Movie Tourist: James Stewart

dir. Frank Capra

Despite the title, most of the film was shot on the West Coast. The Washington footage, with the exception of a couple of episodes, was provided by the second unit, and rear-projected on a Hollywood set. Capra was not allowed to film inside the U.S. Senate chamber at the Capitol, so it was meticulously reproduced in Hollywood.

Jefferson Smith (James Stewart) arrives in Washington – Union Station, 701 1st Street NE, Washington DC. The film offers a rare glimpse of the original station, when up to 200,000 people were passing through it on a single day. Union Station went into decline in the 1960s, and was repurposed into the National Visitor Center in the 1970s. The center was never popular, and the deteriorating structure was declared unsafe and closed to the public in 1981. The same year, Congress decided to restore Union Station rather than demolishing it. The station was closed for restoration for most of the decade and reopened in its present form in 1988.

Smith's tour of Washington:

U.S. Supreme Court, 1 First Street NE, Washington, DC.

The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC.

U.S. Capitol, East Capitol Street NE and 1st Street SE, Washington, DC.

Washington Monument, National Mall, Washington, DC.

Tomb of the Unknowns, Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia.

Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia.

Smith visits the Lincoln Memorial, Lincoln Memorial Circle SW, Washington, DC. The National Park Service didn’t allow Capra to film inside the Memorial. The director sent a big crew to a different site to distract the NPS, and then took James Stewart and a small crew with a hand-held camera into the Memorial to quietly film this scene.

U.S. Capitol (east side), between Northwest and Southwest Drives, Washington, DC.

National Press Club, National Press Building Leasing, 529 14th Street NW, Washington, DC. Although the Washington press corps was initially enthusiastic about the film, and even allowed Capra and his crew to reproduce the interior of the club in full detail, many DC reporters later took offense at the rather unflattering depiction of the press in the movie.

dir. Alfred Hitchcock

Detective Scottie Ferguson (James Stewart) pursuing a criminal - this was filmed on a studio set with rear projection footage added. The Brocklebank Apartments building is visible in the background.

Midge's (Barbara Bel Geddes) apartment - This was filmed on a studio set but the rear projection footage presents a fairly accurate view of Russian Hill from the top of Union Street. It's consistent with the later episode when Scottie drives Midge home and we get a glimpse of the building at 296 Union Street. The house has been torn down and replaced with a new four-story building.

Scottie goes to see Gavin Elster (Tom Hellmore) at the shipyards - The entrance to the paint department at Paramount Studios. Thanks to Stanley Gilbert for the correction.

Ernie's Restaurant where Scottie first sees Madeleine (Kim Novak) – 847 Montgomery Street, San Francisco, California. Ernie's exterior and interior were recreated on a studio set. The restaurant closed in the early 1990s, and now this is some nondescript office building.

Madeleine's home – Brocklebank Apartments, 1000 Mason Street, San Francisco, California

Scottie sees Madeleine entering the back door of Podesta Baldocchi's - Claude Lane looking toward Sutter Street, San Francisco, California. Now these doorways have been bricked over. The store's back entrance was actually at Maiden Lane which is a gated street now.

Scottie watches Madeleine buying a nosegay of flowers - Podesta Baldocchi, 224 Grant Avenue, San Francisco, California. The flower shop since then has moved to 508 Fourth Street.

Scottie follows Madeleine to Mission Dolores – Dolores Street at 16th Street, San Francisco, California

The Mission cemetery

Carlotta Valdes’ grave was a studio prop placed in the cemetery. It became a tourist attraction but was later removed.

Scottie follows Madeleine to the art museum - Palace of the Legion of Honor, Lincoln Park, San Francisco, California

Scottie watches Madeleine walk into the McKittrick Hotel - Portman Mansion, 1007 Gough Street, San Francisco, California. The mansion was torn down shortly after the film was made.

The church across the street was St. Paulus Lutheran Church, 950 Gough Street, San Francisco, California. It burned down in 1995. This rare picture of the church was taken by my friends a few months before the fire.

The Argosy Book Shop was filmed on a studio set. The address is given as 343 Powell but the rear projection footage shows the 200 block of Powell Street.

The shop was based on a real bookstore, the Argonaut Book Shop, then located at 350 Kearny Street. The store since then has moved to 786 Sutter Street.

Scottie drives Midge home - Union Street at Calhoun Terrace, San Francisco, California. The Bay Bridge and Yerba Buena Island are visible in the background.

Madeleine's leap into the Bay – Fort Point, San Francisco, California

Scottie's apartment – 900 Lombard Street, San Francisco, California. The dialogue scene on the porch was actually filmed on a studio set. Update: In 2013, the owner remodeled the apartment entrance and put up a wall in front of it.

Scottie and Madeleine among the redwoods – Big Basin State Park, Boulder Creek, California

The redwood cross-section scene – although such a cross section actually exists in Big Basin, the sequence was shot on a studio set

On the rocky ocean shore – Cypress Point, 17-mile Drive near Carmel, California. The tree seen in the film was put up there by the art director Henry Bumstead to make it easier to match the location footage with that done on the soundstage.

Visiting the old Spanish mission – Mission San Juan Bautista, 406 2nd Street, San Juan Bautista, California

The livery stable at Mission San Juan Bautista

The church and pulpit of Mission San Juan Bautista

The church and bell tower of Mission San Juan Bautista – the bell tower didn't exist at the time of the filming and was added through matte shots.

The current bell tower was built in 1976.

The inquest into Madeleine's death – Plaza Hall, Mission San Juan Bautista

Scottie visting Madeleine's grave – off Linden Avenue in the Cypress Lawn Memorial Park, 1370 El Camino Real, Colma, California. The gravestone was a prop placed there for the filming.

Scottie recovering – St. Joseph's Hospital, 351-355 Buena Vista Avenue, San Francisco, California. It’s a condominium complex now.

Scottie looking at Madeleine's apartment building, with the Fairmont and Mark Hopkins hotels behind him - Mason Street between Sacramento and California Streets, San Francisco, California. The cast and crew stayed at the Fairmont during the filming in San Francisco.

Scottie sees Madeleine's look-alike Judy Barton - Grant Avenue at Post Street, San Francisco, California

Scottie follows Judy to the Empire Hotel – 940 Sutter Street, San Francisco, California. Later called the York Hotel, it underwent another makeover in the mid-2000s, and was renamed...Vertigo! The hotel interiors were filmed on a studio set.

Scottie and Judy strolling – Palace of Fine Arts, 3601 Lyon Street, San Francisco, California

Scottie buys Judy flowers at a stand in front of Gump's - 250 Post Street, San Francisco, California. The store since then has moved to 135 Post Street but the flower stand is still there.