Virtual Vertigo Tour: Part Ten

After wining and dining Judy, Scotty convinces her to ditch work the next day so they can wander around the Palace of Fine Arts:


Click on the picture for a pinpoint location in Google Maps.



... and go shopping in Union Square- on Post Street to be precise. First we stop at a flower stand (which is still in the same location today on the right side), and then we cross the street to Ransohoffs Boutique (which is currently vacant, according to the Google StreetView image) to buy Judy a gray "Madeleine Suit."


Click on the picture for a pinpoint location in Google Maps.



And that, my friends, is the last San Francisco location in the film. Thank you for coming along with me on this Virtual Vertigo Tour. Now get out there and see the actual locations!

Virtual Vertigo Tour: Part Nine

After Scotty leaves the Sanitarium, he retraces Madeleine's steps. He ends up back at the flower shop on Grant Avenue and he just happens to spot the darker haired Judy Barton (AKA Madeleine Elster) for the first time.


Click on the picture for a pinpoint location on Google Maps.



The camera pans to reveal the rest of the block:


Click on the picture for a pinpoint location on Google Maps.



Scotty then follows Judy to her residence at the Empire Hotel (now the York Hotel):


Click on the picture for a pinpoint location on Google Maps.

Virtual Vertigo Tour: Part Eight

After Madeleine jumps out of the bell tower at Mission San Juan Bautista, Scotty begins his descent into "acute melancholia, together with a guilt complex." He checks into this sanitarium at 351 Buena Vista Avenue East, which is now an apartment complex. You can live there!


Click the picture for a pinpoint location on Google Maps.



After Midge (Barbara Bel Geddes), Scotty's friend, gives up on him at the sanitarium, Hitchcock throws in a nice panorama of San Francisco as seen from the top of Twin Peaks to create a thematic break in the movie.

Unfortunately, the Google Van didn't think it necessary to actually drive all the way up to the vantage point:




Click here for a panoramic view of San Francisco in 1958!

Virtual Vertigo Tour: Part Seven

Today we're starting our tour at Union Square, the corner of Geary and Stockton to be precise.


Click the photo for a pinpoint location on Google Maps.



There's no reason why this shot of Union Square is in the movie except that it's a picturesque place to show dawn breaking. This is the morning that Madeleine shows up at Scotty's apartment and convinces him to take her for a ride to Mission San Juan Bautista- where she (spoiler alert) ends up jumping out of the bell tower.

Virtual Vertigo Tour: Part Six

Today we're taking the scenic route. After leaving the Legion of Honor the second time in the film, Kim Novak's character Madeleine Elster drives East on El Camino Del Mar:


Click the photo for a pinpoint location on Google Maps.



Taking the longer way around through the Richmond District and entering the Presidio at the Presidio Street entrance (instead of just entering at 25th avenue, where they just were):


Click the photo for a pinpoint location on Google Maps.



Making their way down to Fort Point Rd (apparently now called Long Avenue and Marine Drive):


Click the photo for a pinpoint location on Google Maps.




Click the photo for a pinpoint location on Google Maps.



... to arrive at our destination, just below the Golden Gate Bridge at Fort Point, where Madeleine throws herself into the bay while entranced by the spirit of Carlotta Valdes:


Click the photo for a pinpoint location on Google Maps.

And here it is as Hitchcock framed it (I'm starting to think the Google folks were inspired by Hitch):

Virtual Vertigo Tour: Part Five

After leaving the Mission Dolores, Scotty continues to follow Madeleine on her cruise through The City (that's what us Bay Area folks call San Francisco)...

On our way to the next stop, Madeleine makes an illegal left turn onto Market Street from Castro Street, heading West:


Click the photo for a pinpoint location on Google Maps.




Notice the "No Left Turn" sign on the right side of the picture.

And now we're driving west on 17th street near Diamond:


Click the photo for a pinpoint location on Google Maps.



And finally we arrive at our destination; The California Palace of the Legion of Honor:


Click the photo for a pinpoint location on Google Maps.



Madeleine is clearly not in her right mind. Here we see her parked on the lawn.

Virtual Vertigo Tour: Part Four

For our last stop of the day, we bring you to Mission Dolores, the location where Madeleine Elster (Kim Novak) went to visit the grave of her alter-ego Carlotta Valdes.

It looks like the Google photo vehicle didn't make it down that one block of Dolores, but this shot from 16th street is pretty close:

Click the photo for a pinpoint location on Google Maps.




Click the photo for a pinpoint location on Google Maps.

Virtual Vertigo Tour: Part Three

Driving down Bush Street, Madeleine takes a right down Grant Avenue. At the intersection, if you look to your left, you'll see the famous entrance to Chinatown.


Click the photo for a pinpoint location on Google Maps.



Now we're driving the wrong way down Grant to take a left into the alley where the back of the flower shop is located. Notice that the lamp posts are the only things that are familiar about the 1958 version of this street. In reality, the alley that Madeleine turns down isn't the alley that she ends up in, and is a few blocks behind her:


Click the photo for a pinpoint location on Google Maps.



After warping space through the magic of film editing, Madeleine arrives at Claude Lane, and the rear entrance to the flower shop where she buys the bouquet of flowers to take to our destination in Part Four.


Click the photo for a pinpoint location on Google Maps.



For this post, I referenced Vertigo... Then and Now quite a bit. It's a great resource and I heartily recommend it for more factoids about the locations of Vertigo.

Virtual Vertigo Tour: Part Two

For our second stop on the virtual tour, we've arrived at 1000 Mason Street- The location of the Brocklebank Apartments, home of Gavin and Madeleine Elster (Tom Helmore and Kim Novak), where Scotty first picks up Madeleine's trail:


Click the photo for a pinpoint location on Google Maps.

And as seen in the film:

Virtual Vertigo Tour: Part One

Well, since Google released the Street View feature on Google Maps and shattered any sense of privacy I might have had, I figured I'd take advantage of the information that's out there and post a virtual tour of San Francisco as seen in Hitchcock's Vertigo (1958)...

Although it's not the first notable location in the film, it is the first location that I found on Google Maps and the inspiration for this project. Our first stop, Detective John "Scotty" Ferguson's (James Stewart) apartment:


Click the photo for a pinpoint location on Google Maps.

And here is how it looked in the film. It's cool that Google got almost the exact same angle in their drive-by:





Other Vertigo location websites you might want to check out:
Vertigo... Then and Now
Film in America: Vertigo
Vertigo Movie Tour of San Francisco
Vertigo (a fan's photo tour of SF)