San Francisco Film Locations Then & Now

A special thanks to Paul P. of the San Francisco Remembered Facebook Page, a group I’m a member of, for posting the link to the Examiner Digital Archives on the UC Berkeley Library site; another fine collection of vintage San Francisco photos. (Thumbnail images)

A fashion model named Marion Carter emerges from her carriage, I mean taxi, and walks along O’Farrell Street toward Stockton in 1938:

 

Yeah, she knows she’s 1938 hot. I put her right about here.

“You’re not putting me anywhere, mister!”

Sorry! I mean, I place her location right about here.

 

Market Street at Stockton in the 1940s:

 

Mason Street at Pacific in 1939: I almost got it perfect; even the lighting was similar.

Although most of the pictures from the archives are dated, they don’t always clarify “what hath occurred”, such as the incident at this building on the northwest corner of Jones Street and Pacific Avenue in 1937.

One group from the collection is of photos taken from the top of Coit Tower in 1933, the year that it opened. Some of the pictures I took last November when I went to the top of the tower match up fairly well with the opening year photos

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I wanted to close out my set with this cool picture of Jones Street at Market in 1947. I was a little hesitant; I’m familiar with this area, and I’m never comfortable here. As I was taking my pictures, one of a group of street people crossed Jones Street over to me and asked if I was taking their picture. I told him, “Nope, just the buildings.” He asked if he could see what I was taking a picture of. I looked across the street toward his three buddies with him. There were four of them and nobody on my side. I showed him the vintage picture, and when he went back to his pals, I heard him say that it was okay, I was just taking pictures of the buildings. That is the Tenderloin, and that is why San Francisco is not the class act city that it used to be. This doesn’t mean that I don’t love San Francisco; it’s the most beautiful city I’ve ever seen. However, in last Friday’s San Francisco Chronicle, a gentleman wrote to the Letters to the Editor with a viewpoint that I think is accurate. He closes his letter with;

“You can throw all the money you want toward housing and rehab, but if people turn it down, as they often do, where’s that get you? Right where we are now. You can’t let a few people destroy businesses, jobs and entire neighborhoods. What recourse is there other than to enforce laws already on the books and prevent people from living, partying and trashing our public streets? If we do that, perhaps then San Francisco can reclaim its once envied status as a world class city,”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Nothing but the dead and dying back in my little town.”

No, it’s not as bad as the lyrics to the old Simon and Garfunkel song. The term “doom loop” refers to a city where financial concern and a rising crime rate cause a viscous cycle or domino effect, forcing businesses to leave and creating a ghost town. That’s not going to happen in San Francisco, but it’s going to take some changes concerning San Francisco’s seemingly, although not necessarily accurate, tolerance to criminal activity and drug use. Last Wednesday, I toured the City with six visiting relatives from Texas; starting with a brief stop at the Exploratorium. Next, the Liberty Ship the Jeremiah O’Brien, Fisherman’s Wharf, a cable car ride to Nob Hill and back to Ghirardelli Square, a drive through Chinatown and down Lombard Street, a visit to Alamo Square, a drive through Golden Gate Park, and ending up on Ocean Beach at sunset. (Whew, I’m getting too old for these tours!) We didn’t encounter anything unpleasant, except for a vagrant sleeping on a bench inside the Musee Mecanique. One of my relatives asked, “Why is that allowed? This is a tourist attraction!” all I could think of to say was, “You got me!” Anyway, back to the doom loop. Things are closing in San Francisco, some of them favorites of mine, some of them promising to reopen. I took a look back on my site for pictures I’ve posted in the past of places that haven’t or will not survive in San Francisco, although as I mentioned, some of them are planning to reopen. We can only hope. (Thumbnail images)

There was an article in yesterday’s San Francisco Chronicle about the imminent closing in August of the Westfield Shopping Centre inside the old Emporium Department store. I was there yesterday to take a picture for an upcoming post I’m planning. I walked one block to Market Street at Mason to get my picture. Some days this area isn’t bad, yesterday was not one of them. I kept looking around and over my shoulder carefully as I located  my picture spot, and left as quickly as I could. When I got back to Westfield Centre, I wondered how the shopping center survived this long near a frontier like that.

 

Alioto’s and #9 Fishermen’s Grotto in Fisherman’s Wharf, both gone forever: This one is the hurt that will never go away.

The Cliff House: There are indications that the famous landmark will be back in business soon. This one has to reopen or there is no God!

Lefty O’Doul’s Bar near Union Square, seen here in the 1960s: I never had a chance to visit there before it closed in 2017.

I did used to take a pit stop at another bar near Union Square, the Gold Dust Lounge, rumored to be a favorite hangout for Bing Crosby when he was in town.

