Nora Prentiss - A Bizzare Turn Of Events
Then … Talbot’s desire for Nora has reached new heights. He tells her he will ask his wife for a divorce but he can’t bring himself to do it. Below, when he drives to a hospital to perform a scheduled operation he is close to a nervous breakdown and almost kills the patient.
… and Now, this was St. Joseph's Hospital at 355 Buena Vista Avenue East, alongside Buena Vista Park. The historic Spanish Renaissance Revival building was built in 1928; the hospital closed in 1980 and was subsequently converted to condominium apartments. (Trivia: Midge visited Scotty Ferguson here in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1958 classic Vertigo.)
By now Nora can’t handle the relationship any more; she tells him she has decided to accept an offer from her former boss Phil Dinardo to work at his new club in New York City. While resisting his desperate entreaties she gets a call confirming her train reservation that very night.
But fate steps in. Talbot heads to his office and while working late his patient, the one with the suspect heart, shows up in bad shape, staggers in and drops dead of a heart attack. Talbot knows he has no family or friends. He also realizes they are similar height, age and coloring. Right there and then he makes an unbelievably bizzare decision …
Then … He swaps clothes with the dead man, puts his ring on his finger and drives the body to the coast, here passing the famous Cliff House Restaurant at Lands End, the far west of San Francisco where it meets the Pacific Ocean. His plan is simple; he will fake his own death leaving him free to marry Nora and sparing his family the stigma of deserting them (how noirish is that?).
… and Now, the Cliff House has been at this spot since 1863 in several guises based on 3 successive basic structures. It is currently under renovation after closing in 2021 due to covid and lease issues. It is scheduled for a reopening, likely in 2027. (By the way, for those of you curious about the totem pole at far left - it was erected after the movie was filmed - read about it here).
Then … the camera tracks him driving down the hill. The lights of the popular Ocean Beach amusement park Playland at the Beach are glimpsed through the fog. Starting out in the 1880s as a collection of concession stands, it was a well established fairground by the 1920s when it first adopted the Playland name.
… and Now, Playland closed down in September 1972, eventually replaced by condominium units.
Then … Down the coast Talbot pulls up at the edge of a cliff. The lighthouse in the distance is the clue as to this location.
Citysleuth came across this 1966 photo taken from the same precise spot. But this is nowhere near San Francisco; the view, from the Terranea Trail alongside the luxury Terranea resort in Rancho Palos Verdes, looks across Pelican Cove to Point Vicente lighthouse, just south of Manhattan Beach in Southern California. The pointed rock mid-center is named Toveemur Rock.
… and Now, here’s how that view looks today. The lighthouse is still there behind the palm trees but the buildings around it have changed. (Photo by Ken Collins).
Then … Talbot douses the dead man and the car’s interior with gasoline, sets it aflame then pushes it it over the cliff. Toveemur Rock, seen off to the left, indicates that this particular spot is a little further down the coast from the one above.
… and Now, a recent photo taken from the patio of Nelson’s Restaurant at the Terranea resort captured the very spot where the car was pushed over; just ahead on the right. Point Vicente lighthouse and Toveemur Rock are seen a short way up the coast. (Photo by Christine Ho).