These are updates from a September, 2015 collection I posted.
The fog obscures the Ferry Building in this noir like picture at Pier 1 on the Embarcadero. Put on your trench coats, slip a bottle of inexpensive whisky in the pocket, light up a cigarette, and follow me while we explore a little more San Francisco Film Noir.
The best place to start is the beginning of an attempted murder. Valentine Cortese leaves her home on Telegraph Hill heading south on Montgomery Street little realizing that her husband, Richard Basehart, has tampered with the brakes on her car in the 1951 film ‘House on Telegraph Hill’.
When her brakes fail, Cortese skillfully navigates her car down just about every steep street on Telegraph Hill, turning here on Calhoun Terrace before crashing block behind this location at Union and Montgomery Streets.
Another noir looking picture from the 1950’s of the view down Clay Street, although, this isn’t from any movie. (skyscrapercity.com)
Ann Sheridan, along with Dennis O’Keefe, searching for her missing husband up at the Coit Tower Parking lot in the 1950 film ‘Woman on the Run’. This movie has many terrific film locations in San Francisco from the 1950’s. Save your money on the telescopes here today; you can see almost nothing of the once beautiful view from here now because of the overgrown Cypress and Monterey pine trees. It is rumored that this is because trimming them would be harmful to the trees. My horticulturist friend Tonytomeo would know more about that than I would. (Movie image, reelsf.com)
A “safe house’ for Communist saboteurs in the 1948 film ‘Walk a Crooked Mile’: This is another interesting crime thriller with great off beat San Francisco locations. My images are from a DVD copy in need of restoration that may still be the only DVD of the movie available.
The house is on the corner of Mason and Clay Streets. That’s a nice touch; a mother and her children out for a stroll not realizing that they’re passing a house occupied by enemy insurgents.
However, the F.B.I. is on to these guys. They keep surveillance on the house waiting for a chance to go in for evidence. As the last “Commie” leaves from the steps of the building for lunch, they search the apartment.
The SICA, (Secret Insurgent Communist Agent) crosses the intersection while the government agents wait for him to leave.
The agents sneak into the apartment to gather evidence.
This is a weird scene! As the spy approaches Grant Avenue at Sacramento Street, there seems to have been an unrelated taxicab accident on the corner. The bad guy, caring little for humanity, passes by unconcerned. I don’t know if this was staged or if it really happened, and they filmed around it.
As the infiltrator heads back to the house along Grant Avenue after his lunch, a telephone signal is made to our heroes rifling the house, enabling them to make a getaway and crack down on the gang shortly after.
San Francisco Film Locations Then & Now 
Goodness! Cut them all down! Yes, it would be bad for them, but they are bad for the view! You know, tree huggers just had a bunch of the same trees exterminated from Montara because they are a few miles outside of their native range. Other tree huggers want the invasive exotic blue gum eucalyptus in the same area protected, even though they are from Australia! They really need to get their priorities straight. Those who wanted the cypress exterminated from Montara should go a few miles farther from the range to get those in San Francisco exterminated instead. The cypress in Montara were exemplary and blocking no views.