Reel SF

San Francisco movie locations from classic films

San Francisco movie locations from classic films

Petulia - Picnic in the Park

  Archie meets a girlfriend, May (Pippa Scott), for a picnic in a park.  These scenes were filmed in Golden Gate Park where they meet in the Japanese Tea Garden.

Then ...  Visitors carefully tread their way over a narrow stone bridge below the Temple Gate and waterfall.

... and Now,  the stones forming the bridge are just as they were, as is the stone in the pool at the lower right corner.

 

Then ...  They set up their picnic basket in front of a traditional Japanese stone oil lantern.  Such lanterns were introduced in the 6th century for the purpose of lighting the path to Buddhist shrines.

... and Now,  the lantern is still there.

 

Then ...  There's a brief glimpse of a couple sitting on top of the Taiko Bashi, aka the Drum Bridge.

... and Now

 

Then ...  Still in Golden Gate Park, we next see Archie and May crossing a bridge with part of the California Academy Of Sciences beyond them on the left.  A Fellini-esque group of nuns - a recurring theme throughout the movie - are emerging from the parking tunnel.

... and Now,  the bridge and tunnel are still there but the original Academy has been torn down, replaced by a new one.

 

Then ...  As our couple walk up the steps of the Music Concourse the lads hamming it up on the bandstand invoke memories of director Richard Lester's Beatles movie 'A Hard Day's Night'.

... and Now,  the concourse, between the De Young Museum and the California Academy of Sciences, is still used for outdoor musical performances.  The trees, mostly London Planes and Wyche and Accolade Elms, are set out on a grid and pollarded each winter to achieve optimum shade for the audience in the summer. 

 

  Meanwhile, Petulia is fixated on Archie and has been secretly watching them ...

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