San Francisco Film Locations Then & Now

  Bad guy Vic Morrow being chased toward the Chinatown gate by Michael Douglas, loses his balance after hitting a Chronicle paper box, and falls into oncoming traffic. (Thumbnail image)

  Sadly, Vic Morrow would lose his life from a real accident eight years after this ‘The Streets of San Francisco’ episode was made. (Thumbnail image)

Steve McQueen tailing the bad guys on Filbert Street approaches Mason in ‘Bullitt’. Just after this scene…… watch out! Here are the links to part one, and part two of the best car chase scene ever filmed. (Thumbnail image)

One of my favorite San Francisco pictures. Whoever coined the phrase “A picture is worth a thousand words.” was spot on here! That’s Russian Hill seen from Telegraph Hill after the 1906 Earthquake. The two steep streets climbing Russian Hill are Lombard Street on the left and Chestnut Street on the right followed by Francisco Street and Bay Street. Columbus Ave. cuts away diagonally from Mason Street at the bottom of Russian Hill.

Agnes Moorehead eavesdrops outside Lauren Bacalls’s third floor apartment at 1360 Montgomery Street on Telegraph Hill in ‘Dark Passage’. “Oh, Derwood!” (Thumbnail image)

Actually, this little adventure was years in the making. The top movie photo was the street the Hanson Family lived on in the 1948 movie, ‘I Remember Mama’. Since it was supposed to be on Russian Hill, they Photoshopped, or whatever they called it in 1948, Alcatraz and the Bay in the background, but the street is not on Russian Hill. Many of the scenes were filmed on this street like the center top photo of Katrin and Christine Hanson approaching the crest of the hill. I always thought it was a wonderful turn-of-the-Century street (20th not 21st) and I’ve been trying to find it, off and on, for years. Many film location experts and even Wikipedia had the wrong locations, usually saying that it was on Rhode Island Street on Potrero Hill, but it isn’t. I had just about given up finding this street, when last Thursday, I found the lower third top photo from the 1950’s in a book by the Junior League of San Francisco at the San Francisco Main Library. “Wow!” I thought, that looks like it! When I got back to the office and compared it to the film picture, this was the same street; it was once a real street in San Francisco! However, the book didn’t identify where the street was or is, so I was still lost. When I went back to the History Room at SF Library, they didn’t know where it was either, but a nice lady named Christine showed me how to access an old 1938 aerial photo of the City, and said I may have luck finding the location with this. After scouring the photo for two days, I had it nailed down to about five possible locations, but I still had a lot of work to do to find it. I sent the 1950’s picture to a Facebook site called ‘Vintage San Francisco’. These guys run circles around me in San Francisco knowledge. I got a polite answer back saying, “Not sure, but it looks like Liberty at Castro.” Cha-ching! I asked the right people. The bottom pictures are the modern views. Thus, endeth the quest for the elusive street! Whew! Most of the front stairs of the houses through fashion or regulation have a L shaped design today, and a modern building now occupies the empty lot on the corner where the girls walked by.

“Lights! Action! Camera!” The best way to enjoy this set is to look at the four pictures before reading the synopsis. There’s action going on, although, not always fast moving, in each of these scenes. At the left, I like this scene! It’s so…… old time motorcycle-woody-art deco! Lauren Bacall smuggles San Quentin escapee, Humphrey Bogart, past a police dragnet in the 1947 film ‘Dark Passage’. Because of inept police work, they don’t search the back of her woody, thoroughly, for fear of getting the oil from her recent paintings that Bogie’s hiding under on their uniforms! “You’ll be walking the beat again for this, O’Hara!” The toll booths are automatubeulated now, (Is that the word I’m looking for?) but I hope they don’t remove them. Second from the left, one look at these guys in the boat, and it’s apparent that they’re not fighting over a splash hit home run ball in McCovey Cove! They’re members of ‘People’s Revolutionary Strike Force, (Oh, that one) who have just kidnapped the Mayor of San Francisco in the 1976 film ‘The Enforcer’, and are spiriting him away to their hideout on Alcatraz. This little cove was called China Basin back then, and it’s not the first movie to feature a boat kidnapping in McCovey Cove! Second from the right: This scene may look placid, but there’s some serious stalking action going on here. Jimmy Stewart is stalking Kim Novak in the green Jaguar across the intersection at 16th and Dolores in the 1958 film ‘Vertigo’. He’s following her to find out why she’s crazy; I mean, assuming that thinking that you’re visiting your own grave at Mission Dolores, and that you died a hundred years earlier is crazy! At right, long before ‘Bullitt’, filmmakers staged a wild car chase scene on Russian Hill, and other locations. Margaret Lindsay is chased by her fiancé as she follows a tip lead to a location in hope of finding her missing sister, Bette Davis, in the 1934 movie ‘Fog Over Frisco’. This chase scene ends in a boat kidnapping at China Basin / McCovey Cove, as well! (Thumbnail image)

