Then … George is running out of time - his execution date is just days away. His attorney and Henry visit him at San Quentin Prison in Marin County (map), where director Fulcio was allowed remarkable access for all of the prison scenes.
… and Now, decades later the main gate and gatehouse have changed very little.
Then … They are waved through, here approaching an observation tower with the prison buildings in the background. The crowded visitor’s parking lot is on the left.
… and Now, CitySleuth has been here before, successfully talking his way past the gate to get a matching photo for a scene from the 1947 movie Dark Passage. This time he wasn’t allowed to photograph inside the gate - “You’re wearing a blue shirt; the prisoners wear blue” - but through the open gate he took this fairly closely aligned match.
The attorney tries his best to comfort George in the cell.
There are many parallels between this movie and Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo, including what happens next: the director presents a surprising early whodunnit reveal. Alone in the cell with George, Henry stuns him by confessing, a smug sneer on his face, to framing George for Susan’s murder. He has always been jealous of his younger brother’s success and wealth; now he will inherit the valuable clinic. But that’s not the half of it, he tells him that he and Susan have been lovers for years and what’s more, she is not dead after all; he faked the death by killing her nurse Elizabeth O’Neill, burying her as Susan. Instead of Henry having to deal with George he has devilishly arranged for the State to do it instead.
Then … Of course Henry knows that George will tell his attorney but in the absence of corroborating evidence no one can be sure this isn’t just one more fake claim by a desperate man. Nevertheless, in a TV news interview the district attorney announces the Governor of California granted a 24 hour stay of execution to allow the police to exhume the corpse a second time to check it against Susan’s dental records.
… and Now, this was filmed alongside the lawn in front of the State Capitol Building in Sacramento, California’s capital (map). (Reader Paul Penna has pointed out that the TV reporter is Harry Martin from Sacramento’s KCRA Channel 3).
The coroner debunks George’s claim by declaring the corpse is indeed that of Susan based on a match with her dental records. But the records were from the Dumurrier clinic, provided by Henry - couldn’t he have given them the nurse’s dental records instead? But neither Susan nor Henry can be located and there’s no time to investigate further; the execution will take place tomorrow.
Then … Mount Davidson Park is on the right as Gonzalez drives up a steep hill and pulls over.
… and Now, this is Dalewood Way in the Sherwood Forest neighborhood (map) where the view looks west across Forest Hill, West Portal and beyond. For locational reference, the house at far left by the power pole is 125 Dalewood Way.
Then … Meanwhile Callahan reaches his destination atop Mount Davidson, San Francisco’s highest hill. As he approaches he is dwarfed by the massive illuminated cross.
… and Now, the cross is still there, a reverent attraction for thousands of visitors every year.
In 1934 this 103 foot tall reinforced concrete structure replaced a succession of three smaller wooden crosses that had been built here between 1923 and 1931, each destined to be destroyed by fire. The new cross was illuminated year-round with twelve 1,000 Watt lamps until the energy crisis of 1976 dictated otherwise but this 1971 Dirty Harry scene is a record of its former dramatic luminance. (Go here for an interesting history by FoundSF of Mount Davidson Park and the cross)
The nearby Twin Peaks isn’t the only vista point with sweeping views of downtown and the surrounding city; check out this view across Diamond Heights just steps from the cross.
At the base of the cross Scorpio’s voice from the shadows commands him to drop the bag, raise his hands and turn to face the cross.
From behind, Scorpio rifle-whips Callahan to the ground. Barely conscious, our helpless hero appears doomed but before the gloating killer dispatches him (…“Goodbye, Callahan!”…) Gonzalez arrives and engages him in a fierce gun battle.
During the confusion Callahan grabs a concealed knife - he had taped it to his shin just in case - and manages to stab Scorpio. Shrieking, the startled psycho grabs the ransom bag and staggers off with the knife protruding from his thigh; Callahan and Gonzalez, both wounded, are in no shape to stop him. As police arrive in response to the gunshots Scorpio escapes but drops the bag along the way; at least the ransom has survived intact.
Then … With airplane ticket in hand Monica continues on to JFK International airport.
… and Now, her cab was heading southwest along FDR Drive on the Lower East Side of town towards Manhattan Bridge directly ahead (map). To reach the airport the cab would cross the bridge then continue through Brooklyn to Queens …
Then … But for reasons only film editors would understand the next shot is back in Midtown where her cab is passing 30 Rockefeller Plaza next to the seasonal ice rink (map). Today that short street between W. 49th and W. 50th Is now a pedestrian precinct.
