[Dear readers: For the foreseeable future CitySleuth is compelled to use Google Street images for most of his ‘Now’ photos. Here’s looking forward to the end of the scourge. And Kudos to Google!].
From their stakeout on the corner of Clay and Mason the G-Men observe the suspect carefully crating his painting then handing it over to an Express Company truck.
Then … They follow the truck through town; in this shot it’s passing a well-known Nob Hill hotel.
… and Now, it’s the Mark Hopkins on the corner of California and Mason (map).
Then … the camera pans down California, tracking the truck as it goes by an oncoming cable car.
… and Now, in today’s view a distant Bay Bridge tower is barely visible between the proliferation of Financial District high-rises. But in the foreground the Fairmont hotel was then, and still is, on the left. On the right is the Stanford Court hotel which opened in 1972 in the former Stanford Court Apartments, built in 1912 on the site of railroad baron Leland Stanford’s estate after it was destroyed in the 1906 earthquake and fire. Note the resident’s balconies in the movie view, since removed.
Then … the truck heads to the Embarcadero and turns into its destination. The elevated freeway leading to the Bay Bridge spans the background.
… and Now, here’s the same span today. The view looks north towards the bridge.
Then … The truck’s Embarcadero destination is Pier 36 in South Beach. The ocean liner berthed at the time was Matson Lines’ S.S. Matsonia. Shortly after being built in 1926 as the S.S. Malolo, it collided with another ship, suffering damage comparable to that of the ill-fated R.M.S Titanic . But it survived, despite taking on massive water, thanks to an improved multi-hull influenced by the Titanic’s failed design. Renamed the Matsonia, it was used as a troop ship during WWII but had reverted back to its West Coast-to-Hawaii luxury cruises by the time this was filmed.
… Pier 36 in 2011 … the pier is pictured here shortly before it was pulled down to clear the area for a new public park space, the Brannan Street Wharf (map). This utilitarian pier lacked the grand bulkhead seen on many of the other piers along the Embarcadero. The sunlit fence corresponds to that seen above.
… and Now, today’s matching view looks across the south edge of the long, narrow park (rather a grand name for what is just really a stretch of grassy and seating areas). Pier 36 may be gone but Pier 38 on the right, also visible above, is still there.
O’Hara and Grayson take note of the package’s destination - London, England - but let it go through to so as not to alert the spy ring to the tightening noose.
Then ... Allan takes Julie out for a date at a tavern but things get awkward when two bikers spot them and head over.
... and Now? Could this have been filmed inside the Hidive bar at Pier 28 on the Embarcadero (map)? The angled front door with the window next to it on the right matches nicely with the interior view above.
... and Now? But the matching view inside the tavern today shows the bar on the other side of the room compared to the movie view above. For many decades known as the Boondocks, the tavern was remodeled in 2004, which might included repositioning the bar. Anyone who can shed light on this is asked to add a comment at the bottom of this post or to contact citysleuth@reelsf.com.
As the bikers mercilessly hit on Julie (Joy Bang), totally ignoring our hapless hero, the writing on the lifebuoy on the wall references Pier 28, the location of the Hidive. (In another shot the full text on the buoy is seen as 'Maries Pier 28').
Then ... The big guys follow them outside where we get to see the bar’s name - the Pier Head. Allan's amusingly puny efforts to 'fight' them gets him nowhere fast but they leave him mostly unscathed after Julie makes a choice - them. But, to CitySleuth's eye this is a different building than that used for the interior scene. (Reader Scherrie Barone, daughter of one of the bar’s owners, has added interesting information about the Pier Head in the comments below).
Reader Joe commented below that an episode of the TV series The Streets Of San Francisco was also filmed in 1972 at the Pier Head. Here we see Michael Douglas’s character walking in; this wider daylight view also reveals its aka name, Manjo’s. Scenes filmed inside do not match the Play It Again, Sam interiors, further evidence that two separate locations had been used for these bar scenes.
… a vintage aerial ... The 1972 street directory listed the Pier Head tavern at 780 Embarcadero South, opposite Piers 42 and 44. The tavern is clearly seen in this 1930s aerial view.
…and Now, the tavern and Piers 42 and 44 were demolished decades ago. Embarcadero South was rerouted to link with King Street and the Giants ballpark was built atop Berry Street; the arrow indicates where the Pier Head Tavern used to be.
Then ... Larsen has been assigned to tail suspect Camerero, beginning at a small gym alongside the bay.
... and Now, the gym, still there, belongs to the Dolphin Swimming and Boating Club at 502 Jefferson Street at Aquatic Park (map). On the right, above, the schooner moored at the Hyde Street pier is the Wapama; it has since been dismantled and in its place, below, we now see the square-rigged sailing ship Balclutha. On the left, there's a small jetty...
... here's a view of the gym in a recent photo looking back from that jetty. The Dolphin Club is cheek by jowl with another club, the South End Rowing Club on the left.
Then ... next up, an energetic game of handball.
