Then … After a long day in the clinic Dr. Talbot prepares to leave for home. Through the window the lights of the Bay Bridge trace out its upper and lower roadways as they traverse the massive concrete anchorage at the center of the span. Also prominent - the Ferry Building Clock Tower on the waterfront.
… and Now, For the above studio shot the window view was most likely a painting of the bridge as seen from an apartment building on the 1300 block of Jones Street, the only area in town where the relative positions of the bridge anchorage and the Ferry Building would match the movie view. Here for example is today’s view looking down Clay Street from 1310 Jones, apt. 1201. The ferry building is behind the Embarcadero Center high-rises but a close approximation of its position is indicated by the superimposed icon. This vantage point is a little high, a lower level apartment would have a view matching the movie’s.
In 1961 … This vintage photo taken from Powell Street lower down the hill on Clay Street captured a good view of the bridge anchorage and the Ferry Buiding tower similar to the movie view before the Financial District transformation. On a trivia note, the landmark brick building on the right at 965 Clay Street, designed by Julia Morgan in 1932, was for more than 50 years the Chinese YWCA. It was shuttered and renovated following significant damage in the 1989 earthquake; the current tenant, since 2001, is the Chinese Historical Society Museum.
Then … Stepping out of his clinic he is startled by screeching brakes and a scream from across the street. Note the Mei-Ling House restaurant next door at 777 Sutter Street; had he not had a meal awaiting him at home he may well have popped in to enjoy some chop suey, the Chinese dish of choice in those days.
… and Now, 777 Sutter became the home for 57 years of the pioneering top-notch French restaurant Fleur de Lys. It has been shuttered since 2014 but a fleur de lys emblem is still emblazoned on the awning. In 2017 a developer bought the property and has filed plans to build a 26 story ‘skinny tower’ housing 36 apartments. For shame!
Then … He rushes across Sutter to help. The neon-signage of the Sutter-Jones drugstore announce its presence on the corner.
… and Now, it’s been almost 80 years but today’s view up Jones is almost completely unchanged, with one major exception: the absence of the O'Farrell, Jones & Hyde cable car tracks. The line was shut down and abandoned in 1954, seven years after this scene was filmed. The streetcar tracks crossing in the foreground along Sutter are also long gone.
Then … A van driver has hit a pedestrian - he jumps out and rushes to her. This corner location has Warner Brothers backlot written all over it!
… and Now, here’s the real-world corner with Cafe Bean at 800 Sutter Street in place of the movie’s fictitious Central Drug Co.
She isn’t too badly injured, a bruised knee, so he takes her up to his clinic where a dab of an appropriate lotion seems to do the trick. They chat, she somewhat sassy and he, to her amusement, stern and proper.
Then … She tells him her name is Norah Prentiss and she’s a nightclub singer. She lives “at the Golden Gate Apartments down the street on the other side from the clinic” so the chivalrous doctor accompanies her to make sure she arrives safely. They seem to be heading towards the brightly lit entrance opposite.
… and Now, that building is the Lucerne Apartments at 766 Sutter (there was no Golden Gate Apartments in this neighborhood).
Then … This closer look at the apartment entrance as they arrive is puzzling. What's clear is that this too is a studio backlot location. What’s not clear is why the filmmakers went to great lengths to duplicate most of the architectural details of the Lucerne Apartments entrance, even its steps, but abruptly cut off the two windows on the right side (compared to the Then image above.) What’s more, the car parked in front doesn’t match and the exterior lamp is higher up. This kind of continuity goof is unusual, even in low budget noirs.
… and Now, the entrance today. It matches the movie’s wide shot.
As they part she playfully apologizes for being “fresh” with him; by now he’s mellowed a little and doesn’t seem to mind.
Then … Dr. Talbot lived in an upscale neighborhood with splendid views of the nearby Golden Gate Bridge. This is Seacliff at the northwest corner of San Francisco. The movie doesn’t make clear which specific house is his but the center one facing us below is 55 25th Avenue; above it Baker Beach stretches towards the bridge alongside the Golden Gate strait that separates San Francisco and the Marin headlands.
… and Now, 80 years later mature trees line the street but the houses are mostly unchanged.
Then … he never tires of admiring his view of the Golden Gate Bridge. The interior house scenes were filmed on a sound stage at the Warner Brothers Studios in Burbank, California; for this shot a rear projection was used to set the location.
… and Now, here’s that view today, taken at Baker Beach a short walk from the Seacliff homes.
Talbot and his family live a privileged life including the services of a maid. They don’t know it yet but their world will soon be turned upside down.
Then … The next morning he heads to work down Jones Street in Nob Hill behind the wheel of a swanky Buick Super Eight sedan. The store on the corner is the Sutter-Jones Pharmacy at 798 Sutter Street.
… and Now, The buildings along this block of Jones haven’t changed since the movie was filmed. The corner store is now a church providing a meeting place and religious services for Christian Scientists.
Here’s a recently-for-sale vintage 1941 Buick Eight Sedan, an elegant automobile most fitting for a successful professional like Doctor Talbot. Compare it to his in the Then images above and below, the only difference being the cool art deco flares at each end of the bumpers, absent on the movie car.
Then … He turns into Sutter Street, pulling over in front of his clinic. A much larger high-rise medical building can be seen way down Sutter on the left side - the 1929 art deco beauty at 450 Sutter.
… and Now, the Marriot Hotel was built next to it in 1972 and partially blocks 450 Sutter from here but the rear section can still be seen. It continues to be a prime address for medical, surgical and dental professionals.
Then … He enters the building housing his clinic.
… and Now, this is the Belgravia Apartments at 795 Sutter on the corner of Jones - in the real world there was no clinic here. (The next time the street cleaners pass by they would do well to clean their sign).
