Then … When Joey hears his wife is moving out, Buddy drives him home. Here, his Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow II is seen speeding north-ish on Main Street about to swerve in front of traffic into Howard Street (map). Crossing behind him is California State Route 480, aka the Embarcadero Freeway, on its way towards and past the Ferry Building. Further in the distance you can see the trusses of the elevated I-80 freeway on its way to the Bay Bridge.
… and Now, this area has seen lots of changes. Many glassed residential and office towers have been built here since then and the 480 freeway is gone, taken down after being damaged by the 1989 earthquake. But I-80 is still there in the background.
Then … they continue east-ish along Howard, passing the historic 1904 Folgers Coffee Company building at 101 Howard Street that survived both the 1906 and 1989 ‘quakes. Crossing ahead are the two decks of the Embarcadero Freeway.
… and Now, you can’t see it for the sidewalk trees in this matching shot but as mentioned, the Embarcadero Freeway is gone. There are newer buildings down the block but the Folgers building remains; in 2011 it became a downtown campus for USF (makes sense - a business school in the financial district).
Digressing for a moment, just how ugly was the Embarcadero Freeway? Look no further; this 1965 photo, looking down on the newly opened Washington and Clay Street ramps, also shows how it totally isolated the Ferry Building. The plan was to extend it along the Embarcadero as a connector between the city’s two great bridges. But Mother Nature intervened, achieving what all of the protestors couldn’t - read all about it here.
OK, back to the movie. Joey surveys the empty home; he can’t believe she really has left; he takes out his ire on the kitchen cabinets.
Then … Later while walking down the upper section of the Filbert Steps on Telegraph Hill (map) Buddy thinks Joey needs cheering up so he suggests he do the ‘Blind Man’ prank for him. Teddy and Mikey groan - they’ve seen it before - but he insists.
… and Now, the steps are still there for those inclined to exercise (there are reportedly 445 steps in total from the flats at Sansome Street up to Coit tower) or for those who simply enjoy their secluded and peaceful surroundings.
Then … As they approach the last section of the upper steps down to Montgomery Street they laugh and joke about Mikey having it off with his boss’s wife.
… and Now, in the same view today note the wrought iron gate at number 300 - it’s the same one Then and Now!
Then … They cross the upper level of Montgomery Street and descend a set of steps to the street’s lower level where, on the right, the sgrafittoed Malloch House at 1360 Montgomery is a wonderful example of Art Deco Streamline Moderne styling popular in 1936 when it was built.
… and Now, from this vantage point there is still a fine view of the bay where the Bay Bridge reaches over to Yerba Buena Island but most of the house and its sgraffito engravings are hiding behind oversized trees.
The same staircase and building were seen in the 1947 movie Dark Passage as Lauren Bacall pulls up in front of 1360 Montgomery where her character had an apartment. The street’s two different levels are clearly shown; they merge together at Union Street at top right.
And in the 1968 movie Petulia Julie Christie blew into a sousaphone while sitting alongside the top of those same steps. The concrete newel post on the right is the same as the one seen two images above on the left.
Down in the boiler room Red Moran, determined to avenge the Chronicle’s exposé of his boss, plies the boilerman with booze and challenges him to a coal shoveling contest, having first closed off the steam line. Tension mounts as the camera cuts repeatedly to the pressure gauge slowly moving into the danger level, an audience suspense-building technique often used later by the master of suspense, Alfred Hitchcock.
Then … His sabotage causes an explosion and fire at the Chronicle headquarters; multiple alarms summon a frantic response from the city’s fire brigade.
… a vintage photo … here’s a 1915 photo image showing the Chronicle Building as it was when the movie was filmed.
… and Now, the building, also seen earlier in the movie, is still there today at 690 Market on the corner of Kearny Street. It has since been remodeled and doubled in height to create the swanky condominiums of the Ritz-Carlton Club and Residences.
Then … Firehouses in San Francisco and in Los Angeles were filmed for the response scenes. The director jumps all over the place with random cuts between firehouse and other scenes but for this post Citysleuth presents the firehouses sequentially. After this first truck exits the firehouse (below, left) the camera cuts to a wider view allowing us to see where it was filmed.
… in 1950 … here’s that location, unchanged even though this c. 1950 photo was taken 25 years later. The arched doorway at the bottom right corner is where the fire engine exited, top left above. In San Francisco, this is the Truck Company 1 firehouse at 418 Jessie Street, South of Market, in what’s now known as Mint Plaza (map).
… and Now, a recent view of Mint Plaza today, again mostly unchanged except the firehouse is no longer there; today it’s the restaurant Burma Love, now readdressed as 8 Mint Plaza.
Then … In this shot the building on the left looks familiar …
… and Now, that’s because we are still in Mint Plaza alongside the old Mint Building. The restaurant that replaced Truck Company 1’s firehouse is over on the right side and the building facing us is the one on the left, two images above.
Then … Inside the next firehouse a message is received on a Gamewell Punch Register (top corner) that identifies the source of the originating alarm on a ticker-tape. Firemen waste no time manning a fire engine (on the left) and a fire truck (on the right). Fire engines usually carried water; fire trucks usually did not , instead carrying a rescue ladder and other equipment such as jaws of life.
Then … As the fire engine leaves, the firehouse name is the clue to its location; this was filmed at the Engine Company 24 / Truck Company 1 firehouse in Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo district at 204 South Hewitt Street (map).
… in 1922 … here’s a vintage 1922 photo showing the station three years earlier. At that time a different truck company, No. 5, shared the building with Engine Company 24.
