When it comes to women film writer and critic Allan Felix (Woody Allen) is a loser. His wife has just divorced him and he seeks solace in a movie theater, enthralled by Humphrey Bogart in the classic Casablanca.
... a vintage photo ... the scene was filmed in the Surf Theatre at 4510 Irving Street near Golden Gate Park in the Outer Sunset, a short walk from the surf of the Pacific Ocean (map). This 1970s photo shows the theatre as it was when the movie was filmed. Opened in 1926 as the Parkview Theatre, it changed its name to the Sunset in 1937 then was remodeled and rechristened as the Surf in 1957. During the 1960s and 70s the Surf became known for its avant-garde programming of classic and international films (perhaps explaining its choice by Woody Allen for this scene).
... and Now, the theatre closed in 1985; it has since been further remodeled and is now a church.
Then ... He's mightily impressed by Bogart. "Who am I kidding", he muses as he leaves the theater, "I'm not like that. I never was, I never will be". Right from the get-go we see a lack of self-esteem prompting him throughout the movie to repeatedly turn to Bogart for advice.
... a vintage photo ... here's a matching view of the Surf taken in the 1980s by which time the seats had been replaced.
Then ... Outside the theatre Allan walks by a cafe advertising a Bogart Festival. Its name is partially visible on the right - the Cine Cafe.
... a vintage photo ... the image shown earlier in this post - here it is again - shows the Cine Cafe at 4508 Irving right next door to the theatre. The cafe was opened and owned by the proprietor of the Surf Theatre, Mel Novikof.
... and Now, the Cine Cafe building has survived with the same decorative fenestration, now partially covered with an awning. Today it's a ballet school run by Ming-Hai Wu, a retired San Francisco Ballet soloist.
Dorothy Bradshaw and daughter Cindy visit the Steinhart Aquarium after arriving at the Mark Hopkins Hotel. The aquarium has been a visitors' favorite since 1923.
Then ... The aquarium faced onto the central courtyard of the California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park. The Academy also included a natural History Museum and a Planetarium.
... in 1968 ... Below is an aerial photo from 1968 with an arrow marking the aquarium, part of the Academy building. That's the DeYoung Museum facing the Academy across the concourse and the Bandstand at the edge of the concourse on the left.
... and Now, The aquarium and indeed the entire Academy was razed in 2003 to make way for this $500 million replacement, below, opened in 2008 (map). This photo was taken from the De Young Museum.
Then ... Dancer and Julian catch up with Dorothy and Cindy in the aquarium.
... and Now, the aquarium in the new Academy, below, is an ambitiously dramatic replacement. (By the way, Orson Welles preceded Don Siegel by a decade with the use of a scene at the Steinhart Aquarium, in The Lady From Shanghai. See it here).
Dancer flirts with Dorothy and offers to give her a ride back to her hotel. She makes the big mistake of accepting. As they leave the park, passing in front of the de Young museum, a policeman recognizes their car and calls in their description from a nearby telephone box (map). We get a really interesting panorama down Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive - interesting because the 'Then' and 'Now' contrasts the old with the new museum.
Then ... Director Siegel's panning camera gives us a great view of the old de Young museum on the right and the bandstand, built in 1900, on the left.
... and Now, the new de Young, dubbed 'The Rusty Aircraft Carrier' by some wags, was opened in 2005. The two sphinxes flanking the path to the museum (click image to enlarge) are still there, as is the bandstand, obscured by that palm tree.
Back at the Mark Hopkins hotel Dancer frenziedly rips Cindy's doll apart after she tells him she found white powder inside the doll and used it to powder its face! Uh oh, there's none left.