Here’s a 2023 photo of the Belgravia in all its stately grandeur.
Then … In the clinic Talbot examines Walter Bailey, a patient with a heart condition who later will figure prominently in the doctor’s unraveling.
Then … Teddy’s persistence has paid off - his fantasy is about to become reality. Charlotte’s limo pulls up to the entrance of her apartment building.
… and Now, This is the iconic Brocklebank Apartments atop Nob Hill, across Sacramento Street from the equally iconic Fairmont Hotel, at far right. In movies this building is most famously remembered as Madeleine’s home in Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo.
Then … The bedroom scene was filmed in a studio using a photographic backdrop to set the location. Perplexingly though, the photo isn’t a view from a Brocklebank window, instead it was taken from the roof of the neighboring Fairmont Hotel. The building seen on the left beyond Charlotte’s shoulder is the Condominiums at 1001 California Street, the white building to its right is 1055 California and the taller brick building at far right is the Huntington Hotel at 1075 California.
… and Now, this wide view shows the Brocklebank at left, 1001 California Condominiums at right and the Fairmont rooftop from where the above window photo was taken.
Even more surprising: later on in this scene there’s this view (below) from Charlotte’s window. It shows the Brocklebank’s view of the same three California buildings in the Then image above. CitySleuth would have used this! Down on the left is the international flag array above the Fairmont’s entrance and, on the right, the Pacific Union Club.
My, oh my … she takes his hand and leads him to the bed where she urges him to “Come and get it, cowboy”. This is it! Dreams come true! But hold on … a call from the lobby comes over the intercom from … wait for it … Charlotte’s husband! He’s on his way up!
Chaos ensues - Teddy hastily dons the husband’s bathrobe before being urged out the window onto the 9th floor ledge by a frantic Charlotte (this was the flash-forward scene at the beginning of the film). Across Mason Street is the Park Lane Apartments, built in 1924-25 just one year ahead of the Brocklebank; its art deco moderne-styled upper floors were added in 1929.
Then … A crowd begins to congregate on the street below, staring up at the man high up on the ledge.
… and Now, here’s today’s match - the street view shows the Pacific Union Club with Grace Cathedral beyond it.
Then … One of the street-side gawkers rushes into a nearby cafe gobbledygooking about a man about to jump - everyone rushes out to join the throng.
… and Now, this was the Nob Hill Cafe at 1152 Taylor Street, still in business to this day. The SF City Directory has listed it there under this name since 1978 (when it took over from Gene’s Nob Hill Coffee Shop). Today a parklet partially obscures the view through the windows but the wide set of apartment steps across the street is clearly visible both Then and Now.
Then … A fire department ladder truck responds to an emergency call. Note the Chinese stores across the way, the clue to this location.
… and Now, this is Fire Station 2 at 1340 Powell Street near Broadway on the edge of Chinatown.
… and Now, here’s Station 2. In the movie scene the ladder truck exited from the central bay.
There’s a plaque outside the station memorializing the brave firefighters who, dating all the way back to 1854, gave their lives while protecting their fellow citizens.
By now the fire truck, a huge crowd and a local TV station van pack the Brocklebank courtyard. The movie ends when Teddy jumps down to a life safety net, but not before he muses in voiceover whether pursuing his fantasy was worth it for just “ … a piece of ass”.
Then … Herbert is desperate with nowhere to go. He drags his way up one of the city’s steepest streets.
… and Now, this is Nob Hill looking south down Taylor street from California towards Pine. At far left with a temporary ramp is a side entrance of the Huntington Hotel which was closed for extensive interior upgrades when CitySleuth took this photo.
Then … Exhausted, he sees a large church across California Street.
… and Now, this is Grace Cathedral on the northwest corner of California and Taylor (map). The sidewalk utility box is now twice as wide as it was then.
Then … A shot looking down from the Huntington Hotel reveals a little more. At far right in front of the cathedral’s front entrance there’s a brick building, Cathedral House, built as the George William Gibbs Memorial Hall in 1911 for the Church Divinity School.
… and Now, that building was demolished in 1993, enabling a grand staircase to the front entrance; the cathedral now stands resplendently unobscured as a result.
Then … Seeking solace he enters, standing reverentially next to a marble baptismal font.
… and Now, CitySleuth’s matching photo includes Beniamino Bufano’s statue of St. Francis on the left.
Then … Perhaps a silent prayer will help ease his plight.
… and Now, the pews have aged well. There are other, older murals along the walls but those visible here were painted after the movie was filmed.
Then … He gets a gentle reminder that the church is about to close.
… and Now, this fine view towards the apse and the main altar captures just part of the cathedral’s splendour. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave a sermon during the consecration of the cathedral in March, 1964 from the pulpit right of center.
Then … With nowhere else to go he spends the night on a bench next to a children’s playground in Huntington Park across Taylor Street from the cathedral. Cathedral House behind him is partially visible across Taylor.
… and Now, the playground has been moved to another part of the park and a parking garage has replaced Cathedral House.
Then … A birds-eye view of the cathedral from a high-rise apartment building on Sacramento Street clearly shows Cathedral House. Across California on the corner of Taylor is the Masonic Auditorium and Memorial Temple.
… and Now, Cathedral House is gone but the Masonic Auditorium is still there; this view also shows the Huntington Hotel across Taylor at far left.
Then … A misty early morning shot from the Huntington Hotel captures the park as Herbert awakens. But note the production goof here: the bench where he slept next to the children’s playground (check it out two Then images above) is missing. The arrow shows where it should have been.
… and Now, because the Huntington Hotel was closed when CitySleuth stopped by he resorted to a Google satellite image to show us the park from above today.
