With Val missing, the search for Arlene's killer becomes even more urgent. When a will from Arlene is found all are astonished to learn that she had all along been secretly married, to an Arthur Burchard. Her father remembers the name and that he came from Los Angeles. The manhunt turns to Burchard.
Then ... Burchard it seemed owned a small yacht and the search now concentrates on scouring the waterways for it. For these shots, locations in Los Angeles and in San Francisco were used. This one shows a Douglas Dolphin flying boat leaving its embarkation dock within the Los Angeles Harbor's Slip No. 5.
... in 1938 ... here's a vintage photo of that same flying boat at the dock; it was right next to the Wilmington Catalina Terminal (map). Instead of taking a ferry boat from the terminal, the well-heeled could fly to Catalina Island for the $5 fare advertised below. (That's a different building seen above across the slip).
... and Now, the terminal building is gone and this corner of today's Slip No. 5 has become very industrialized.
Then ... the flying boat continues searching off the coast.
... and Now, the coastline is that of San Pedro with the Palos Verdes Hills in the background. The fly-by above was probably filmed from the Los Angeles Harbor lighthouse perched at the end of a long breakwater (map); this recent photo of it shows the same coastline.
Then ... Tony too joins the search for Burchard's boat in the Los Angeles Harbor. The harbor's distinctive clock tower can be seen across the Turning Basin towards the right beyond the ship's smokestack.
... c 1920 ... this early photo captured the 1917 cruise terminal and clock tower in its glory days. They were demolished in the late 1940s.
... and Now, the cruise terminal and clock tower were rebuilt in expanded form in 1963; here it is today (map).
This 1956 photo of the Los Angeles Harbor highlights the locations seen during the search for the killer.
Then ... The search continues but this time stock footage was used of two ferryboats in San Francisco Bay - the first is close to the Ferry Building.
... and Now, this is the Southern Pacific Railroads' ferryboat 'Berkeley' which operated between the Oakland Pier and the Ferry Building from 1898 to 1958. After a spell as a tourist mall moored in Sausalito (where it was briefly seen in the 1972 movie 'Play It Again Sam'), it ended up in the San Diego Maritime Museum, still there between two other historic vessels.
Then ... Another ferryboat is seen off Hyde Street Pier where Russian Hill in the background climbs halfway to the stars.
... in 1935 ... one year before Fog Over Frisco was released this same ferryboat was photographed passing by the partially constructed Bay Bridge. It's the Southern Pacific Golden Gate Ferries 'Lake Tahoe'. Later the boat was moved to Puget Sound and renamed the 'Illahee' where it operated until retirement in 2007. It is currently awaiting the scrap merchant.
Tony succeeds in finding Burchard's boat and rescues Val. What he learns blows the lid off the case. It turns out that Burchard and Arlene's 'secret lover' Mayard are one and the same person; he it was who killed Arlene in an argument over letters she had written that implicated him in the stolen bond scheme.
Tony returns and tips off the police ... they finally get their man.
Val is led down to the waterfront where she is confronted by a group of thugs employed by Jake Bello, the night club owner who had been using her sister Arlene in his bond fencing scheme. While struggling with them she glimpses the body of Arlene in the rumble seat of her car.
Then ... Tony arrives in time to see her being dragged off to a waiting boat at a lumber yard. He bravely takes them on but fails to prevent her from being kidnapped.
... and Now, this is supposed to be in San Francisco but some of the location shots in the movie's developing story were filmed in the Terminal Island/San Pedro area of the Los Angeles Harbor. There were several lumber yards in San Pedro at that time and Citysleuth has concluded that the kidnap scene was filmed at one of them, the E.K. Wood Lumber Company. Formerly located at the foot of 14th Street (map), it's no longer there but the arrow points to the spot most likely used for the scene shown above.
... a vintage photo ... Here's a 1937 photo of the the E.K. Wood Lumber Company with a view of Terminal Island across the Main Channel.
Some time later the police find Jake Bello, done in by Arlene's mystery killer, floating in the water at one end of a cantilevered bridge, .
Then ... Another look at the bridge reveals it to be the San Pedro Bascule bridge that used to span, north to south, a section of the Turning Basin (map). Unlike the nearby Henry Ford bridge that doubled as the movie's Butchertown Bridge - a combination road and railway bridge, this one was rail only.
... a vintage photo ... the San Pedro Bridge is seen at the bottom of this north-facing image taken in 1948. Jake Bello's body was depicted as floating alongside the north end of the bridge, indicated by the arrow. The bridge was subsequently damaged in a collision by a passing ship in 1955 and demolished shortly afterwards.
The police arrive too late to prevent the boat from speeding off with Val held down in the back.
Then ... Val continues on her desperate dash to the Butchertown Bridge. The company sign in the background gives us a clue as to this location, supposedly in San Francisco but, as it turns out, filmed in Los Angeles ...
Here's an old ad for the California Corrugated Culvert Co. Of its two addresses, the shot above is the Los Angeles location east of Chinatown, looking towards Leroy Street from the railway tracks alongside the Los Angeles River (map).
... and Now, in 1942 the William Mead Homes public housing project was built on the 15 acres alongside Leroy Street , still there today.
The cops are next seen pursuing Val at a location yet to be found ... possibly the industrial area south of Market in San Francisco (that could be the Marin Headlands way in the distance).
Then ... Val arrives at the bridge where a man is waiting for her. A train track on the right parallels the roadway over the bridge.
... and Now, believe it or not, this is the same view today. But where is it and why does it look so different? Read on ...
Here's the bridge in a 1930 photograph. Built in 1924 as the Badger Avenue Bridge, it linked San Pedro across the Cerritos Channel with Terminal Island (map). When a Ford assembly plant was built in 1930 on the island (seen below in the background), the bridge became known as the Henry Ford Bridge. The bridge design is known as a Bascule bridge - this one is unusual in that it is a combination of two back-to-back Bascules, each with three massive counterweights. The movie image above was shot from the far lefton the south (Terminal Island) side.
Then ... When Tony's cab reaches the bridge as a train reverses by we get a closer look at the bridge's triple counterweights.
... and Now, an aerial view of the bridge today (with Terminal Island on the right) shows many changes. The original road/rail bridge has been replaced by two bridges: the Commodore Schuyler Heim road bridge since 1948 and a vertical lift railway bridge that replaced the Bascule bridge in 1996 (the nearest one). (The Now image above was taken from the spot arrowed at right).
So the bridge scene was filmed in Southern California even though San Francisco has a Bascule bridge of its own, the Lefty O'Doul Bridge crossing Mission Creek (McCovey Cove) at 3rd Street in China Basin (map). It's next to the SF Giants' ballpark and just blocks north of the old Butchertown neighborhood. Unlike the Henry Ford Bridge this one is a single bridge and has only two counterweights, but it's still in use today. Built in 1933 it was there when the movie was filmed so why the moviemakers didn't film here is anyone's guess.