Then … Clarence and the police motorbike escort head up California Street during their dash across town to get Blotz. Kearny Street crosses at the end of the block.
… and Now, most of the buildings lining California street have since been replaced. Still there though way at the bottom of the hill is the Southern Pacific Building, built in 1917 as the headquarters of Southern Pacific Railway. Beyond it is the Bay Bridge, not built until 11 years after the scene above was filmed.
Then … They overtake a cable car as they speed up California. The landmark Sing Chong Building is on the corner of Grant Avenue.
… and Now, a century later it’s still there.
The Pagoda-styled Sing Chong Building was built in 1907. Local residents and Benevolent Societies had wasted no time rebuilding Chinatown following the 1906 earthquake and fire as a statement to city government that they were not about to be resettled anywhere else.
Then … The cop leans his bike to his right around a tight bend…
… then leans over to his left, apparently negotiating an S - curved street. More of the building behind him is now revealed, helping to confirm this location.
… and Now, here’s that building, still there. It’s 60 Leavenworth, an apartment building with street level retail stores on the corner of McAllister. Credit to reader Notcom who found it.
In this late 1920’s aerial photo you can see the curved street 3 blocks east of City Hall.
It’s more clearly seen in this 1931 aerial photo; tap or click the image to see how it looks today. The curve was straightened out in the mid-1930s to make way for the Federal Office Building at 50 U.N. Plaza.
Then … Continuing on, in the next shot the Geary-Mason Drugs sign on the right is a giveaway to this location. That drugstore was at 400 Mason so this view looks south along Mason Street with Geary crossing in the foreground. The Hotel Minster sign on the left a block down was at 312 Mason.
… and Now, 312 Mason is still a hotel; more specifically an international hostel.
Then … Almost there! This shot revisits a junction appearing twice before during the frantic dash. Here they head west on Market Street having just driven out of Golden Gate Avenue over on the right. The turrets of the Granada Theater can be seen near the end of the block beyond the car.
… and Now, the Granada Theater has long since been demolished and replaced.
Viewed from the opposite direction this vintage photo captured the Granada in 1921, the year it opened. The opulent theater was one of many that sprung up along the length of Market Street during the silver screen heyday of the 1920s and 1930s. It was renamed the Paramount in 1931 and eventually demolished in 1965.
They arrive in time - it’s game over for Blotz, Red Moran and, at City Hall, D.A. Fuller.
As the bad guys are hauled into their cells, Tom and Ray are released from theirs to a joyful welcome by Mary and Polly McDonald. Even Chronicle Proprietor Hamilton gets in on the act, proclaiming to Tom … “They’ve found their man McDonald, and I have found mine!” All’s well that ends well.
In the movie’s final frames Polly turns to Clarence, the derring-do hero of the day. Boy, does she owe him!!
Clarence suspects that Sam Blotz and his crony Red Moran are responsible for the fire. He also remembers that he had overheard Blotz ask the operator to connect him to someone in City Hall. He lobbies the City’s Chief Of Police to allow Polly at the local telephone switchboard to report the address if that number is called again. The Chief (played in a cameo by the real San Francisco Chief Dan O’Brien) agrees to help.
Chief O’Brien served as the city’s Chief from 1920 - 1928. Because it was so uncharacteristic for him, the press at the time reported on his movie role.
Sure enough Blotz (top left) calls his crony, Assistant D.A. Gerald Fuller, at City Hall (top right) - he who had falsely accused Tom’s son - to crow about the Chronicle’s plight. But not before Polly at the switchboard (bottom left) had delayed connecting them while she looks up the originating caller’s address. She quickly notifies the Sergeant (bottom right) at the local police station.
The movie presentation alternates between shots of the car and the responding fire engines - as with the fire engine scenes posted earlier, Citysleuth has separated out the car scenes to present them sequentially...
Then … Clarence again hangs onto a car, this time with a police motorcycle escort, dashing across town to get Sam Blotz. Here we see them turning from Grove Street into Larkin Street.
… and Now, the background both Then and Now showcases San Francisco’s grand City Hall.
Then … Next they make a turn where behind them a store sign advertising E. J. Margett’s wholesale and retail rug store heralds this location.
… and Now, per the city street directory, Margett’s was at 989 Market in the corner building at 6th Street so this was filmed as they turned from Market into Golden Gate Avenue. Note the small retail building to the left that a century later is still there, still sandwiched between two larger buildings - Oxford Street menswear is its current tenant.
Then … And here they pass a cable car at the turntable at the south end of Powell Street at Market. Clinton’s Cafeteria is on the right at 18 Powell in the Flood Building.
… and Now, today’s Powell-Mason line terminates at the same spot alongside the Flood Building where the cable cars still depend on manpower to rotate them on the turntable. This block is now a car-free precinct, unusually free of tourists when CitySleuth stopped by on a beautiful winter’s day.
For the nostalgists out there, check out this photo taken in 1945 at the same spot; it was 20 years after The Last Edition was filmed but Clinton’s Cafeteria was still there.
Then … This next corner was seen in an earlier dash across town - the view looks west along Market Street as they turn into Golden Gate Avenue (it’s a reverse look at the same turn in the 2nd Then image in this post).
and Now, Twin Peaks in the distance is clearly visible below but hard to see in the poorer quality Then image above. The most recognizable extant building is 1020 Market at far right on the corner of Golden Gate Avenue.
