Then …. Teddy has just discovered that Didi had a handgun stashed away in their home. He decides to dispose of it and knows the perfect place. The Hills Brothers Coffee building at far left tells us where this is - he’s at the end of Pier 26 on San Francisco’s Embarcadero. This view looks beneath the span of the Bay Bridge (out of the frame, passing overhead) and over Pier 24 towards the Financial District high-rises.
… and Now, Pier 26 is in bad shape now and the narrow exterior wharf around its perimeter (where Teddy was, above), is off-limits for safety reasons. But CitySleuth was able to walk inside the pier shed to the back corner and take this matching photo through a two inch gap at floor level beneath a huge closed metal shutter door near the end of the pier. The Hills Brothers Coffee building is still there at far left, but Pier 24 is gone; after suffering a major fire in 1997 it was demolished by 2004 leaving only its annex standing (at far lower left in both images). There are many newer buildings in this view now due to the Financial District’s expansion South of Market.
… and Now, in this aerial the ‘X’ marks where Teddy was in the Then image above and the large arrow indicates the camera’s view beyond him.
… c. 1970s … and here’s a 1970s aerial that shows the piers as they were when the movie was filmed, including Pier 24, again with an X where Teddy was filmed. Note the iconic Hills Bros Coffee logo sign at far right which is also clearly seen (the red one) in the first Then image at the top of this post.
On the left below is a 1955 photograph of the sign prominently displayed on the factory roof. The image, featuring an Ethiopian coffee taster, a nod to the source of the coffee beans, was designed in 1900 and appeared on all of the company’s products for the next 90 years. The sign is now gone but the taster is on display in the current building’s plaza in the form of a nine feet tall bronze statue by sculptor Spero Anargyros.
Digressing for a moment, Hills Brothers Coffee had its humble beginnings in San Francisco in 1878. It moved several times before building and occupying their final home, a roasting and packing plant at 2 Harrison Street in 1926. Production wound down in the 1980s until the brand name, still extant, was bought by Nestlé in 1985. Today the plant has been renovated into mixed-use condominiums and offices. The fine image below, bathed in the early morning sunlight, was taken from Yerba Buena Island in Dec, 2015 when the building displayed a seasonal message spanning 12 of its windows (photo by D. C. Nelson). Opposite the building on the water’s edge is the city’s historic Fire Station 35 with the fireboat Guardian berthed behind it.
A new extension/replacement for Fire Station 35 was opened behind it in 2021; you can see both old and new below. Note the trusty Guardian is still on duty there. The extension has been designed to rise and fall with the tides and any future sea level changes; go here for a fascinating SF Public Works presentation of its construction (teaser - it was built elsewhere).
… and here’s a stunning Bay Bridge image from 2018, also taken from Yerba Buena Island, that captured the Hills Brothers Coffee building to its right and pier 26 to its left (photo by Patrick Boury).
Then …. Getting back to the movie … the Bay Bridge reaches out behind Teddy to mist-shrouded Yerba Buena Island as he nonchalantly sits and stretches while dropping the gun into the water.
… and Now, this was the closest match CitySleuth could get through the narrow floor level gap beneath the closed and rusted shutter door.
… it turns out there was a small boat berthed right there next to him. He certainly took a risk being seen but he got away with it.
Then … Scorpio crosses under the Embarcadero Freeway heading to the brightly lit liquor store across the street at 148 Embarcadero South (map), next to the entrance of the Embarcadero Hotel at 146 Embarcadero South. That’s one of the freeway’s concrete support pillars on the right.
… in 1971 … this vintage photo, taken in March, 1971 (the year Dirty Harry was filmed) captured not only the double-decker freeway in all its ugliness, but also the Dirty Harry liquor store site (arrowed). It was vacant at that time, in fact it had been vacant since 1968 when it was the Longshoreman Cafe and continued to be vacant for several more years. So clearly the Dirty Harry set designers must have created the liquor store specifically for the movie.
… and Now, there’s no concrete pillar in today’s matching shot below - the freeway was taken down after being badly damaged in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. Perry’s restaurant took over the 146/148 Embarcadero retail space in 2008. The hotel above it is now the Griffon Hotel.
Here’s the 1971 city directory for the 100 block of Embarcadero South which lists number 148 as a vacant property. Elsewhere in the block were two real liquor stores.
Then … another freeway pillar is seen behind Scorpio as he approaches the store. The Ferry Building is visible two blocks away along the Embarcadero.
… and Now, the Embarcadero went through a transformative upgrade after the freeway was pulled down and is now a wonderful open thoroughfare popular with walkers, joggers and visitors who enjoy the food courts and restaurants in the repurposed Ferry Building or a ride in a vintage streetcar along the Embarcadero to Fisherman’s Wharf.
