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.
Then … Director Lucio Fulci originally set his storyline in Louisiana but fortunately for us ended up filming it in San Francisco. It was his first film in the U.S. and he wore his tourist hat when it came to choosing locations. What more iconic if formulaic an intro than to rent a helicopter for the day, fly over the Golden Gate Bridge and tour the city as the opening credits roll?
… and Now, this recent wider panoramic view shows off the beauty of the city spread out before us. The large green expanse in both images is the Presidio, then a military base but since handed over to the city and now open to the public. A bridge feature seen below not there back in 1969 is the central divider which is seamlessly moved daily to add or subtract a lane as demanded by the commute traffic.
Then … Our tour of the city continues - this view across the western span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge shows Coit Tower atop Telegraph Hill in the background on the right and Russian Hill off to the left. The Financial District clusters behind the aging piers of the waterfront.
… by 2014 … this image shows the proliferation of the Financial District since the 1960s, spreading South Of Market, an inexorable process that continues to this day. The other big change is along the Embarcadero where many of the piers have been removed, opening up and transforming the waterfront. (Photo credit Q T Luong/ terragalleria.com).
Then … the aerial tour next swings by the domed City Hall at the Civic Center. The building in the foreground right of center is the War Memorial Opera House with its vertically extended roof above the stage.
… by 2008 … this view was taken 12 years ago but is close to how it looks today (2020). An added building is visible in the bottom right corner - the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall, built next to the Opera house in 1980 on the parking lot site seen above. The long narrow pool that ran down the spine of the plaza (barely visible above) has been removed.
Then … Here, our tour guide is flying directly over Russian Hill looking east across the North Beach and Telegraph Hill neighborhoods. The view looks beyond Coit Tower towards Yerba Buena Island and the Bay Bridge. Note the ugly double-decker Embarcadero Freeway at far right, destined to be torn down after being damaged in the 1989 earthquake. In the foreground the twin-spired Saints Peter and Paul church faces Washington Square Park.
… and Now, here’s the same view today, taken from a Russian Hill rooftop. Its wider perspective shows in the left distance the Bay Bridge’s multi-billion dollar eastern span tower that replaced its predecessor, again because of damage from the 1989 earthquake - the western span suspension bridges however survived relatively unscathed. These neighborhoods are little changed since mostly being rebuilt after the 1906 fire.
Then … “Hey, this is San Francisco - let’s fly over Alcatraz!” The island has been a military prison dating back to 1861 but the infamous Federal Penitentiary that we see here - it opened in 1934 - was operational for only 29 years. Nevertheless, the sight of the dramatic skyline and the sounds of the city must have been cruelly painful for the prisoners to see and hear each day.
… and Now, today the former prison is one of San Francisco’s most popular tourist attractions; 1.4 million visitors are shuttled by ferry each year to and from the island. CitySleuth recommends the audio tour!
Then … We next head over to the far west of town to the Pacific Coast - beneath us is the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center at 42nd Avenue and Clement Street at the former Fort Miley Military Reservation, between Lincoln Park and Point Lobos (map).
… and Now, here’s a recent Google satellite view of the hospital showing significant expansion since then.
The tour ends with the helicopter pilot skimming the surf just off the south end of the Great Highway alongside the San Francisco Zoo (map). In the distance on the left a horizontal green sliver (Golden Gate Park) bisects the Sunset and Richmond districts and Lincoln Park and the Presidio outline the horizon.
Then … Joe is mortified by the news that Malatesta lied about his alibi; he’s now convinced of his murderous guilt. Conflicted, he goes on a walk to try to gather his thoughts. When Malatesta drives up, Joe spurns him and walks away.
… and Now, this was filmed on the upper level of Calhoun Terrace in Telegraph Hill. Note the Ferry building in the distance Then and Now. Note too the vintage street lamp mounted on the wall and the wall’s embossed art deco patterns.