Then … this is a continuation of the above Then clip as they enter Golden Gate Avenue. On the right is the Golden Gate Theatre; it had opened four years earlier in 1921.
and Now, the theatre continues to be an active performance space to this day. Note the traffic flow - it was two-way a century ago but now it’s one-way.
This 1930 photo shows the junction as it was when the above clip was filmed. That’s Market Street across the bottom with Golden Gate Avenue on the left and Taylor Street on the right. One of the city’s many Owl Drug stores is on the corner at far right.
Polly continues to cut off Blotz’s connection, apologizing profusely each time, holding him there as long as possible.
Then, Callahan and Gonzalez return to their patrol car just in time to hear a radio message: there’s an “804 in progress” at California Hall at Polk and Turk. They head right over. The building is bathed in lights ahead of them; the fire department is already there as is a large crowd of gawkers pointing and looking up to a man on the roof threatening to jump.
… and Now, Both the California Hall and the Embassy Hotel opposite are still there in the Tenderloin District (map).
The Teutonic Baroque architecture of California Hall is clearly evident in this recent photo. It was built in 1912 as a ‘Rathaus’ to serve the neighborhood’s German immigrant population. The Hall became a popular music venue in the 1960s, 70s and 80s; later occupants were the California Culinary Academy and, more recently, the Academy Of Art Fashion School. The Hall is currently closed due to the pandemic.
Check out these vintage posters advertising some of the Hall’s past music events. Other artists who performed there included Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Steve Miller, The Doors and U-2.
English punk rockers Siouxsie Sioux and the Banshees played in the Hall on Nov 26, 1980. There’s a bootleg audio recording of that performance here on youTube.
Then, They cross Polk and pull up alongside the Rathskeller restaurant at the Hall’s Turk Street entrance.
… and Now, the marquee awning remains but the restaurant is long gone.
The Rathskeller served German and American dishes - here it was c. 1960.
Then, From the rooftop, the jumper peers down at the crowd below.
… and Now, this is where he was.
Then, Callahan takes on the task of dissuading the jumper - he is hoisted up in a Fire Department cherry-picker. Across Polk street we can see a cocktail bar on the corner of Turk, part of the Embassy Hotel.
… and Now, a gin-focused cocktail lounge in a London Victorian-railway station-themed eatery is the current occupant of that space. Note the original bar entrance door has been replaced by a wall of windows, but the main hotel entrance on the left is much the same as it was. This too is temporarily shuttered during the pandemic.
Then, The jumper shrinks back as the cherry-picker approaches … he gets visibly angry when Callahan, not exactly schooled in the psychology of suicide prevention, starts talking about how jumpers end up unidentifiable and covered in blood.
Then, The jumper lunges at him, takes a short right to the jaw and hangs limp as Callahan brings him safely down. As they leave, Callahan turns to his partner … “Now you know why they call me Dirty Harry - every dirty job that comes along”.
… and Now, they were lowered down here in front of the windows on the left.
Then ... Elizabeth is scared. She shares her fears with Matthew as they drive around the city. Her fragile psyche is augmented by the fragmentation of his shattered windscreen, damaged earlier in the movie.
... and Now, they are heading west on Turk Street as viewed from Leavenworth in the Tenderloin district (map). Approaching on the left is the tall arched entrance of the Oasis Apartments at 351 Turk, built in 1928 and formerly a YMCA hotel.
Then ... She tells him that Geoffrey has been furtively meeting with total strangers. She is becoming paranoid; convinced that everyone around her has changed overnight.
... and Now, still in the Tenderloin, they are traveling east on Golden Gate Avenue; Market Street is ahead (map). The Golden Gate Theatre marquee is on the left; the theatre was being renovated when this photo was taken.
Then ... Matthew, disbelieving but wanting to help, again encourages her to meet with his psychiatrist friend David Kibner.
... and Now, still heading east on Golden Gate, they have backtracked four blocks, crossing Larkin (map). Driving continuity in movies is rarely accurate. The corner store on the left is now peddling croissants instead of loans.
Then ... With a start Matthew jumps on his brakes as a man suddenly appears in front of them.
... and Now, this is the junction of Leavenworth and Eddy Streets. The upscale Black Cat Jazz Supper Club, a recent bold addition to the Tenderloin, currently occupies the northwest corner site (map).
The terrified man screams out at them ... "They're coming! They're coming! You're next! You're next!". For this cameo, director Kaufman, in a nod of appreciation, chose Kevin McCarthy, who played the lead role in the original 1956 black-and-white version of this movie.
Here he is screaming the same warning 22 years earlier.
Then ... The man rushes down Eddy ahead of a crowd of pursuers.
... and Now, Another new addition, the Tenderloin Museum, is on the northeast corner (opposite the Back Cat) where the Ringside Smoke Shop used to be.
Then ... A squeal of brakes, a thudding crash; just around the corner they see a body lying at the kerb ringed by a crowd in front of the Hamlin Hotel.
... and Now, This view looks east down Eddy with Market Street in the distance. The Hamlin is still there on the right, at 385 Eddy where a metal balcony over the entrance has since replaced the two masonry ones seen in the movie shot. Still there is the cleaners store further down the block.
The messenger lies dead, to the impassive satisfaction of his pursuers. If you won't join them ...
