Then … Teddy’s wife Didi (Judith Ivey) drops him off at a park to play tennis with his three closest friends.
… and Now, These are the public tennis courts on what was then Middle Drive East in Golden Gate Park. The road is now called Nancy Pelosi Drive, renamed in her honor in 2012 (map). The 130 year-old site recently underwent a $30M renovation, reopening in 2021, with 17 rebuilt courts and a new clubhouse.
Then … As Didi leaves she approaches John F. Kennedy Drive, about to make a left past the statue straight ahead and the large white structure at far left.
… and Now, the statue and the structure are of course still there. The only change here is Nancy Pelosi Drive, now much narrower at the junction.
The statue, erected in 1885, is a monument to James Abram Garfield, the 20th President of the United States who was assassinated in 1881. Below him on the pedestal Lady Columbia is holding a broken sword and wreath, referencing the heinous act. The white structure is the Conservatory of Flowers greenhouse and botanical gardens; completed in 1879, it’s the oldest building in the park.
Teddy greets his buddies on the tennis court. From left to right: Joey (Joseph Bologna), Buddy (Charles Grodin) and Mikey (Michael Huddleston). As the movie progresses we’ll find out that Teddy isn’t the only one harboring libidinous thoughts; they are all involved in affairs, Joey in particular serially so.
As they play, note the residence on the left and the palm tree in the background. Hmmm…
Then … In this shot we see a wider view of the same residence between Teddy and Buddy and more palm trees; this is clearly not Golden Gate Park, it was more likely filmed in Southern California. A search for this house, it has two gabled wings (the left one with a chimney stack built against it), led Citysleuth to the Los Angeles Tennis Club in the Hancock Park neighborhood of Los Angeles just a short drive from Hollywood (map).
… and Now, the house is 591 Cahuenga Blvd on the corner of Clinton Street, across Clinton and directly opposite the venerable clubhouse (compare it with the movie view above). The gable with the arched window is also visible two images above at far left.
Then … The boys let out a whoop when they get an unexpected eyeful from the adjacent court.
… and Now, here’s the Los Angeles Tennis Club today; the movie scene was filmed on the court marked with the red marker. Next to it the court in the ‘Then’ image above has since been converted to a parking lot prior to which, coincidentally, this club too had 17 courts.
The iconic Los Angeles Tennis Club at 5851 Clinton Street was incorporated in 1920 and constructed in 1924. Over the past century it has hosted many famous tennis champions and Hollywood celebrities.
In the clubhouse after the match Mikey takes a call; Joey’s wife has just been seen leaving their home with the furniture and all of her belongings; Joey’s philandering has caught up with him. (Check out the subliminal ad - is the Nortel logo subtly suggesting “hey - replace this vintage Western Electric switchboard with our modern one”?).
Down in the boiler room Red Moran, determined to avenge the Chronicle’s exposé of his boss, plies the boilerman with booze and challenges him to a coal shoveling contest, having first closed off the steam line. Tension mounts as the camera cuts repeatedly to the pressure gauge slowly moving into the danger level, an audience suspense-building technique often used later by the master of suspense, Alfred Hitchcock.
Then … His sabotage causes an explosion and fire at the Chronicle headquarters; multiple alarms summon a frantic response from the city’s fire brigade.
… a vintage photo … here’s a 1915 photo image showing the Chronicle Building as it was when the movie was filmed.
… and Now, the building, also seen earlier in the movie, is still there today at 690 Market on the corner of Kearny Street. It has since been remodeled and doubled in height to create the swanky condominiums of the Ritz-Carlton Club and Residences.
Then … Firehouses in San Francisco and in Los Angeles were filmed for the response scenes. The director jumps all over the place with random cuts between firehouse and other scenes but for this post Citysleuth presents the firehouses sequentially. After this first truck exits the firehouse (below, left) the camera cuts to a wider view allowing us to see where it was filmed.
… in 1950 … here’s that location, unchanged even though this c. 1950 photo was taken 25 years later. The arched doorway at the bottom right corner is where the fire engine exited, top left above. In San Francisco, this is the Truck Company 1 firehouse at 418 Jessie Street, South of Market, in what’s now known as Mint Plaza (map).
… and Now, a recent view of Mint Plaza today, again mostly unchanged except the firehouse is no longer there; today it’s the restaurant Burma Love, now readdressed as 8 Mint Plaza.
Then … In this shot the building on the left looks familiar …
… and Now, that’s because we are still in Mint Plaza alongside the old Mint Building. The restaurant that replaced Truck Company 1’s firehouse is over on the right side and the building facing us is the one on the left, two images above.
Then … Inside the next firehouse a message is received on a Gamewell Punch Register (top corner) that identifies the source of the originating alarm on a ticker-tape. Firemen waste no time manning a fire engine (on the left) and a fire truck (on the right). Fire engines usually carried water; fire trucks usually did not , instead carrying a rescue ladder and other equipment such as jaws of life.
Then … As the fire engine leaves, the firehouse name is the clue to its location; this was filmed at the Engine Company 24 / Truck Company 1 firehouse in Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo district at 204 South Hewitt Street (map).