Candlestick Park: Boy the memories I have from there, going all the way back to the Mays and McCovey days when my mom and dad took us out there.

Beach Blanket Babylon Blvd, named after the famous, and now closed, musical play that I also never had the pleasure of seeing.

Fleishhacker Pool, once the largest swimming pool in the world, and the Bath House, seen here when it closed in 1971:: My mom took a train out to San Francisco from North Dakota when she was 17, and went swimming here with her cousin Frances. She told me about how nice the Steakhouse upstairs in the Bath House was. The pool is now buried underneath the San Francisco Zoo parking lot, the Bath House building burned down in 2012 in a fire caused by homeless people.

 

Louis Restaurant, just up from the Cliff House, seen here in 1966 when a fire burned down the Sutro Bathhouse next to it: I’ve eaten here more often than I have at the Cliff House. There’s also talk of the Louis Restaurant opening again soon, and I’m ready for breakfast.

“Great day for the race, huh?”

“What race?”

“The Human Race.”

These are pictures about various races and chases around San Francisco. (Thumbnail images)

I’m not sure what this race in Chinatown at Grant and Pacific Avenues in 1982 was. (Flickr)

Vic Morrow, being chased by Inspector Keller (Michael Douglas) in a 1973 episode of the television series ‘The Streets of San Francisco’, runs down Grant Avenue under the Chinatown Dragon Gate, where he is killed on Bush Street by a passing van. Sadly, nine years later Vic Morrow was killed in a tragic accident that wasn’t a teleplay.

A bicycle race at the Polo Field at Golden Gate Park in 1945:

“Hey, I didn’t say Go yet! What do you think this bazooka I’m holding is for?” (opensfhistory.org)

 

Buster Keaton, being chased by San Francisco’s finest, runs down Minna Street and turns south on New Montgomery, in his 1922 film ‘Daydreams’.

 

City Hall honors the San Francisco Giants 1962 Pennant win, and the 2013 Oracle Team, USA 2013 America’s Cup yacht racing victory.

The Dodge Charger flies over Taylor Street at Union Street followed by Steve McQueen’s Mustang in the classic chase scene from the 1968 film ‘Bullitt’.

  

A roller diva watches the start of the Bay to Breakers Race at Howard and Fremont Streets in May of 1986: Based on the direction of the runners and the angle of the stop lights, this may have been the corner where she was resting her cute little….. everything on. (SF Gate)

I can’t believe I’ve never visited Duboce Park. I ride past there many times on the N Line Metro, but I’ve never stopped to walk around. It’s a really nice little dog friendly park. It rhymes with those and not with cozy, and Wikipedia says it’s “one of the few parks in the city without a roadway or walkway separating the park land from buildings.^” I found some vintage pictures of Duboce Park and went over there last Thursday to do some then and nows. (Thumbnail images)

The difficulty with updating vintage pictures of Duboce Park is that I couldn’t find a lot of old photographs of the actual park; most vintage photos are looking toward the Sunset (or Duboce) Tunnel on the south side of the park. I wasn’t able to match up the location of this old photograph of Duboce Park from the San Francisco Public Library Archives. It was probably taken looking east toward Steiner or south toward Duboce, the only views that could have street traffic in the background, but the buildings don’t match up. My picture is looking northeast across the park.

Addendum: That’s the Mint Building in the upper right of the vintage picture. The view is northeast across Steiner, just to the right of my picture.

I may have gotten a match up with this circa 1910 photo of the park with my picture looking southeast; the four houses in the upper right do match up with the houses behind the trees in my photo. Check out those interesting rock formations in the vintage photo; one person’s artistic landscape, another person’s liable for injury lawsuit. (San Francisco Public Library Archives)

Looking west toward the Sunset Tunnel in 1935: The Muni Metro N Line runs through here now. (opensfhistory.org)

Another view looking west toward the streetcar tunnel in 1963: (opensfhistory.org)

Looking southwest toward the tunnel in 1964: Duboce Avenue is on the left. Buena Vista Park is in the background of all of the streetcar tunnel pictures.

Film scenes of San Francisco, once relatively mundane in themselves, often become nostalgic, at least to me. This clip from Vivid History of absolutely normal day-in-the-life scenes around San Francisco is listed as San Francisco Street Scenes 1940s, but most of the film was shot in the early 1950s, with a little odd editing of Market Street during the 1930s in the middle. The scenes are at Market, Mason and Turk Streets, the Powell at Market Street cable car turnaround, California at Powell, and Mason Street up on Nob Hill, the Post Street side of Union Square, and a few locations I haven’t identified yet. They would be more authentic if left in black and white, but to me it’s always a pleasure to update parts in these type of films with the locations today. I got a pretty close video redo of people crossing Market Street at Mason that I’ll include at the end of this post, along with the YouTube link to the film. (Thumbnail images)

 

The film opens up with a group of well dressed people crossing Market Street from where Turk Street comes into Mason. The Mark Hopkins Hotel up on Nob Hill can be seen in the far background. There’s no longer a crosswalk at the spot they’re heading across Market Street.

