I’ve had a cold from outer space or somewhere that’s been knocking me around all week so I haven’t been able to go over to San Francisco to take any pictures. I thought I’d post some pictures I wasn’t particularly happy with just to keep busy. They’re from interesting locations, but for various reasons I wasn’t pleased with them; the lighting was bad, the capture wasn’t good, or they just weren’t interesting pictures. We’ll start with this fascinating image from Buster Keaton’s 1922 short film ‘Daydreams’. Buster, being chased by San Francisco police, runs down Lombard Street and turns north onto Taylor. Construction began the same year on the “Crookedest Street in the World” at the top of both images, but it’s difficult to see how far along the work was from the movie scene. I don’t know if this film is available on DVD, I got the image from a fine San Francisco movie locations site on the internet, but when I went back to find the name of the site and give credit, I wasn’t able to locate it anymore.
I’d like to redo this one of Barbara Lawrence in front of the Ferry Building from the 1949 movie ‘Thieves Highway’. I took my picture late in the day and it’s not a good shot.
Actually, I’m enjoying this one more now that I’ve posted it; it’s an interesting capture from a 1972 version of ‘The Streets of San Francisco’. A Winnebago, “We’re giving ‘em away!” full of bad guys drives along the Embarcadero south of the Ferry Building. There’s a lot of interesting things to see in the film shot, such as the old YMCA Building in the center, the Embarcadero Freeway, but mostly, to me, the building with the scotch advertisement on the side. This was the Daniels Hotel where the witness Steve McQueen was guarding was rubbed out by hit men early in the 1968 film, ‘Bullitt’.
Not bad, not good, but it is Clint Eastwood. “Dirty Harry” Callahan crosses 2nd Street from Minna Alley to do justice, (his kind) to three holdup men in the 1976 film ‘The Enforcer’.
The only thing good about this silly one is the location. Barbra Streisand and Ryan O’Neal roll under the dragon during the Chinatown New Year parade on a stolen messenger bicycle causing it to race out of control down Jackson Street in the 1972 movie ‘What’s up, Doc?”. The parade route normally follows Grant Avenue when celebrating the Chinese New Year, but Grant isn’t as steep as Jackson so the scene wouldn’t have worked there.
Tyne Daly and Clint Eastwood on the neglected Municipal Pier at the foot of Van Ness Avenue when it was in a little better shape in the 1976 movie ‘The Enforcer’ It’s an interesting location, but I took the picture at sunset rather than during the day when it would have been a better comparison.
This comparison of the Telegraph Hill portion of Montgomery Street from the 1947 film ‘Dark Passage’ speaks for itself as to why it’s so forgettable.
Half Dome in the 1940’s: (Vintage Pop 88)
Mother Curry, who founded Curry Village in 1899: The name has been changed to Half Dome Village. As my friend Cindy pointed out, it’s at the bottom of Glacier Point not Half Dome, and I don’t know why they’re changing these names in Yosemite, anyway.
I don’t know who they were, but that’s Yosemite Falls in the background.
Nurses at the Ahwahnee Hotel, now called the Majestic Yosemite Hotel, during World War Two: The Navy took over the hotel during the war, because they thought the serenity of Yosemite would be beneficial to shell shocked sailors, but the isolation of Yosemite actually made many worse!
Now, off to Inspiration Point, and as beautiful of a view as you’ll find anywhere:
We’ll head through Wawona Tunnel, as they did in the 1950’s for the long drive up to Glacier Point.
The view from Glacier Point:
I couldn’t get too much information on how old this adobe is at the top of Glacier Point.
This is the lesser known bluff, and Yosemite does not advertise its location, and discourages people from going out to it. I climbed up there after I took the picture and went out on the rock a ways where I took the picture at the bottom, but I didn’t go to the edge. I didn’t for two reasons; one, there was nobody there with me to take my picture, two, I wouldn’t have gone out to the edge if I was Captain America! That’s three thousand feet straight down!
Guess I don’t look like I did in 1994, but I’ll bet that old bike I rented doesn’t either!
Humphrey Bogart Plays a San Quentin escapee who has had plastic surgery to hide his identity from the police in the 1947 film ‘Dark Passage’. After the operation, he climbs up the Filbert Steps of Telegraph Hill to his hideout, Lauren Bacall’s apartment on Montgomery Street. 
The steps turned here, as they do today, and begin their climb up Telegraph Hill. The wooden portion of the steps here was deemed unsafe in the late 1970’s and was replaced at this section.
We’ll keep tagging along with our tired little escapee on his trek. The original wooden stairs from this point on are still there. 
“Come on buddy, you can make it, we’re almost there. I’m just as tired as you are!” That house picture left of Bogie, the “Captain’s House”, was built during the Civil War, and can still be seen from the Filbert Steps today! 
“Made it Ma; top of the world!” He looks a little done in.
A rare picture of prisoners on Alcatraz Island congregating in the exercise yard: Not sure if it was a problem or a friendly gathering, but there are prison guards in the middle of the crowd. Below is the corner of the exercise yard where the inmates were gathered.
