Ed Cullen's younger brother Andy has figured out that Lois Frazer was responsible for the murder of her husband and that Ed had covered it up. Putting aside family loyalties he informs the authorities and an all-points bulletin is put out for their arrest. The lovers hear it over the radio as they try to flee the city.
Then ... They make a quick U-turn and head for the nearest city exit, the Golden Gate Bridge, seen in the distance. (Click the image to enlarge it).
... and Now, hardly changed in over 60 years, this is in the upscale Sea Cliff neighborhood on El Camino Del Mar near Sea Cliff Avenue (map). (Click the image to enlarge it).
Then ... Now on Doyle Drive, aka highway 101, they are approaching the bridge toll booths.
... and Now, the bridge is way busier than it was in 1950. The toll booths are just off the picture on the left.
Then ... Uh - oh, the cops have beaten them to it and have the bridge closed off.
... and Now, some changes have taken place at the toll booths since then the biggest of which is the absence of toll-collectors, displaced in 2013 by Fastrak sensors and license plate cameras. But there's still a clock mounted in the center.
... a vintage photo ... here's a contemporaneous c. 1950 photo that adds color to the same location. Note the black-and-whites at far right.
Then ... The last San Francisco exit, into the Presidio, is right before the toll booths and Cullen takes it to avoid the roadblock. They decide to hide out at Fort Point and he is next seen heading there, turning into Long Avenue from Lincoln Boulevard (map). A sweeping vista of the Marina district and the City beyond catches our eye.
... and Now, one of those piers has been removed otherwise the marina looks as inviting as it always has. The city skyline of course has seen many changes and the tall white tower in the upper left quadrant is the new Eastern Bay Bridge structure.
... in 1947 ... coincidentally, or not, the same location was filmed three years earlier when Lauren Bacall drove Humphrey Bogart to her apartment in the movie Dark Passage.
Then ... Long Avenue runs into Marine Drive which in turn dead-ends at Fort Point. The camera pans from left to right, following them along Marine Drive. (Click the image to enlarge it).
... and Now, the same panorama today from the same vantage point. The camera was set up in front of Fort Point (map). (Click the image to enlarge it).
... in 1957 ... Alfred Hitchcock must have seen this movie. When Scottie follows Madeleine in Vertigo in the fall of 1957 the director used the identical panorama. Note that the old lighthouse keepers' houses on the right seen in the Then image above and the Vertigo image below are no longer there.
Then ... Cullen reaches his destination, old Fort Point, an army garrison once a proud lonely sentinel but now dwarfed by the towering Golden Gate Bridge.
... and Now, it seems time has stood still here in the 60-plus years since the movie was made.
The alarm has been raised and the first responders jump into action as the movie's opening credits roll. Views from the length and breadth of the city welcome the audience to beautiful San Francisco as each of the responders are shown.
Then ... An ambulance pulls out of a driveway and heads down the hill. Citysleuth is indebted to Reel SF reader and fellow sleuth CDL, who found this location. This is on the south edge of Cole Valley - the view looks north down the entire length of Cole Street from Carmel Street with the University of San Francisco main campus on the hilltop in the distance beyond the Golden Gate Park Panhandle (map).
... and Now, the view today, with the same houses on the Cole/Carmel corners. St. Ignatius Church at the University of San Francisco campus is visible on the far horizon.
Below is a closer look at St. Ignatius Church and the USF campus as seen from the higher vantage point of Twin Peaks, just south of Carmel Street, viewed along the same line as the Cole Street view above.
Then ... Next we see police motorcyclists heading south along the Great Highway past Lincoln Way at the southwest corner of Golden Gate Park in the Outer Sunset district (map). The Pacific Ocean is to the left and Cliff House (featured later in the movie, see it here) can be seen above the letters LL in writer Stirling Silliphant's name.
... and Now, Cliff House is still there, albeit remodelled.
Then ... We cut clear over to Potrero Hill where a police car responds on Wisconsin Street near 22nd Street (map). Here, Wisconsin points north towards a fine panorama of the city.
... and Now, still a fine view but it's truncated by the sidewalk trees. CitySleuth often wonders why trees and views in San Francisco have to be mutually exclusive.
Then ... Another police car responds from Sea Cliff on El Camino Del Mar at 32nd Avenue (map). The vista looks over Sea Cliff to the Presidio.
... and Now, some newer houses show up in the foreground amongst the recognizable survivors.
Then ... Finally, the responders arrive at Pier 41 near Fisherman's Wharf, the scene of the crime (map). The open lot to the left on the corner of Powell and Jefferson had only recently been cleared of a huge gas holder.
... and Now, a Gap Store and the Radisson Hotel sit on the site of the old gas holder.
The 1968 movie 'Bullitt' is famous for its spectacular car chase as Steve McQueen barrels through the streets of San Francisco in pursuit of the bad guys. But Don Siegel had done it first, a decade earlier, in this movie. Dancer and Julian, with Dorothy and her daughter as hostages and Sandy at the wheel, lead police pursuers in a high speed race across town.
As they speed away from Sutro's, Julian wants to stop and scatter but Sandy reassures him ... "I'm your boy, I'll get you out". We'll soon see about that.
The chase unfolds below with each segment shown side by side as 'Then" and 'Now'.
Below, the police close in and the chase is finally over, but not before the enraged Dancer shoots his partner Julian in the back as he tries to flee.