Then … Amy takes Herbert to a movie at the Cinema at Ghirardelli Square at 901 Beach Street in the Marina District where he’s scared out of his wits by the violent action, the likes of which he has never seen before. Below, they have just exited the theater. The movie name is interesting, The most recent Exorcist movie back then then was Exorcist 2 … this was a dig by director Meyer at the Hollywood penchant for sequels (but years later he would himself co-write the sequels Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.)
… And Now, the cinema is no longer there; the site now houses commercial offices.
This Dec 1974 photo shows the cinema as it still looked whenTime After Time was filmed. With the same Marquee sign. The preceding tenant in the building (it used to be an old Power House) was the Hungry-I nightclub which had moved there in the 1960s from its better-known North Beach location. The cinema opened in Aug 1971 but never did well, closing in Dec 1986.The movie entrance was the 3rd archway from the left; today that has been remodeled as a matching window and the entrance is now in the first archway on the left. On the right, Polk Street tees into Beach.
Then … They walk by a newspaper stand not noticing, but we do, the chilling headline … is Stevenson up to his old mayhem again? Behind the gawkers across the street is an interesting building …
… and Now, this is part of the ship-shape ship-shaped port-hole windowed Maritime Museum at Aquatic Park.
Then … By now Herbert is more than happy to tag along with Amy and when she invites him to her place for dinner he readily agrees. Her home happens to be in the Marina district across from the Palace of Fine Arts (we get to see it later in the movie) so on her way home after buying some food she introduces him to the grand edifice (although she bungles the facts a little, telling him it was built for the 1914 Pan American Exposition) …
… and Now, whereas in fact it was built for the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition. It underwent an extensive rebuilding program from 1964 to 1974. This view looks across the lagoon from Bay Street near the corner with Baker Street. The fountain is still there!
This south-east facing enhanced vintage aerial photo shows the grand scale of the glorious exposition. The Palace, at lower right, is the sole on-site surviving structure. (There’s one other survivor, Firehouse No. 9, now called Firehouse No. 35, which was moved in 1915 to the Embarcadero next to Pier 22).
Then … She walks him through the Palace’s grand rotunda. Originally a wood and plaster structure, the replacement was built with steel and concrete.
… and Now, the Palace is exactly as it was other than an accumulation of grime but the Baker Street residences in the distance have undergone significant changes.
There’s nothing quite like an intimate dinner and a glass of wine to put one in the mood. He stays over and they do it.
But he is jolted out of his reverie by a radio news bulletin about a second North Beach brutal murder of a prostitute. Startled, he realizes who must be responsible.
Then… Amy suggests they take a drive over the Golden Gate Bridge. Herbert is fascinated by her futuristic transportation machine and carefully watches with great interest as she operates each control. Filmed from the Marin County side, this view looks towards San Francisco to the Marina left of center, the Presidio on the right and Mount Sutro/Twin Peaks in the hazy distance.
… and Now, today’s view from the same vantage point, Battery Spencer on Conzelman Road at the Marin headlands (map), shows little change (the Sutro Tower communication mast that was built next to Twin Peaks 6 years in 1973, barely visible above, stands out more clearly here).
Then… She takes him to Muir Woods, a hugely popular secluded redwood forest on the slopes of Mount Tamalpais in Marin County (map). Named after famed naturalist John Muir, it has been a U.S. National Monument since 1908. They stop and admire siamese twin trees, joined at the hip, one of several throughout the forest.
CitySleuth’s best guess for this location is that they were on the Redwood Creek Trail, filmed from the higher elevation Hillside Trail.
… and Now, much of the Redwood Creek Trail has been paved for easier walking but it has retained the rustic style of railings seen in the Then image above.
A number of movies have over the years included scenes from Muir Woods, examples being Petulia (1968) andSudden Fear (1952) in which Joan Crawford and Jack Palance (below) strolled along the same stretch of the Redwood Creek Trail pictured above . Back then, 27 years earlier, there were no railings. (The leaning tree remnant in the middle of the trail was removed years ago).
Amongst a quiet stand of young redwoods they share a little more about each other with Herbert being the more reticent.
Teddy almost misses TWA’s L-1011 flight to Los Angeles but persuades the ramp truck to head back as the exit door re-opens for him. As if. (In return for its cooperation with the filmmakers TWA gets lots of exposure in the airport scenes that follow).
Then … Unfortunately for Teddy once in the air the flight is diverted to San Diego due to fog in L.A. On arrival he sits in the lounge, musing about Didi and Charlotte, two women waiting for him in the middle of the night. But was this scene filmed at San Diego airport? (No, it was not - read on).
