10 Quintessentially
SAN FRANCISCO MOVIES
Who doesn't love movies? Most
know that Mumbai (Bombay), then Los Angeles are the top two places
where movies are made.* But San Francisco certainly holds its own among
film sites with cinephiles.
The San Francisco International
Film Festival, the nation's oldest, brings 200 often rare
treats for our viewing pleasure every April. We host the only festival on the planet spotlighting the
great genre of film
noir. Just the titles of some of the dozen other film
festivals in and around the city demonstrate the diversity of perspectives
and communities here: Lesbian & Gay, Asian American,
Jewish, Black, American Indian, Buddhist, Tranny, Madcap Women's, Sex Workers, Human Rights Watch International, Silent, Bicycle, Canine.
In some unique movies, the city's physical and cultural landscape
play a leading role. My criteria for this short list? Films worth your
time and attention, but more importantly stories and, or characters
that would have been fatally compromised if set in Manhattan, LA, New
Orleans, or Vancouver.
__Vertigo
(1957). Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Stars Jimmy Stewart,
Kim Novak, Barbara Bel Geddes. An elusive woman becomes an ex-cop's
obsession. (We do both a half-day San Francisco-only version of a tour
whereby you see most of the extant sites, and a full-day version that
takes us down to the quiet historic town of San Juan Bautista.) A Friend
in Town pays tribute to Hitchcock's "The Birds" with its tour to Bodega/Bay,
which can include cruising en route through the Santa Rosa neighborhood
of Hitch’s personal favorite, "Shadow of a Doubt."
__The Rock (1996) and Escape from Alcatraz
(1979), one starring Nicolas Cage (whose uncle Francis Ford
Coppola has a beautiful historic winery 90 minutes north of the city),
the other Clint Eastwood (born across the Bay in Oakland). Both are
prison break stories, but 4 million visitors know that Alcatraz is
sited unlike any other Federal facility.
__Dirty Harry (1971) and its sequels. Also starring
Clint Eastwood, as a maverick cop tracking a serial killer.
__The Joy Luck Club (1993) and Flower Drum
Song (1961), the former based on a best-selling novel about
four women's experiences in leaving China and creating new lives in a new
world, the second a popular musical set in an exotic Chinatown. Those
looking to get a light, comic yet insightful view of this unique neighborhood,
should seek out William Wang's "Chan is Missing," "Dim Sum," and "Eat
a Bowl of Tea."
__Bullitt (1968). Stars Steve McQueen as a cop who
follows a trail of malfeasance from the ladies-who-lunch to San Francisco's
city hospital. Includes a famous car chase down and around several really
steep streets—a scene that trashed 7 Mustangs before completion.
__Mrs. Doubtfire (1993). Stars Robin Williams (a transplant,
now local) in a farce that most kids (and some grown-ups) have to
watch at least twice. The outdoor scenes were actually filmed in North
Beach and Pacific Heights… unlike "Pacific Heights,"the pretty good
movie with Micheal Keaton et. al., that used a house far from Pacific
Heights. Harvey Fierstein and Sally Field add spice to the plot.
__Tales of the City (1993) and its sequels. Based
on a wildly popular serialized novel by Armistead Maupin, it gives
glimpses of a newly emergent gay lifestyle, from one
of those hidden streets that make ordinary life for some San Franciscans extraordinary.
__San Francisco (1936). Stars the Julie Andrews of
her age, Jeannette MacDonald, plus Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy (who'd be
back to star in Stanley Kramer's ground-breaking "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?," also set in the city).
You get catastrophic earthquakes many places, but few come with
melodrama and leave a city’s official anthem in their wake: "San Francisco,
open your Golden Gate!"
__The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill (2003). Stars
a noisy flock of red-head conures and their eccentric caretaker, Mark
Bittner who helps us get to know and love their idiosyncrasies. He
later married the filmmaker.
So why not include other obvious candidates like "The Presidio"?
Because I think that the plot would have worked with any residential
military base. "Sister Act"? Any underpopulated Catholic
church? What about the wonderful classics "American Grafitti," "The Graduate," "Play Misty for Me" (Eastwood's directorial
debut)? They weren't filmed in the city, but nearby—respectively in
Petaluma, Berkeley and the Monterey Peninsula. Did I overlook "Full
House," "Nash Bridges," "The Streets of San Francisco"? All
popular. All TV series, not feature-length movies.
Should you crave a complete listing of San Francisco movies screened
nationally in commercial release, check out www.sfgov.org/site/filmcomm.
One that I thought had the visual power of the masterpiece "Night
of the Hunter" (1955) is "Thieves' Highway" (1949), brought to us last year by Noir City. Filmed
at the old produce market when it was an Italian-American enterprise and starring
the luminous Valentina Cortesa, ask for it at a DVD store that is willing
to search.
That's my list. Agree or disagree. But do visit this photogenic city—for
a tour, an exploratory walk, a film festival.
-Jesse W. for A Friend in Town,
http://www.toursanfranciscobay.com
 
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