 

As the camera follows them across the walk, you can see the Mechanic’s Savings Bank Building, built in 1907, and the Garfield Building where the dentist’s office is, built in 1908. Both buildings are still there. The Empire and Telenews Theaters, both long gone, and the Flood Building can be seen.

This portion of the film ends with the people arriving safely across Market Street, not always an easy thing as you’ll see in my video updates. Some of the buildings seen behind them in the old photo are the Flood, Phelan, and Hobart Buildings on the left of Market Street, and the Call and Humboldt Buildings on the right. It’s the most interesting piece of film now, but I can imagine someone at the time viewing it and saying, “Yeah, but what’s the point?”

The scene switches to the cable car turnaround at Market and Powell Streets. Hale’s, Grayson’s, Leed’s and Zukor’s Department Stores, (that’s a lot of apostrophes) are in the background. Nordstrom San Francisco Centre occupies the building now, but they’re closing tomorrow, July 1^st.

 

The film moves to the Post Street entrance of the Union Square Parking Garage. The Hobart Building in the background can no longer be seen from here. Many of the buildings in the old shot are still around, but the parking rates back then are long gone.

 

I’ll close my still updates with the scene of a van driving down Mason Street on Nob Hill past the Mark Hopkins Hotel, out of the scene on the left. I can also imagine another long ago person saying, “Hey, what do think of this part of my film? Are you asleep?”

Last Monday, I went over to update the scene of the people crossing Market Street at Mason. Check out the three people in my video running past the F Line streetcar in the same crosswalk as the sailor running past the bus and the cop in the old clip. Hey, what do you think of my video? Are you asleep? Also, below is the link to the YouTube film clip.

A friend of mine named Cindy, who works in a library, occasionally sets aside discarded books about vintage San Francisco for me. Sometimes, they’re a real treasure, at least to me anyway. This cavalcade of a long ago San Francisco, written by Charles Keeler and published in 1902, should probably have been kept in the historical studies section of the library for review, but not for checking out. However, I’m not giving it back….. unless they really want it. I did a few updates of some of the photographs in the book, you know, in case some things are different after 121 years. I’ve also included passages with descriptions from the book that relate to each of the vintage pictures.  (Thumbnail images)

It was autographed from Mr. and Mrs. Hall to Mr. and Mrs. Bird on Christmas Day of 1903. Mr. Keeler gives a review of his work in one of the chapters. Contrary to what Mr. Keeler wrote, there was one good reason why the civic institutions that he mentioned here may not grow; less than four years after this book was published most of them were all gone, and maybe Mr. & Mrs. Hall and Mr. and Mrs. Bird, as well.

A view of the Embarcadero near the Ferry Building from the Bay:

Montgomery Street, looking toward Telegraph Hill, from Market Street: The author jumps on a cable car at the Ferry Building, and rides along Market Street.

Mr. Keeler gets off the cable car at Market, 3^rd, and Kearny Streets, along with, apparently, most of the other passengers. The prominent buildings, from left to right, are the Chronicle Building behind the Fed Ex truck in the modern photo, the Palace Hotel, William Randolph Hearst’s Examiner Building, and the Call Building. The Palace Hotel and the Examiner Building were destroyed in the 1906 Earthquake and Fire of 1906 and completely rebuilt, The Chronicle and Call Building survived the disaster. The Ferry Building, back then and under scaffolding right now, is in the background on the left.

The author wanders along Kearny Street. The domed Call Building, seen from Post and Kearny Streets, is in the background. In the late 1930s, the Call Building was remodeled and the dome was removed. It’s behind the Gothic looking Mutual Savings Bank Building, under renovation, that was built after the vintage photo was taken. Maiden Lane is seen behind the TOYS sign in the modern photo, but is also seen in the vintage picture. However, when the earlier picture was taken the alley was called Morton Street. Morton Street used to be a prominent customer area for ladies with questionable income earnings. I’ll give you a hint, the question was usually, “How much?”

The author writes about an electric light show on Market Street that extended from the Ferry Building to the City Hall Building. That City Hall collapsed within seconds after the 1906 Earthquake struck.

