The Lady From Shanghai - Walhalla Bar
On the boardwalk at Whaler's Cove in Sausalito , O'Hara again tries to persuade her to run away with him, telling her he can get his hands on $5000, but she continues to resist.
Then ... The turretted house along the boardwalk behind Elsa used to be a beer garden and rooming house where Jack London is said to have written his novel 'Sea Wolf' while staying there. Just off to the left up the sloping walkway is the Walhalla, a bar and restaurant at 201 Bridgeway (map) with a long and checkered history (click the image to enlarge)..
... and Now, In this recent photo we see that the turreted house is still there as is the Walhalla building, most recently the Gaylord India restaurant but currently vacant (click the image to enlarge)..
Below is another recent view of the Walhalla building. Compared to the 'Then' movie view above, the original building has been expanded out towards the water and has a gabled section added to the right side.
Then ... Later in the movie the Walhalla is seen from a different perspective. Incidentally, the bar was always called the Valhalla but the sign, seen below, had been misspelled with a 'W'.
... and Now, the same view today.
The Walhalla received Marin County's first liquor license in 1870 when Sausalito (Spanish for 'Little Willow', named after a row of willow trees along the shore) was known as 'Dirty Ol' Sausalito'. In 1946 Sally Stanford, who in her storied past had run a high-class San Francisco bordello, became Walhalla's owner. After a dispute with the town over an electric sign outside her building she got into politics and eventually became Mayor of Sausalito in 1976 when she was 72. Sally is pictured below in 1962.
In the Walhalla George Grigsby reminds O'Hara that there's $5000 in it for him if he goes along with his scheme. He wants to feign a murder, Grigsby's murder no less, and have O'Hara sign a confession. Then Grigsby will disappear to a new life, away from the threat of nuclear warfare, in a safe distant place. He tells O'Hara he won't be at risk because ... "There's no such thing as homicide unless they find a corpse - according to the law I'm dead if you say you murdered me but you're not a murderer unless I'm dead".