… in 1922 … here’s a vintage 1922 photo showing the station three years earlier. At that time a different truck company, No. 5, shared the building with Engine Company 24.
… and Now, the station, on the corner of S. Hewitt and E. 2nd Streets, is no longer there; the space is now a parking lot. What a waste of a fine old building.
Then … Two engines from Engine Company 2 at 460 Bush Street in San Francisco’s Financial District are the next to respond. The compact 1908 firehouse, at far left, was the first firehouse rebuilt following the 1906 earthquake. The columned building next to it was a Pacific Telephone & Telegraph Company building at 444 Bush Street.
… and Now, the classy Beaux Arts firehouse building is still there but it has been converted to office space.
Then … Clarence happens to be parked across from the police station when the police arrive; he sees them hustling Ray McDonald inside. This was filmed in Hollywood as evidenced by the stores behind him - Ford & Ford Chiropractic on the right was listed in the 1925 Los Angeles city directory at 5911 Hollywood Blvd and Star Cleaners was listed at 5913 Hollywood Blvd.
… and Now, the chiropractor’s office at 5911 is now Sparadise Massage & Spa; Star Cleaners at 5913 is now Bread and Butter lunch and coffee shop. Note the lamppost in the center - remarkably it appears to be the same one a century later as in the movie shot above.
Then … He rushes over to see what’s going on; inside he is astounded to hear that Ray is being charged with accepting a $50,000 bribe; he is helpless as Ray is manhandled, protesting the whole way, to a jail cell.
Police Station 6 appeared earlier in the movie. It’s on the right side in this vintage photo where it shared a building with LAFD’s Engine 27 from 1913 to 1930.
… and Now, what’s more, it wasn’t opposite where Clarence was parked; it was a good 7 or 8 blocks away at 1629 N. Cahuenga Blvd. Check the location now, completely rebuilt. (Note the adjacent brick building partially visible at far left, above, - it’s still there today).
As a close friend of the McDonald family Clarence can’t bring himself to call the shocking news into his newspaper, leaving it instead to the local beat reporter who doesn’t hesitate to call the city editor. With eighteen minutes to press time it’s all hands on deck to rewrite the front page in time for the day’s last edition.
Then … In the next sequence the audience gets to see step-by-step how a newspaper story is created - from its initial composition to the final printed page. It begins with the copy editor receiving the story outline from the city editor. He writes the story and sends it on to linotype machine operators who turn his words into metal ‘slugs’ - lines of text cast from molten metal as fast as the operator types them in.
This and the sequence of operations that follow were all filmed in the Chronicle’s newly built 901 Mission Street building in San Francisco’s Soma district (map); the 1920s photograph below shows the composing room where the linotype machines were filmed.
Then … The metal slugs and an etched photo plate are arranged by compositors at makeup tables (on the left, below) into a full page format (on the right). The words and images are reversed, like a negative, so that when printed they will read in normal format.
The makeup tables were in the same composing room as the linotype machines. This photograph of them also shows a linotype battery at far right.
Then … When the page is complete a sample sheet is printed out and checked for errors. A papier-mâché sheet is then beaten against the completed layout to form a mold (called a ‘flong’) which in turn is used to cast a curved metal plate (called a ‘stereotype’) which will pair with a rotary press to print the newspaper page.
Here’s a photo taken at 901 Mission Street of the same equipment being used to cast stereotype plates.
Then … With time running out the finished plate is winched down to the press room below. Tom’s supervisor grabs it and sends it along a conveyor to Tom, waiting at a press. He bolts it into place, jubilant, knowing they’ve pulled it off - the presses start rolling just in time for the day’s last edition.
This 1920s photo taken in the Chronicle’s press room looks from the opposite direction along the plate conveyor seen above. Alongside it are the massive rotary printing presses, 14 of them in a row.
Tom’s celebration is cut short when he sees the front page with a photograph of his son under a huge headline trumpeting the bribery charge.
Ed responds to Lois’s plea for help, driving over to her home - it’s seen several times throughout the movie. The address in the movie is 2370 Del Mar and indeed the front entrance is so numbered.
Then … Ed pulls into the driveway, giving us a wider view of the home’s exterior including an interesting old-style street lamp. There’s an upstairs balcony over the entrance supported by decorative metal posts, seen up close above.
… and Now, the house has hardly changed in over 70 years. Even the street lamp is still there. But it’s not in San Francisco - this is 2370 N. Vermont Avenue in Los Feliz, a hillside neighborhood in the greater Hollywood area of Los Angeles (map). Last sold in 1973 for $80,000, the home is currently valued at over $4 Million.
Then … In another scene we see the entrance from a different angle, revealing more of the house.
… and Now, from here we can see one small change: a pair of railings, matching the original posts in style, have since been added on the steps.
Lois lets him in. She’s in a tizzy as she pours out some startling news. The expansive interiors of the Frazer home were most likely filmed on a sound stage at the General Service Studio in Hollywood (in which case they did a nice job here matching the front door with its sidelites; compare it from the outside in the first image above).
