from airline and bus competition and was retired from service in 1970. The only way to enjoy it these days is to take one of the occasional nostalgia rides as did the folks below on last year's annual Feather River Express in a car matching the one used in the movie.
Then ... Speaking of the Feather River, Myra and Lester's train is seen below snaking its way through the Feather River canyon in Plumas County, Northern California, a route chosen to take advantage of a low pass through the Sierra mountains. Note the five (including the rear car) Vistadomes gleaming from the reflected light. Today only freight trains ply their way along this route.
... and Now, here's a recent photo of the scenic Feather River canyon looking in the opposite direction in late summer when the river flow was down to a trickle.
As acknowledgement of the importance of the canyon passage to the California Zephyr experience the Western Pacific engines incorporated a feather into their front logo.
Then ... Their train, pulled by Western Pacific engine number 805-D, arrives at its western terminal at the Oakland Pier, aka Oakland Mole. From here Myra and other ongoing passengers would walk to a waiting ferry to complete the journey to San Francisco.
... in 1931 ... here's an early aerial photo of the Oakland Pier terminal with three ferries awaiting passengers. It's not there any more having been demolished in the 1960s to make way for the Port of Oakland's container ship facilities.
... and Now, where was the Oakland Pier? To answer that, the aerial above has been superimposed onto the current map below at its original location- it was at the west end of 7th Street, not far south of the Bay Bridge.
To see the California Zephyr in full color check out this 1950s or 60s photo of a train pulled by Western Pacific engine number 805-A leaving the Oakland Pier.
... and Now, containers and cranes block today's view from 7th Street. The cantilever section of the Bay Bridge's eastern span can be seen in the distance in this photo taken just before it was pulled down, replaced by a new single tower suspension design.
Then ... Myra is met by friends at Oakland and can't wait to introduce Lester to them, insisting they all go dining and dancing together that evening. Note the 'To San Francisco' sign behind them with an arrow pointing to the right and the words 'Waiting Room' and 'Up Ramp' ...
... in 1957 ... Five years after Sudden Fear was filmed Frank Sinatra arrived at the Oakland Pier by train in the movie Pal Joey. In the panoramic image below from that movie we see the same sign; at far right is the referenced ramp.
