Then … At his clinic George receives a call - his wife Susan, who has been ill for some time, has experienced another asthma attack. He hurries home, here approaching the Golden Gate Bridge from Marin County from the north (map), despite the fact that the storyline references the clinic as being in San Francisco (in the real world, the previous post explained otherwise).
… and Now, the aerial view looks down to Cavallo Point and Horseshoe Bay, aka Horseshoe Cove, a historic marina at Fort Baker. Above, the cluster of red-roofed buildings at the water’s edge were built in the early 1940s as a hospital station for wounded servicemen but this recent Google satellite view shows that they are mostly gone. Those that are left now comprise the Bay Area Discovery Museum. Note the popular tourist vista point left of center, devoid of cars during the pandemic (it’s also visible above at far left). Visitors looking across the Golden Gate from there are rewarded with a spectacular view of the bridge and the San Francisco skyline.
His car, seen numerous times throughout the movie, is a 1968 Chevrolet Corvette C3 convertible. In a later interview Jean Sorel waxed lyrical about it, recalling how much fun he had driving it in San Francisco. Note though the continuity goof - the car is heading south into the city with its top up but in the closeup he’s driving north towards Marin with the top down.
Then … We follow him crossing the bridge to the Presidio, the city stretching out ahead of him ...
… and Now, this recent matching photo was taken from Battery Spencer on the Marin Headlands.
Then … As he enters a freeway interchange the business signs next to it are clues to the location (click or tap the image for an expanded view). For example, Dunhan, Carrigan and Hayden was a well-established hardware company opposite 8th Street and Townsend. So this must be the connecting ramp from the east-bound central freeway section of 101 to north-bound 80 (map). The hills of Alameda County are across the bay in the distance.
… and Now, the interchange looks very similar today but the cluster that is downtown San Francisco at far left has been transformed. One thing that hasn’t is the huge billboard in the center. The Dunhan, Carrigan and Hayden building is still there at 2 Henry Adams Street, currently housing the San Francisco Design Center Showplace, as too is the rooftop structure that supported the tank seen above (with the DCH Co sign); but the tank is gone; it looks as though an array of antennae has replaced it.
Then … Now in Nob Hill, he leads a cable car up California Street past the Fairmont Hotel (map). The sign above and behind the cable car advertises the hotel’s popular Tonga Room.
… and Now, barely visible through a tree, there’s still a Tonga sign although the room is temporarily pandemic-closed. The Tonga Room has entertained visitors since 1945; before that its basement space was a swimming pool for hotel guests. On the extreme right is the Stanford Court Hotel which interestingly has been stripped of its balconies.
Then … Now he’s on Twin Peaks Boulevard heading up the hill to Twin Peaks! Wherever his home is, in the real world he won’t find it up there. Clearly the movie’s Italian director was enamored with the city’s breathtaking views. The 3 mile-long arrow-straight diagonal thoroughfare on the left is Market Street knifing its way through downtown to the bay.
… and Now, the view from here (map) is indeed breathtaking, as in this matching 2016 image, benefitting from California’s strict air quality laws that banished the smog-draped vistas of the 60’s and 70s. Once again the comparison highlights the downtown transformation.
Then … George finally arrives at his home, a Greek Revival Plantation-style mansion. CitySleuth spent a lot of time searching for this without success. He even tracked down the movie’s location manager but he couldn’t recall where it was. So, he appealed to his readers to help…
… and Now, (2023 update) … it took 2 1/2 years but it was worth the wait. ReelSF reader Brad alerted CitySleuth that an Italian website had revealed its location: the mansion at the historic Oak Knoll Ranch in California’s Napa Valley wine country, a property with a fascinating history. The address is 2200 W. Oak Knoll Avenue, Napa, Ca (map).
Then … As he gets out of his car we see there’s a fountain in front of the main entrance, covered to keep out fall and winter leaves.
… and Now, this photo from a reception held at the mansion in 2023 pictured the same fountain, still there.
The styling of the house, with 8 doric columns spaced along its front, is very similar to the historic 1839 mansion at Oak Alley Plantation in Vacherie, Louisiana, even down to the 3 gabled dormers on the roof. This is no coincidence; the 19th century Oak Knoll Ranch mansion was originally a Victorian until a former owner remodeled it, closely copying the Oak Alley Plantation mansion design (it’s pictured below).
Then … He walks around the house and enters a side entrance (this part of the house is completely different from the Oak Alley Plantation mansion). Note the sports court outlined on the asphalt in the foreground...
… and Now, this aerial view shows that same side of the house. The sports court is no longer there in the guest parking area.
The Lamoreaux family are the current owners of the Oak Knoll Ranch. They feature an image of the mansion on their wine label.
A feeling of antipathy pervades the house as his ailing wife Susan (Austrian actress Marisa Mell, in the rear) and her sister Martha (American actress Faith Domergue) harangue George for devoting too much time to his clinic. Clearly this is not a happy marriage.
He attempts to make amends by hiring a nurse (Italian actress Malisa Longo) to attend to Susan while he is away. At the medicine cabinet he stresses to her that she must never administer Susan’s nightly tranquilizer while she is taking her asthma medication - it could be a fatal combination.
Re the title of this post - yes, CitySleuth is a diehard Beatles fan.
Back to the movie - the newlyweds visit a number of popular Bay Area destinations as Myra proudly shows off her home town.
Then ... They stroll down a trail through a grove of tall redwoods past the snapped-off tip of a tree impaled in the ground.