Stockton Street, between Union Square and Maiden Lane in the 1950’s: These two gathering places will be fenced off from each other for some time to come due to the underground Stockton Metro tunnel being built.
Dirty Harry, (Clint Eastwood) heads into the old train tunnel that runs under Fort Mason with ransom money to save a kidnapped child, and runs into three bad guys who try to rob him. In one of my favorite scenes from a Clint Eastwood movie, when they don’t “get lost” as he tells them to, he kicks one in the stomach, knocks another over with the money bag, and puts his .44 Magnum in the face of the third saying, “You don’t listen, do you, ass—-?” I tidied the word up a little, this being a family blog. The tunnel is fenced off now, but there are continuing efforts to have it opened as part of a bike trail, which would be a great idea!
“Where the buffalo roam.” In Golden Gate Park in the 1940’s: the buffalo were in a different part of the park, and other animals were confined in the area with them. The few buffalo left in the Golden Gate Park now are fenced in an area near the ocean called Buffalo Paddock. The fences are necessary not just to protect the visitors, but also to keep the buffalo safe from any harm from passing cars or being eaten!
No description is necessary. (Vintage photo Darius Aidala)
That elegant lady in front of Fishermen’s Grotto #9 at Fisherman’s Wharf in the 1950’s had better get the service that she wants! The old Standard Station designed like a ship across the street remained in Fisherman’s Wharf from the 1930’s to the 1970’s, although, by the 70’s it had been remodeled to a more standard looking Standard Station. (Jerome Zerbe)
I’ve seen this Alfred Hitchcock movie, it’s scary! Actually, the little girl in the thick of it at Union Square in the 1950’s was a safe as the pigeons were! (Gene Wright)
“Lady, look out!” This image from the 1960’s at California and Stockton Streets wasn’t as precarious as it looks; cable cars stop in the intersection…… I hope! (Nick Carter)
“I’m a goin’ fishin’ too!” Kids on the way to make the catch of the day, stop to visit a street musician and his buddy at Fisherman’s Wharf in the late 1960’s: They’re just up from Pompei’s Grotto on Jefferson Street. (Martha Rosman)
“Hey look, honey, I can see Al Capone!”
A child looks at the Robert Louis Stevenson Monument at Portsmouth Square in Chinatown in 1939.
The opening scenes of ‘The Maltese Falcon’, (1941): The film makers identified the location, but most people wouldn’t have much trouble recognizing where the action will take place from this shot. Below, is a YouTube link to the opening scenes of the movie.
Kelly Sherwood, (Lee Remick) must call “Red” Lynch, (Ross Martin) from a phone booth in Fisherman’s Wharf to find out where to deliver ransom money to free her kidnapped sister, Toby Sherwood, (Stefanie Powers) in the 1962 film, ‘Experiment in Terror’. Obviously, she doesn’t have a nickel, or maybe it was a dime by then. Behind her is the Fishermen’s Grotto #9 Restaurant. I’ve posted the YouTube link below before on my blog, but I enjoy watching it. It’s a neat recap of one of my favorite San Francisco movies packaged into the Henry Mancini theme from the opening credits.
When Kelly is told to cross the street and get into a cab, she is handed a ticket to a Giants, Dodgers game at Candlestick Park. $2.50! Obviously, when you’re a kidnapper springing for a baseball ticket for a relative of your victim, you buy one of the cheaper seats. 
“Benjamin, what are you doing here?”
Monkey Island is gone now, but the last time I visited the zoo, I asked one of the long time workers there where Monkey Island had once been and he was kind enough to show me this area here where it had once been located. 
“Coitus interruptus.”
A YouTube link below to a colorized version, (The film was shot in black and white) of the giant octopus destroying the Golden Gate Bridge in the 1955 move ‘It Came from Beneath the Sea’: Obviously, this was not a good day to take a drive to Marin.
The parking lot in the 1950’s: Well, the price has only gone up three thousand percent! (Vintage picture Alameda County Fair Association Archives)
Heading in: The parking lot in the 1950’s is now the Midway. (Alameda County Fair Association Archives) 
The old horse racing grandstand was rebuilt in the 1960’s. On the right is the Arts and Crafts Building; I think they call it the Hobby Building now. (Alameda County Fair Association Archives) 
Lots of cool things to see in the Hobby Building, like the Mushroom Display. 
The Midway with all the Audrey Hepburn wannabes in the 1950’s: This was only the second day so the crowds were light, which makes it more fun. (Alameda County Fair Association Archives) 
They still have a Merry-go-round. (Alameda County Fair Association Archives) 
Ah, the kiddie rides! You know, the ones I can handle. (Alameda County Fair Association Archives) 
The old and new grandstand from the fair’s central park: (Alameda County Fair Association Archives) 
I probably didn’t do as well as F. Miller did in 1952, but I won $19.86 on this race! (Sammy DiLaura) 
The old Court of Four Season Stage, for years the main entertainment area, is gone now. This is where it was. (Alameda County Fair Association Archives) 
The Court of Four Seasons from where the stage was: (Alameda County Fair Association Archives) 
The Flower and Gardens Building:
The model train display has come a long way since its debut in the 1940’s. (Alameda County Fair Association Archives)
The Powell Street cable car turnaround: I put this one in just because I thought it was a interesting picture, and not, necessarily, because this is an election year and we may have another President Clinton by the end of the year. The Owl Drug Store on the right would eventually become the Woolworth’s Department Store, a landmark on this corner until the 1980’s. 