… and Now, the station, on the corner of S. Hewitt and E. 2nd Streets, is no longer there; the space is now a parking lot. What a waste of a fine old building.
Then … Two engines from Engine Company 2 at 460 Bush Street in San Francisco’s Financial District are the next to respond. The compact 1908 firehouse, at far left, was the first firehouse rebuilt following the 1906 earthquake. The columned building next to it was a Pacific Telephone & Telegraph Company building at 444 Bush Street.
… and Now, the classy Beaux Arts firehouse building is still there but it has been converted to office space.
Then … Clarence happens to be parked across from the police station when the police arrive; he sees them hustling Ray McDonald inside. This was filmed in Hollywood as evidenced by the stores behind him - Ford & Ford Chiropractic on the right was listed in the 1925 Los Angeles city directory at 5911 Hollywood Blvd and Star Cleaners was listed at 5913 Hollywood Blvd.
… and Now, the chiropractor’s office at 5911 is now Sparadise Massage & Spa; Star Cleaners at 5913 is now Bread and Butter lunch and coffee shop. Note the lamppost in the center - remarkably it appears to be the same one a century later as in the movie shot above.
Then … He rushes over to see what’s going on; inside he is astounded to hear that Ray is being charged with accepting a $50,000 bribe; he is helpless as Ray is manhandled, protesting the whole way, to a jail cell.
Police Station 6 appeared earlier in the movie. It’s on the right side in this vintage photo where it shared a building with LAFD’s Engine 27 from 1913 to 1930.
… and Now, what’s more, it wasn’t opposite where Clarence was parked; it was a good 7 or 8 blocks away at 1629 N. Cahuenga Blvd. Check the location now, completely rebuilt. (Note the adjacent brick building partially visible at far left, above, - it’s still there today).
As a close friend of the McDonald family Clarence can’t bring himself to call the shocking news into his newspaper, leaving it instead to the local beat reporter who doesn’t hesitate to call the city editor. With eighteen minutes to press time it’s all hands on deck to rewrite the front page in time for the day’s last edition.
Then … In the next sequence the audience gets to see step-by-step how a newspaper story is created - from its initial composition to the final printed page. It begins with the copy editor receiving the story outline from the city editor. He writes the story and sends it on to linotype machine operators who turn his words into metal ‘slugs’ - lines of text cast from molten metal as fast as the operator types them in.
This and the sequence of operations that follow were all filmed in the Chronicle’s newly built 901 Mission Street building in San Francisco’s Soma district (map); the 1920s photograph below shows the composing room where the linotype machines were filmed.
Then … The metal slugs and an etched photo plate are arranged by compositors at makeup tables (on the left, below) into a full page format (on the right). The words and images are reversed, like a negative, so that when printed they will read in normal format.
The makeup tables were in the same composing room as the linotype machines. This photograph of them also shows a linotype battery at far right.
Then … When the page is complete a sample sheet is printed out and checked for errors. A papier-mâché sheet is then beaten against the completed layout to form a mold (called a ‘flong’) which in turn is used to cast a curved metal plate (called a ‘stereotype’) which will pair with a rotary press to print the newspaper page.
Here’s a photo taken at 901 Mission Street of the same equipment being used to cast stereotype plates.
Then … With time running out the finished plate is winched down to the press room below. Tom’s supervisor grabs it and sends it along a conveyor to Tom, waiting at a press. He bolts it into place, jubilant, knowing they’ve pulled it off - the presses start rolling just in time for the day’s last edition.
This 1920s photo taken in the Chronicle’s press room looks from the opposite direction along the plate conveyor seen above. Alongside it are the massive rotary printing presses, 14 of them in a row.
Tom’s celebration is cut short when he sees the front page with a photograph of his son under a huge headline trumpeting the bribery charge.
At a local police station the Chronicle’s courthouse reporter slips a cigar to the desk sergeant then seeks the quid pro quo: “Do you have anything for me today?”
Then … In a later scene we are shown where this took place - Police Station 6 (although the interior scene may have been filmed in a studio).
… a vintage photo … John Bengston’s excellent website silentlocations.com revealed the location of this police station - read his detailed post about it here. It was set in San Francisco but was filmed at 1629 N. Cahuenga Blvd in Hollywood (map). The station - it shared a building with the Fire Department’s Engine 27 - was there from 1913 to 1930 during which time it appeared in many silent movies including comedies by Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton.
On a trivia note this fun photo taken in 1928 in front of Station 6 provided ample evidence that a cop’s day is not all work and no play.
… and Now, the music publishing company Real Songs, readdressed as # 1635, now sits squarely on the old fire/police station site. But the 2-story hotel on the left has survived (it’s partially visible in the vintage photo of the station, above).
The reporter is in luck; he calls the Chronicle’s city editor with a scoop: the police have set their sights on Sam Blotz, a suspected bootlegger.
Then … At far right the city editor asks a young staffer to bring him everything they have on Blotz.
… and Now, this was filmed on the 3rd floor of the San Francisco Chronicle’s 901 Mission Street building where reporters continue to work 100 years later in the same, albeit modernized, space.
Then … The newspaper’s librarians dig out information on Blotz.
… a vintage photo … here’s that same library in 1924 at the San Francisco Chronicle’s 901 Mission Street building. The wall-mounted files seen above are arrayed along the side wall. Note in both images the radiator alongside the column.
The editor shows the files and photographs to Clarence Walker (Polly McDonald’s suitor), assigning him the task of writing an exposé of Sam Blotz.