... and Now, this is Cathedral Grove at Muir Woods, a national monument since 1908, one of the few remaining stands of old growth coastal redwoods remaining in the Bay Area, just 12 miles north of San Francisco in Marin County (map). Today, the trail is lined by fences but the tree tip is gone - the arrow marks the exact spot where it used to be.
... a vintage photo ... How did CitySleuth find this exact spot? Well, during a visit to Muir Woods he came across this undated photo in the Visitor Center bookstore. Wouldn't you know it, this is the same tree tip, photographed from the opposite direction. It was in the Cathedral Grove next to a plaque honoring the memory of Franklin D Roosevelt.
... and Now, the plaque is still there but the tree tip has been removed, perhaps because it was in the middle of the trail (never mind that the tree tip was there first). The arrow marks the spot.
For those inclined to visit, Cathedral Grove is indicated on the park map below (click image to enlarge).
Then ... They drive up to the best of the City's vista points - Twin Peaks - to take in the evening glitter looking down Market Street to the Bay (map). A year earlier this same vista was used in the movie The House On Telegraph Hill.
... and Now, a recent view from the same lookout is even more impressive. The glowing dome of City Hall to the left and the illuminated suspension cables of the Bay Bridge were unseen at night sixty years ago. The rapid growth of the Oakland waterfront across the bay over the last sixty years adds to the glittering chiaroscuro.
Then ... They next visit the Golden Gate Bridge, shot here from halfway up the north tower looking towards San Francisco.
... in 1935 ... it's interesting to see the same view while the bridge was under construction, taken from higher up on the bridge's tower. The huge parade ground of the Presidio military base is clearly visible in the upper left and the dark strip above the Presidio is Golden Gate Park bifurcating the Richmond and Sunset districts.
... and Now, a recent photo on a foggy day. The bridge, enshrouded by fog about half of the time, requires constant repainting.
Then ... Lester and Myra lean over the bridge's railing perhaps thinking of the two sad souls per month on average, year in year out, who climb over it on their final journey. The real railing however, though still controversially low, isn't quite as bad as this.
... and Now, this is the real railing. Look at the movie railing above - it's lower, has no rivets at the rail tops and has a different width to spacing ratio. The movie footage was filmed in a studio using a background projection of the waters of the bay. Below, Angel Island and part of Belvedere and Tiburon are in the distance and Horseshoe Bay's Presidio Yacht Club marina is closer in on the left.
Following his visit to Madeleine's grave Scottie suffers a nightmare, causing him to spiral into a state of melancholia requiring treatment at a sanatorium.
Then ... To usher in the nightmare scene a night vista is briefly shown with SP and Mobilgas neon signs glowing in the distance. This was filmed looking east from the Top O' The Mark at the Mark Hopkins Hotel (map).
... a 1950s archival photo ... We get a better look from the photograph below taken from the same spot. The 32 story Russ Building, at that time the tallest office building in San Francisco, is over to the right and the Bay Bridge is seen crossing over to Yerba Buena Island.
... and Now, the relentless growth of the Financial District has transformed this view. The tallest skyscrapers now are the Transamerica building at far left and the Bank Of America building right of center - the Russ building is still there, behind it and to the right, and several buildings in the lower foreground are little changed.
The nightmare scene which followed included special effects by artist John Ferren who also painted the Portrait of Carlotta seen earlier in the Legion Of Honor art museum.
Then ... Scottie has to spend time recovering in a sanatorium, St. Joseph's Hospital at 355 Buena Vista Avenue East facing Buena Vista Park (map). Scottie's friend Midge's Karman Ghia is parked out front.
... and Now, the building looks the same today (OK, they moved the mailbox) but is now the Park Hill Condominiums. Designed by architect John Foley, the six story building was built in 1928 in Spanish Revival style.
In the sanatorium (the interior scenes were filmed in a Paramount Pictures studio) Midge plays Mozart to help ease him from his catatonic state but it will be months before he can recover and deal with his profound sense of guilt.
Then ... Scottie's recuperation was represented by Hitchcock with soothing music played over a slow left-to-right panoramic sweep of the city, filmed from Twin Peaks (map). Tiburon and Angel Island are in the left background, the Buena Vista Park hill is in the center, and that's Market Street at far right (click image to enlarge).
... and Now, more than half a century later the almost identical view continues to be enjoyed from the popular Twin Peaks vista point. Coincidentally, the red-roofed sanatorium building can be seen in the panorama, marked below by the arrow (click image to enlarge).
Kelly's teenage sister Toby (Stefanie Powers) has slept over at a friend's house. Kelly drives there to pick them up to take them to school.
Then ... She drives the short distance up Glenbrook Ave from her home on St Germain Ave and stops outside the friend's house at 206 Palo Alto Avenue alongside a row of three sidewalk trees (map).
... and Now, those trees are still there today, now with sturdy 50 year old trunks. The house is there too but the brick walls have been refinished.
Then ... Toby and her friend exit the side gate of No. 206. The window on the left is the same one as the window at lower right of the 'Then' picture above. The view looks to the east towards the Bay Bridge and the city's Financial District.
... until recently ... the gate and side wall were subsequently remodelled. The photo below, taken in 2007, shows how the original wall, clearly visible, had been extended upward.
... and Now, below is the side wall as it looks today - the brick has been covered over with a stone finishand a new gate installed. The higher wall not only blocks the east view but so too does the large house built next door.
... the view east today ... if you could peep over the gate and the house next door wasn't there this is how the view east would look now. Compare it with the way it was behind Toby in the Then picture above
Then ... As Toby approaches her sister's car the view down Palo Alto Avenue shows those same three trees.
... and Now, the same view, the same trees.