Pier 48 on the other side of McCovey Cove in the 1930’s: I framed my shot a little more to the left just because I didn’t want to leave the Bay Bridge out. (San Francisco History Center) 
47th and Sloat Blvd. in 1940: I put this one in just because whatever they’re building on this corner now is not going to be better than a ten cent hot dog or hamburger! I don’t think that old fire hydrant on the corner is going to survive this ordeal. That’s the old WPA Sloat Blvd. entrance to the zoo, now closed off to the public. Click on the link below for a close up of the old Sloat entrance from a series I did in July of 2015.
“San Francisco”, a painting by Emil Kosa Jr. looking down Montgomery Street from Telegraph Hill in 1942: I put this one in just because I can’t remember if the expression is, “Life imitates Art far more than Art imitates Life.” or “Art imitates Life far more than Life imitates Art.” but one of them applies. (Hilbert Museum of California Art) 
Chinatown in the 1960’s: I put this one in just because I’ve seen that old Shanghai Low sign in dozens of Chinatown pictures as far back as the 1930’s, and never realized before that it is still there. 
Washington Street near Taylor just up from the Cable Car Barn on the left: I put this one in just because I may have posted it already, but I don’t remember, and I’m too lazy to go back in the archives and check. Click on the link below for a view at the bottom of the hill looking up toward where we are from a picture I posted in July of 2015.
Niles California displays its understanding and appreciation that one of the most iconic comic figures in motion picture history was created in Niles by hosting a Chaplin Days Festival every June. It can be argued that Chaplin’s similar tramp character appeared in several films before the five movies he made in Niles, but this sleepy town near Fremont put him on the map, and his little tramp walking down a lonely road in Niles Canyon is folklore. At the top is a flickr.com image of Chaplin in Niles. Below, is a collection of Charlie Chaplins and leading ladies gathered for the Sunday’s second day of the festival. The girl in the black dress third from the left was a Paulette Goddard, Chaplin’s leading lady in ‘Modern Times’. The girl in the red hat was Edna Purviance, Charlie’s leading lady in the five movies he made in Niles.
The Essanay Studio where Chaplin worked: Notice the houses behind the studio, those were bungalows build for the actors and actresses working at the studio, and although some are remodeled, they are still there today and can be seen in the bottom picture. The studio was demolished in the 1930’s and a fire station occupies the spot today.
Charlie didn’t stay in the bungalows while in Niles. He spent his time at the main Niles hotel, and at this house where his leading lady Edna Purviance was staying. I ran this old picture before, but it’s worth a look at again. That’s Chaplin third from the left next to Edna Purviance, and the house they’re standing in front of today. The building on the right is the old Edison Studio where Chaplin originally premier his films in 1915. The theater has been restored, and Charlie’s films are shown in the same building during the festival and throughout the year.
The flag in Niles today on this Sunday when I was out there: “The show must go on.” seems fitting for the Chaplin performers.
I love this picture! Taken at Aquatic Park across from the Cannery Building in 1960’s, it has elements of a 1930’s or 1940’s scene, such as the stop light or the sailor on the cable car. However, the star of the picture is the grip man with the cigarette in his mouth turning the car. Passengers are not allowed to climb aboard the cable cars as they turn on turntable anymore, but I can remember doing that. (Glenn Christiansen)
I never get tired of pictures of Playland-at-the-Beach from Sutro Heights. However most pictures I’ve seen or have in my collection are from the 1920’s, 1930’s or 1940’s; I haven’t seen many from the 1960’s during the amusement park’s decline. Playland had gotten pretty old and tired by the time the top photo was taken. (Vintage picture buzzfeed.com)
Sailors running in out of the rain at #9 Fishermen’s Grotto: (Vintage picture buzzfeed.com)
The corner of Haight and Ashbury in 1967: Wow, even the camera was on drugs! (Vintage picture buzzfeed.com)
Francisco and Powell Streets: (flickr)
California Governor Ronald Reagan, and Mrs. Nancy Reagan on a Powell Street cable car heading up Nob Hill just north of Post Street in 1966: The building the Roos/Atkins store was in behind the cable was demolished in the 1980’s and the Saks Fifth Avenue Building is there now. (Vintage picture buzzfeed.com)
Janis Joplin on the corner of Cole and Haight Streets in 1967: This one is, kind of, sad. Also, I wonder if back then Janis would have looked at the girl in the cross walk today and thought, “Wow, what’s with that?” (Vintage picture buzzfeed.com)
San Francisco Film Locations Then & Now 