Then … In this closer view of the liquor store we see some of the detailed set design including flashing neon beer signs. Next to it are the Embarcadero Hotel entrance at 146 Embarcadero and the Admiral Tavern on the right.
… and Now, The hotel entrance is now the Embarcadero entrance into Perry’s - its main entrance is on Steuart Street.
Then … Inside the store the owner tells Scorpio he carries a gun for safety’s sake. Bad idea. Scorpio buys a bottle of whisky, violently knocks him to the ground with it, takes his gun, and leaves.
… and Now, the Perry’s space is an expansion of the 148 Embarcadero store space; the action above was filmed in the right side corner.
The movie opens with a murder scene in a dark alley, most likely filmed on a Universal Studios back lot. A catholic priest, Father Tomasino, is walking along a dark lane; he hears his name called then is collared from behind and summarily dispatched with a knife.
Then … While the opening credits roll a responding police car is shown driving through different parts of the city. The scenes begin with a camera shot panning down from a church spire.
… and Now, this is All-Hallows Chapel at 1440 Newhall Street in San Francisco’s Bayview neighborhood looking just as the movie showed it over 60 years ago (map).
Then … the camera pans down to the street.
and Now, this view looks north along Newhall Street from Palou Avenue. The large structures that dominate in the distance are the Port of San Francisco’s Pier 92 grain silos, erected in 1918 alongside Islais Creek but ceasing operations after the 1989 earthquake.
As an interesting aside, the tall circulation tower attached to the silos was beautified in 2014 by the Port by way of a public arts project representing the neighborhood’s economy, ecology, and community. The eye-catching installation, prominently visible to all entering and leaving the city on the nearby elevated 280 freeway, continues to be a colorful gateway to the struggling Bayview neighborhood.
Then … the credits continue, now with a view of the Bay Bridge, making it clear the story is set in San Francisco.
and Now, this view looks east across Fremont along Harrison Street (map). The rapid modernization of this SOMA/Rincon Hill area has yet to swallow up the building at left on the Fremont corner. Note the large billboard still in the same spot today.
Then … In this shot we see, on the right, the sign of the upscale Blue Fox Cafe, one of the city’s most famous restaurants spanning a 51 year period from 1942 to 1993. Many celebrities dined there including Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe. Joan Crawford kept her own case of vodka there (perhaps inspired by Alfred Hitchcock who kept a private stash of wine at Ernie’s Restaurant, or was it the other way around?).
and Now, this is Merchant Street between Montgomery and Kearny at Portsmouth Square (map), where a Hilton hotel has long since replaced the old Hall of Justice that was on the left side, above. There is no longer a view down to the Bay from here unlike in the movie image: it’s blocked by the Transamerica Pyramid at Kearny and if that wasn’t there, by the Embarcadero Center farther down. The Blue Fox was at 359 Merchant; Alfred’s Steak House is the current occupant.
Citysleuth found this image in a 1956 travelogue. It’s the same sign as the one seen in the Then image above, positioned at the same spot where the vertical Alfred’s sign is now.
Then ... Several folks at a bus stop on the Embarcadero await the oncoming bus carrying Jake and the suspect. Piers 16 and 18 are over to the right and the Ferry Building is visible in the distance. The abrupt termination of the Embarcadero Freeway left of center suggests there was a southern extension planned.
... and Now, the same view from the same spot, now part of Rincon Park and close to the whimsical Cupid's Span, a head-turning sculpture installed in 2002. The two piers and the double-decker freeway are no longer there.
Citysleuth zeroed in on the camera location by overlaying a vintage (1955) and a recent aerial shot. In the 1955 aerial the arrow shows where the bus stop location was, close to the junction with Folsom. Click or tap the image or thumbnail to toggle to the aerial view today; all of those piers have since been removed. Gone too is the entire block of buildings opposite Pier 18, clearing the way for the Embarcadero to be rerouted to make room for the new two acre Rincon Park, straddling where the bus stop used to be. The Bay Bridge crosses diagonally in the lower right corner.
Then ... As the bus slows down we see the Bay Bridge straight ahead and Folsom Street on the right. In the center is the Hills Brothers Coffee plant whose tower and rooftop sign were a familiar Rincon Hill sight for decades.
... and Now, the tower has survived; so too has the sign. The building is now a designated City Landmark but it has since been converted to gentrified upscale offices (Google being one of the tenants) and condominiums with a view.
As Camerero stands to aim his gun at the passengers Larsen, who had pulled up behind the bus, and Jake both let him have it.
After so many false leads and blind alleys they finally get their hands on the elusive 'grease gun'.
Then ... The movie ends with a lingering shot of the scene of the showdown. Pier 18 can't be seen - it's just off to the left of this view, but the adjacent Piers 20, 22 and 23 (seen in the 1955 aerial near the top of this post) had already been removed, opening up an unobstructed view of the bay and the bridge.
.. and Now, today's view looks through Cupid's Span and across Rincon Park.