… in 1977 … it turns out the same airport lounge had been filmed 7 years earlier in a scene, below, in the Mel Brook’s comedy High Anxiety as evidenced by the same red pin-striped carpet, seats, circular columns, quad elevated flight status screens, cone-shaped cigarette ashtrays and silver lamp arrays.
When Mel Brooks exits the terminal in High Anxiety the address on the window - 300 World Way - is that of TWA’s Terminal 3 at Los Angeles International Airport. This then was the location used for Teddy’s ‘San Diego’ airport lounge scene.
… a vintage photo … This c. 1970 photograph shows TWA Terminal 3 as it still was when theThe Woman In Red scenes were filmed rhere.
… and Now, the terminal, still addressed 300 World Way, Los Angeles, has significantly changed since then including the addition of an elevated road to access the expanded upper level. TWA as such disappeared when it was acquired in 2001 by American Airlines; today Terminal 3 is used primarily for Delta and Aeromexico arrivals and departures. Further changes are currently underway at LAX in preparation for the flood of 2028 Summer Olympics visitors.
Then … All is not lost though - the two wanna-be lovers, undeterred, meet again in San Francisco at Baker Street near Beach in the Marina District with the Palace of Fine Arts across the lagoon behind them (map).
… and Now, the impressive edifice was built for the 1915 Pan-Pacific Exposition; it was rebuilt in concrete and steel in the 1960s and seismically retrofitted in 2009 but has retained its original appearance to this day.
Alfred Hitchcock beat Gene Wilder to it - the identical view was captured in his 1958 classic Vertigo when James Stewart and Kim Novak stroll by along the Baker Street sidewalk.
Even earlier, in 1947, Ann Sheridan and Kent smith were filmed there in Nora Prentiss.
And later, in 1979 around the corner on Bay Street, Malcolm McDowell and Mary Steenburgen were there in Time After Time. It’s easy to see why this location is a magnet for filmmakers.
Then … Gonzalez takes the high road while Callahan takes the low road to the hamburger stand at Aquatic Park. Here, traveling west on Lombard Street Gonzalez is about to make a left turn into Fillmore, where he will pass the Doggie Diner that is just beyond the right edge of this image. The same footage of the left turn, but revealing the Doggie Diner, was used earlier, seen in the previous post. Note the corner gas station on the left, note too the gas prices: 29.9 and 33.9 cents per gallon. After adjusting for the 715% inflation since then that’s equivalent to $2.14 and $2.42 per gallon today. Hmmm.
… and Now, today the gas station site is occupied by a Honda Service Center; it was shuttered when CitySleuth took this recent photo.
Here’s an interesting blast from the past of workers picketing that gas station in 1947. It’s the same corner as above but the view looks across Lombard towards Fillmore.
Then … Cut to the Marina district - Callahan is racing towards the tunnel that runs under Fort Mason to Aquatic Park (map).
… and Now, the tunnel is still there but there is no train activity today, the tracks are gone and the tunnel entrance is fenced off and boarded up. Those vehicles are making the right hand sweep from Marina Boulevard into Laguna Street.
… and Now, here’s the tunnel viewed from Laguna Street.
This aerial view outlines the path of the tunnel. 1500 feet long, it was constructed in 1913 to serve the 1915 Panama Pacific Exposition that was built in the Marina to herald to the world that San Francisco had recovered from the 1906 earthquake and fire. The single track tunnel continued to be used for freight train traffic until the late 1970s.
In the tunnel he is accosted by 3 deadbeats who demand the ransom bag and his wallet; he tells them to get lost but they persist. No worries, his Smith and Wesson and yet another of his classic lines … “You don’t listen do you, asshole” do the trick - they flee.
Then … You can see the distant Marina entrance as he emerges at the Van Ness Avenue end in Aquatic Park (map).
… and Now, it’s now boarded up but there is currently a proposal to have the City extend the Muni F-Market & Wharves vintage rail line from Fisherman’s Wharf to here then continuing on through the tunnel, terminating at the Marina (read about it here and for policy wonks the favorable EIR report is here).
Then … The hamburger stand is directly opposite the tunnel; a pair of phone booths is alongside them, one of them ringing. When Callahan sees an old man step to the phone to answer it he jumps over the low railing and snatches it from him.
… and Now, the stand is still there but it has been closed during the pandemic. It’s one of two extant streamline moderne-styled concessions stations built in the 1930s, part of the Aquatic Park project. Note the drain pipes on either side of the counter, also visible in the Then image above. The low railing bordering the sidewalk curb is gone but visitors can still see evidence of their existence in the sidewalk pavers. No phone booths though, CitySleuth would be surprised if they weren’t a movie prop.
“You know Mount Davidson Park? Go to the cross”. Callahan’s expression says it all - the cross on Mount Davidson is more than 6 miles away.