The view of Downtown San Francisco at the beginning of the Twentieth Century and nowadays: The Call Building, on the right in the old photo, is the brown and white striped building directly below it in my picture. The author’s “ignorance is bliss” view of earthquakes is both fascinating and poignant.

Charles Keeler takes in Golden Gate Park, as well, including the Japanese Tea Garden and the Moon Bridge.

I’ll close with a contemporary, for the times, map of the Bay at the end of the book, and Charles Keeler’s curtain-call description of San Francisco.

I started this blog on June 15^th 2013 as therapy for a broken heart. I had grown tired of it by September of 2013, and picked it up again in November of 2014. I’ve posted every month, to date, since then. To me, the blog has been an adventure, an education, and detective work that have kept me busy for ten years now. I started out with only posts concerning movies filmed in San Francisco, and transitioned to television shows, books, and eventually any photos or stories concerning vintage San Francisco history. This anniversary post will be with pingback links to movies filmed in San Francisco that I’ve covered; a few of them films that I had never heard of when I started this website.

‘Race Street’ – 1948: I took a lot of these updates on a rainy December night in 2019.

‘Race Street’ – Who were the Dons?

‘Impact’ – 1949: This movie has one of the best film scenes shot in Chinatown.

The Chinatown chase scene in the 1949 movie ‘Impact’

‘No Escape’ – 1953: Far from the greatest movie ever made, but well worth watching for the San Francisco film locations.

‘No Escape’

‘Crossings’ – 1986: I watched them film some of the scenes in this TV Mini Series.

‘Crossings’

‘Hell on Frisco Bay’ – 1956: Ah, East Vallejo Street, Fisherman’s Wharf, and Eddy G.!

‘Hell on Frisco Bay’

‘Good Neighbor Sam’ – 1964: Another one of those movies I loved when I was a kid.

‘Good Neighbor Sam’; “The movie that dares to use the Lansing Street, Guy Place curve around for a setting!”

‘Noir Sunday’ – Various dates: Sometimes the movie marquee pictures are better than the films.

Noir Sunday (Thumbnail images)

‘My Favorite Brunette’ – 1947: I remember watching the California Street scene on television when I was a teenager, and thinking that it was cool that an old movie had a scene filmed in San Francisco! I learned later that there were others.

‘My Favorite Brunette’ revisited

‘The Lady from Shanghai’ – 1947: The scene where Orson Welles breaks out of the old Hall of Justice Building and crosses Kearny Street to Portsmouth Square started my interest in updating San Francisco film locations.

The Lady from Shanghai

‘Nash Bridges’ – 2021: I’m not particularly a fan of the television show, but this made for TV movie has some cool scenes aboard the World War Two Liberty Ship, the Jeremiah O’Brien, and the Muse Mechanique.

Nash Bridges visits Pier 45, Fisherman’s Wharf

‘San Francisco Film Noir’ – Various dates: Just name dropping collection of crime films shot in San Francisco.

San Francisco Film Noir

‘Experiment in Terror – 1962: A great movie for crime film and baseball fans.

‘Experiment in Terror’ revisited (For Keith and Janet)

‘A Trip Down Market Street’ – 1906: A cable ride along Market Street from 8^th Street to the Ferry Building just before the 1906 Earthquake and Fire; it doesn’t get any better than this.

‘A Trip Down Market Street’

 

‘Dark Passage’ – 1947: Bogie and Bacall, terrific San Francisco locations, and some of the weirdest scenes from any Humphrey Bogart movie.

‘Dark Passage’

‘I remember Mama’ – 1948: The endearing movie that makes almost everybody miss or want to hug their mom.

‘I Remember Mama’

‘Vertigo’ – 1958: Probably the most popular San Francisco film, made back when stalking was considered romantic.

“Nice guy” stalking

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This Tuesday morning at 11:00 AM events to commemorate the 150 anniversary of the cable car system kick off at California and Drumm Streets. Mayor London Breed on board the oldest cable car in system, and even Andrew Hallidie himself will be on hand to join in the celebration. Yesterday, I took a ride on the California Street Line from Drumm Street to Van Ness and back to update some vintage photos along the way from the San Francisco Public Library Archives. I got a back seat window track center heading west and a front seat window track center heading east to get the best updates. (Thumbnail images)

Drumm Street at California, the beginning and the end of the journey:

Sansome Street:

 

Kearny Street:

Heading up Nob Hill, past Grant Avenue and Chinatown:

California Street flattens out a bit at the intersection with Powell Street.