Calhoun Terrace is an unusual two level cul-de-sac just two blocks away from where Joe was staying, at Malatesta’s house (seen earlier in the movie) next to the Montgomery Steps.
In a scene in the 1952 movie The Sniper the eponymous killer hid behind that same lamppost awaiting a victim as she exited her home at 36 Calhoun Terrace via an exterior stairway.
… and Now, from the same viewpoint we see that the original lamppost is still there but the building’s stairway has since been enclosed (the front corner of 36 Calhoun can be seen at the left edge of the Now image above). The lamppost sits atop one of the art deco chevron decorations cast into the concrete wall.
Calhoun Terrace has an interesting history … It has been seen in several other movies, The House On Telegraph Hill, Vertigo and Days Of Wine And Roses amongst them. It was the site of the notorious Hoeffler compound, a revolving-door home to artists and writers in the early 20th century. Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo lived at 42 Calhoun in 1940. Here’s an 1860s photo taken when the street used to connect through to Green Street but before the lower level was established. A descending row of Union Street houses faces us in the background.
The double cul-de-sac is accessed from the end of Union Street at the top of Telegraph Hill. This whimsical realistic drawing by Paul Madonna captures it. (He too picked up on the wall’s art deco touches).
There’s a sheer drop below Calhoun, accentuated by the blatantly illegal quarrying activities of the infamous Gray Brothers at the turn of the 20th century. In this recent upslope view of the precarious cantilevered roadway we see the lamppost pictured in the images above, with 36 Calhoun at far right. Photo by Chris Carlsson.
And one last piece of related trivia … After decades of mutilating the hill and flaunting the law through repeated dynamiting, bribing and cheating, George Gray, one of the brothers, was shot and killed by an employee, Sicilian immigrant Joe Lococco, for not paying his wages. So that was that. End of dynamiting, end of story.
Meanwhile, back at the house, Joe cannot look his fiancé Anna, Malatesta’s cousin, in the eye. She cannot understand the sudden change in him and pleads, to no avail, for an explanation.
Joe has a hard time tracking down Charlie Cuneo but fortuitously Malatesta invites him over for dinner. He relates how he and Malatesta played snooker together at the Vallejo Social Club until one a.m. on the night Father Tomasino was murdered. To Joe’s great relief his concern over Malatesta’s possible guilt is dispelled.
Then … But his precinct Sergeant arrives with disturbing new information. A detective had been following Cuneo that night on another case and witnessed him meet Malatesta at another club that backed onto the alley where the priest was killed then left for several hours leaving Malatesta behind. Cuneo had lied; Malatesta’s alibi was blown.
… and Now, they were at the cul-de-sac at the top of the Montgomery Steps, described in more detail in an earlier post.
Then … Joe asks to be dropped off; they pull up in front of a theater - its marquee is partly visible on the left.
… a vintage photo … This was the Palace Theater at Washington Square park at the junction of Columbus and Powell in North Beach (map). Here’s a c. 1970 image of the theater taken at a time when it was showing Chinese movies (the theater would later be renamed the Pagoda Palace). (The theater was briefly seen in Woody Allen’s 1972 movie Play It Again Sam).
… and Now, After being closed for years the theater was demolished in 2013 when it was deemed the ideal spot to extract the two boring machines that had dug the twin Central Subway tunnels extending the T-Third Street line from near the Giant’s ballpark into Chinatown. It is now a retail/condominium structure, retaining the blade sign in a nod to its past. More’s the pity it didn’t become a subway station (the tunnel had already been extended to here, right?).
Then … Across the park we see Saints Peter and Paul Church and Coit Tower.
… and Now, the same view below also shows the statue mostly obscured by the car, above. It’s a memorial to the Volunteer Fire Dept. of 1839-1866 who protected the city during several conflagrations before the first city fire department was created.
… in 1933 … The statue’s dedication ceremony was attended in force by firemen and residents with vivid memories of the city’s 1906 fire. The church is behind it, as too is Coit Tower which had been completed only months earlier.
