Funny Lady at Oakland 16th Street Station

Another place I worked for many years was the Oakland 16th Street station. I took almost no pictures here - how sad! The only picture I have come up with that was taken when I was here is a screen grab from the movie Funny Lady. Starring Barbra Streisand and James Caan, one scene was filmed at 16th Street in 1974. In the photo, Barbra is sitting on the bench just right of the center. She kept very much to herself, but the other star, James Caan, was very friendly and pleasant. There were several of us Amtrak employees hiding out of camera range. Some of the guys went outside and somehow David Deem got left out there. A major part of the scene being filmed involved James Caan coming out of the Men's room and walking across the way to where Babs is sitting, above. It was a long, slow walk, very dramatic. On the first take, Caan got about two-thirds of the way to Babs when the whole building was suddenly filled with an incredibly loud, raucous noise. No one knew what it was, but the action was stopped and everything was reset. After several minutes, when everything was ready and rolling again, Caan came out and made it just a little further when - BLAAAAAAAHHHHH. It happened again. I don't remember exactly how many times it happened, but as it turned out, there was a buzzer on the back baggage door. David Deem, having been locked out, was pushing the button for the buzzer, something no one had ever done before, so no one knew how unbelievable loud it was! Acclaimed director James Wong Howe, directing his last film, was NOT pleased.
Several of the ladies with whom I worked were heartbroken when I walked back over to where they were standing. I had gone over with my camera (somewhere I have a great shot of James Wong Howe from this shoot) and was chatting with James Caan. We talked for probably an hour altogether while shots were being set up. Caan, not wanting to wrinkle his suit, sort of leaned up against the end of the bench, while I was at the end of it. Apparently from the angle the ladies could see us from, it looked like Caan was sitting on my lap, so they got the idea he was gay! Very amusing, at least to me.