… and Now, skating at the ice rink, seen here in a recent photo, continues to be a popular New York City winter pastime. Both Then and Now images showcase Prometheus, the 1934 gilded bronze sculpture by Paul Manship. 30 Rockefeller Plaza faces us at street level.
Then … She reaches her destination - the iconic TWA Flight Center at John F Kennedy International Airport, the busiest international air passenger gateway into North America (map).
… and Now, the soaring creation by architect Eero Saarinen opened in 1962. It closed in 2002 for restoration and integration into a new 512 room hotel complex.
Pictured here in this fine promotional photo, the TWA Hotel opened in 2019.
Then … Monica crosses the arrivals lounge of the flight center.
… and Now, it’s been faithfully restored as part of today’s hotel.
… and Now, in this promotional photograph of the terminal we see the overhead walkway from which the Then and Now images above were taken.
Monica heads straight for a restroom to shed her blonde wig and green contact lenses, revealing her true self and confirming she is indeed Susan Dumurrier, no surprise to anybody by now.
Then … She completes the transformation by turning her reversible coat inside out then walks through one of the two tubes connecting the terminal to the gates.
… and Now, still there, the tubes now join the hotel to an adjacent newly built Jet Blue terminal.
At the gate she now matches her passport photo for the flight to Paris.
Then … Gonzalez takes the high road while Callahan takes the low road to the hamburger stand at Aquatic Park. Here, traveling west on Lombard Street Gonzalez is about to make a left turn into Fillmore, where he will pass the Doggie Diner that is just beyond the right edge of this image. The same footage of the left turn, but revealing the Doggie Diner, was used earlier, seen in the previous post. Note the corner gas station on the left, note too the gas prices: 29.9 and 33.9 cents per gallon. After adjusting for the 715% inflation since then that’s equivalent to $2.14 and $2.42 per gallon today. Hmmm.
… and Now, today the gas station site is occupied by a Honda Service Center; it was shuttered when CitySleuth took this recent photo.
Here’s an interesting blast from the past of workers picketing that gas station in 1947. It’s the same corner as above but the view looks across Lombard towards Fillmore.
Then … Cut to the Marina district - Callahan is racing towards the tunnel that runs under Fort Mason to Aquatic Park (map).
… and Now, the tunnel is still there but there is no train activity today, the tracks are gone and the tunnel entrance is fenced off and boarded up. Those vehicles are making the right hand sweep from Marina Boulevard into Laguna Street.
… and Now, here’s the tunnel viewed from Laguna Street.
This aerial view outlines the path of the tunnel. 1500 feet long, it was constructed in 1913 to serve the 1915 Panama Pacific Exposition that was built in the Marina to herald to the world that San Francisco had recovered from the 1906 earthquake and fire. The single track tunnel continued to be used for freight train traffic until the late 1970s.
In the tunnel he is accosted by 3 deadbeats who demand the ransom bag and his wallet; he tells them to get lost but they persist. No worries, his Smith and Wesson and yet another of his classic lines … “You don’t listen do you, asshole” do the trick - they flee.
Then … You can see the distant Marina entrance as he emerges at the Van Ness Avenue end in Aquatic Park (map).
… and Now, it’s now boarded up but there is currently a proposal to have the City extend the Muni F-Market & Wharves vintage rail line from Fisherman’s Wharf to here then continuing on through the tunnel, terminating at the Marina (read about it here and for policy wonks the favorable EIR report is here).
Then … The hamburger stand is directly opposite the tunnel; a pair of phone booths is alongside them, one of them ringing. When Callahan sees an old man step to the phone to answer it he jumps over the low railing and snatches it from him.
… and Now, the stand is still there but it has been closed during the pandemic. It’s one of two extant streamline moderne-styled concessions stations built in the 1930s, part of the Aquatic Park project. Note the drain pipes on either side of the counter, also visible in the Then image above. The low railing bordering the sidewalk curb is gone but visitors can still see evidence of their existence in the sidewalk pavers. No phone booths though, CitySleuth would be surprised if they weren’t a movie prop.
“You know Mount Davidson Park? Go to the cross”. Callahan’s expression says it all - the cross on Mount Davidson is more than 6 miles away.