... and Now, the court, in the same building, continues to keep club members on their toes.
Then ... Camerero moves on to a hairdressers with a window view that identifies this location... that's Fredericksen's venerable Cow Hollow hardware store across the street.
... and Now, the same view from inside the store that currently occupies this site. To the left it has since been expanded into the store next door.
The store is currently the Simply Chic boutique at 3038 Fillmore (map) but back then it was a men's hairstylist called Forum II.
Fredericksen's has been serving the Cow Hollow neighborhood at 3029 Fillmore since 1896. In this recent photo the part of the store visible through the hair stylists' window in the Then image above is outlined in yellow.
Then ... The surveillance continues in a parking garage as the suspect walks to his car.
... and Now, this was filmed on level A of the underground garage of One Embarcadero Center in the Financial District.
Then ... But when Camerero exits the garage, this isn't One Embarcadero Center...
... and Now, instead, it's the Clay Street exit of the Golden Gateway Garage across the street from One Embarcadero Center (map), viewed from a pedestrian bridge spanning the road.
Then ... Jake follows him to a narrow street and watches him pull up outside a club where an awning marks a discreet entrance.
... and Now, this is Ritch Street, an alley in the SoMa South Beach neighborhood close to AT&T Park, home of the San Francisco Giants (map).
Then ... As Camerero enters the club the awning displays the address - 330 Ritch Street. This was the Ritch Street Health Club, one of the many bath houses that catered in the pre-Aids era to the gay men's community before they were all shut down by the City in the interest of public health.
... and Now, that same doorway has since been re-addressed as 360 Ritch Street. Comparing the Then and Now images you can see the identical outline of the bricked-in former windows next to the doorway. Today retail and commercial businesses occupy the building including the Little Skillet whose Southern Comfort food serves an eager lunch crowd daily from the shuttered window on the left.
Here's a vintage poster advertising the club that left no room for the imagination as to the activities inside.
Then ... Inside the club entrance a stairway draped with a colorful tapestry leads up to their "exciting psychedelic 3rd floor".
... and Now, a storage closet has been built under the stairway at left and plain white walls make for a more appropriate approach to the offices above.
Then ... Another day but still tailing. Larsen tries his best to look inconspicuous when Camerero walks right by him after exiting the narrow alley flanked by the pair of concrete bollards. Note the vertical sign - 'Poster Alley'.
... and Now, this is Union Street in Cow Hollow - Larsen was sitting at the steps of 1960 Union Street (map) in the center of the seven-block stretch that back then was a much-touted tourist shopping favorite. Poster Alley ran alongside the Artisans poster and framing store at 1964 Union, there since the early 1950s. Customers could view posters and prints hanging in the alley and buy them in the store.
Artisans is still in business but recently moved to the Sunset district. In a sign of transition the photo below taken in January 2016 pictures the empty store up for lease. The bollards are still there on either side of the garage door that now blocks access to the old Poster Alley.
Nick insists on taking a reluctant Rica out for a drink at Shorty's Bar, seen below. CitySleuth searched 1949 City records but found no mention of a Shorty's so presumably it was a fictitious movie name. The shop front below is certainly real enough - the question is ... where was it?
Two views from the interior of the bar help provide the answer. The first shows an Embarcadero pier across the street, Pier 44. (It's possible the interiors were filmed in the studio with projected window views to set the location).
In the second view, seen through the entrance doorway to Shorty's, another pier, Pier 42, is seen across the Embarcadero looking in the opposite direction. So, Shorty's was on the Embarcadero opposite and between Piers 42 and 44. Both piers were terminals for American President Lines.
How does CitySleuth know these were Piers 42 and 44? They are not there any more, but compare the shots above with the vintage photo below of these two piers (which incidentally shows the Bay Bridge under construction in 1935). They match.
Then ... In this movie pan below, the view looks south down the Embarcadero as Nick and Rica cross the rail tracks heading for Shorty's. (This panorama links with the one at the top of this post). Pier 44 is on the left and the Embarcadero continues past Berry Street before ending at Pier 46.
... and Now, Pier 42, 44 and 46 are no longer there; they were replaced by the South Beach Marina. Instead of continuing straight on past King and Berry Streets as it used to, the Embarcadero now swings to the right into King Street alongside the San Francisco Giants ballpark. The marina is on the left, as is South Beach Park which replaced the block where Shorty's Bar used to be, between King and Berry Streets.
If all of this is confusing, the photo and map below may help ...
Then ... this 1955 aerial photo shows piers 42 and 44 before they were removed. Shorty's bar location was in the block opposite those two piers, between King Street and Berry Street. Note also that back then Berry Sreet connected to the Embarcadero.
... and Now, The same view today courtesy of Google maps showing that the Embarcadero now swings into King Street. A section of Berry Street has been swallowed up by South Beach Park and the ballpark redevelopment project, completed in 2000. The locations where Piers 42 and 44 used to be are shown in orange and the approximate location for Shorty's bar is indicated by the asterisk, within South Beach Park.