More background “of Interests.” The locations, themselves, are of interest, but the things you can spot in the background are fun too. Left to right, Police Officer Virgil Tibbs (Sidney Poitier) a long way from Mississippi where he premiered in ‘In the Heat of the Night’, in a phone booth on North Point getting a tip on a big drug deal coming down soon in the 1971 film ‘The Organization’. In the background is the Longshoremen’s Hall. As well as being a meeting place for political and labor gatherings, some great San Francisco bands have played here like the Grateful Dead, the Jefferson Airplane, and Big Brother and the Holding Company with Janis Joplin. Second from the left, Bob Hope in the convertible chasing Peter Lorre, who’s chasing Dorothy Lamour down California Street and on to Grant in Chinatown in the 1947 film ‘My Favorite Brunette’. Now, that’s one parade in Chinatown I’d love to have seen! As well as Old St. Mary’s, notice, although it’s hard to see when the picture is compressed like this, the red awning on the building at the left reads ‘Cathay House’. You can see the name more clearly in the Bob Hope movie, and they’re still open for business! Second from the right, the reenactment of the Hibernia Bank robbery involving Patty Hearst and members of the Symbionese Liberation Army in the 1988 film ‘Patty’. The gang enters the bank led by Donald DeFreeze (Cinque) played by Ving Rhames. Although the robbery actually took place in the Sunset District, the scene was filmed in the Richmond District near the ocean. In the background is the historic Balboa Theater, opened in 1926, and still going strong. Sadly, the actress portraying Patty Hearst, Natasha Richardson died from injuries sustained in a skiing accident in 2009. Far right, Joan Bennett races down the Alcatraz dock to watch her lover George Raft depart by boat for the “Rock” in the 1940 movie ‘House Across the Bay’. Behind her car is the curving Van Ness Municipal Pier, and to the right the National Maritime Museum. The Alcatraz loading dock still exists, but is closed off for safety reasons now. My comparison shot is from the Van Ness Pier behind Miss Bennett’s car.

“Telephone poles! So, these are of enormous interest to us, Tim, because?” Well, telephone poles can be interesting, there’s one in Niles that dates back to 1860 when it was a telegraph pole! At top left, a bandaged and, obviously, hurt Humphrey Bogart is being heckled by strangers as he begins his climb up the old wooden Filbert Steps in the 1947 film ‘Dark Passage’. “Hey, Bud, had a rough night?” “Having trouble with the little lady?” Oh, these guys are a riot! A lot of people get killed by Bogie in this movie, but these two got off easy! The wooden portion of the Filbert Steps have been replaced here in the current picture on the right, and I know as much about telephone poles as I do about girls, but by the way this pole leans, I’m going to give the nod to this being the same one. Second from the top, the telephone poles in the film picture on the left and the some location today were just an excuse to post this image from the 1962 film ‘Experiment in Terror’. My Physician, Dr. Knotts in Castro Valley, told me that he was one of the students walking up the hill at George Washington High School when this scene with Lee Remick and Stefanie Powers driving up the street to the school was filmed. I’m not going to argue with him, he’s the one who has to tell me all of the things that are wrong with me! Second from the bottom: Speaking of Niles, the old horse trail still passes between the house that was once Bronco Billy’s office, the first film cowboy superstar, and a telephone pole. To the right of the house is the old Essanay Studios, circa 1915. A fire station now occupies the spot where the studio was. Many people don’t realize it, but at that fire station is where the world first met Charlie Chaplin’s little tramp! At the bottom, Erich Von Stroheim’s ‘Greed’ is considered one of the best silent films ever made. This 1925 tale of murder and pursuit originally ran nearly eight hours, but was eventually cut down to under two and one half hours running time when released. Probably, just as well; that would have been a lot of popcorn to have to consume. The old office building on the corner of Laguna Ave. & Hayes seen in a film image on the left is where the movie’s main protagonist, McTeague, sets up his dental practice before he eventually kills his miserly wife, and flees to Death Valley while being pursued by her lover. The two telephone poles look to be still there today, although, another one has been placed in the middle. (Thumbnail image)

Time, technology, and terrorism have made some San Francisco movie location comparisons impossible for me to line up exactly, but pretty close. Left to right, the woody pulling up to 1360 Montgomery Street on Telegraph hill contains San Quentin escapee Humphrey Bogart, and the young artist who befriends him, Lauren Bacall in the 1947 movie ‘Dark Passage’. Lauren Bacall, actually, lived in this apartment before she broke into Hollywood, so it’s an interesting choice of locations. The movie shot was taken from a camera crane, so my picture is from a lower angle. Second from the left, Burt Lancaster, portraying Robert Stroud, the “Birdman of Alcatraz” being released at Pier 41 in the 1962 film of the same name. The landing dock of Pier 41 is gone, so an exact comparison can’t be taken anymore. Interestingly, although the movie was made while Robert Stroud was still alive, he was never allowed to see the film. He died in November of 1963. Second from the right, Edmond O’Brien goes back to the nightclub at Merchant Street and the Embarcadero in the 1950 film ‘D.O.A.’. O’Brien was given a slow acting poison, placed in his drink while he was dancing, and is returning to the Fisherman Nightclub to try to learn why. Most of the prints I’ve seen of this movie are grainy, and difficult to get a clear copy from. This image from D.O.A. is from the City Sleuth – Reel SF page; about the best San Francisco film locations site I’ve seen. This movie made me nervous to leave my drink at the table, that’s why I always take it with me when I go to the restroom. (Not really) Since the development of the Embarcadero Center and Maritime Plaza, Merchant Street no longer cuts through to the Embarcadero. At the right, although many film scholars site ‘Vertigo’ as the quintessential San Francisco movie locations flick, my pick is “Dark Passage’ from 1947. This film has more off beat and lesser know settings, such as the Filbert Steps on Telegraph Hill or the Golden Gate Bridge tollbooths. Here, Humphrey Bogart has been waylaid and forced to drive to a spot directly underneath the Golden Gate Bridge by a shady little creep for some serious blackmail talk. You know Bogie’s going to get the drop on this punk before the encounter is over. This area is strictly off limits since 9/11 for obvious reasons, but can be viewed from the hiking trail that runs along the hill above the area. (Thumbnail image)