Chugging on past the Fairmont Hotel:

 

Reaching the crest of Nob Hill at Mason Street, with the Fairmont Hotel on the left, the Stanford Court and Mark Hopkins Hotels on the right:

Approaching Jones Street, with the Pacific Union Club on the left, and the Huntington Hotel on the right:

Heading down the western side of Nob Hill now, at Hyde Street: See the cable car tracks on the left in the modern picture? Those run from California Street to Washington Street, and aren’t open to the public.

Polk Street:

Van Ness Avenue, again the end of the ride or the beginning of the ride:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These 1970s updates are all from around Embarcadero Plaza, formerly known as Justin Herman Plaza. Most of the vintage pictures are from the San Francisco Public Library Archives. (Thumbnail images)

I headed north on Front Street from California Street to Maritime Plaza. I wanted to try to get a picture of a cable car passing the intersection of California and Front Streets like in the vintage picture, but my main interest was the Harrington’s Bar and Grill sign that was blocked by the crane from the spot in the older photo, so I had to get closer. The road work in both pictures was a nice touch though. Harrington’s closed in 2020 after 85 years in business.

 

Ladies leaving One Maritime Plaza, formerly known as the Alcoa Building: Everything is “formerly known as” around here.

 

The archway to the old Colombo Building at Sydney Walton Square, formerly known as the Produce District: Truck drivers would bring their vegetables and other products to this building, built in 1874, to be sold on the streets in this area. You can get a great look at the building and this district in the 1949 film ‘Thieves Highway’.

 

“The Streets of San Francisco, the television show that dares to use the Vaillancourt Fountain for a backdrop.” Vaillancourt Fountain was considered by many to be one of the ugliest public works in SF when it was completed in 1971, but I’ve always liked it.

The dedication of Vaillancourt Fountain with the Embarcadero Freeway in the background:

Boy, if you think the fountain is ugly from the front, you ought to see it from the back!

A 1970s gathering in Justin Herman Plaza: Poor girl, a simple operation to turn her head around would have given her a whole new outlook on life!

The Washington Street entrance and exit to the Embarcadero Freeway from the street ramp from One Maritime Plaza to Golden Gateway Center and Sydney Walton Square, all formerly known as….. Oh, never mind.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’ll finish up my updating of vintage pictures from the 1960s, some of them poor quality, that I found recently on the internet. I’ve been taking advantage of the most overcast May that I can remember. “May Gray”, or is it “May Grey”? Well anyway, gloomy weather can often make for better picture taking; cloudy days don’t throw unwanted shadows on your pictures.(Thumbnail images)

During the first week of May I took the Treasure Island Ferryboat from behind the Ferry Building out to the Island for the ride. This day was a lot sunnier than most of the days in May have been. When I got back to the office, I found a picture of the San Francisco skyline from 1963 that matches up almost perfectly with my 2023 photo here. The two buildings on the right in the old picture and, no longer visible, are the Shell Building and the Russ Building. A dark and sinister looking Ferry Building, wrapped in scaffolding for renovations right now, is at photo center. (opensfhistory.org)

On the 23^rd I took BART to the Mission District, often an interesting experience, and took this update of the old Armory Building, built during World War I to house munitions for the war effort. (Vintage Everyday)

 

This 1960s photo of Mission Dolores makes a reasonable match up with a picture I took of the church awhile back. I don’t know if tour busses still go there in droves anymore since Junipero Serra has been under fire a lot for his treatment of Native Americans. Like Columbus, I also don’t know if the evidence against him is indisputable or not, but every historical figure gets villainized in San Francisco eventually, so enjoy the building for its architectural history. (Vintage Everyday)

On the 25^th I took Muni #1 up to Nob Hill and headed down California Street to Chinatown. The cars and the monstrous Bank of America Building are about the only differences from this view. (Vintage Everyday)

 

I walked down to Old St. Mary’s Church at California Street and Grant Avenue. I’m not sure what the Flag was commemorating then, but it’s possible it may have been on a long-ago Memorial Day. (Vintage Everyday)

 

I like the color scheme of this vintage picture of the Conservatory Building in Golden Gate Park, which is probably known as ‘3D schéma de couleur’.

 

To start out the Memorial Day weekend, I headed back up to the top of Telegraph Hill on Saturday to update this picture of the Columbus Statue in front of Coit Tower, removed in 2020 before vandals tore it down. If you want to get mad about something, get mad about the fact that there is almost no view from here anymore because they won’t cut down the trees blocking the scenery. (Vintage Everyday)

At the bottom of Telegraph Hill, I took the F Line streetcar back along the Embarcadero to Market Street, just in time for the sun to come out. This photo from where California and Drumm Streets come in to Market, although poor quality, shows what looks to be scaffolding around the Ferry Building then, as well; although it may just be a double exposure.