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San Francisco (film)
Encyclopedia
San Francisco is a 1936
musical
-drama
directed by Woody Van Dyke, based on the April 18, 1906 San Francisco earthquake
. The film, which was the top grossing movie of that year, stars Clark Gable
, Jeanette MacDonald
, and Spencer Tracy
. The then very popular singing of MacDonald helped make this film a hit, coming on the heels of her other 1936 blockbuster, Rose Marie
. The Internet Movie Database
reports that famous silent film
directors D. W. Griffith
and Erich von Stroheim
contributed to the screenplay without screen credit. Griffith also helped direct the famous earthquake sequence.
), a saloonkeeper and gambler in the notorious Barbary Coast
, owns the Paradise Club on Pacific Street. He hires a promising but impoverished classically-trained singer from Benson, Colorado named Mary Blake (Jeanette MacDonald
), who becomes a star attraction at the Paradise. The Professor (Al Shean
) can tell Mary has a professionally trained voice. Mat (Ted Healy) feels Mary is not going to stay on the "Coast." Complications arise when she is offered an opportunity to sing in the opera. Mary is hired by the Tivoli Opera House on Market Street. She becomes involved with Nob Hill scion Jack Burley (Jack Holt
). Meanwhile, Blackie's childhood friend, Roman Catholic Father Tim Mullen (Spencer Tracy
), keeps trying to reform him, while the other nightclub owners attempt to convince Norton to run for the City and County of San Francisco Board of Supervisors in order to protect their crooked interests.
Norton knocks out a heckler during a speech in Golden Gate Park
. Blackie wants to stop Mary singing at the Tivoli, he hears her and does not stop the opera. Mary meets Burley's mother (Jessie Ralph
) at her Nob Hill mansion. She tells Mary, she started out as Massie, the washerwoman in 1850 on Portsmouth Square
; then, she married the elder Burley. Despite Father Tim's best efforts, Blackie remains a jaunty Barbary Coast atheist. However, Father Tim tells Mary that the new church organ was paid for by Blackie.
Mary returns to the Paradise and is dressed in a skimpy fashion; Father Tim takes her from the Paradise and Blackie. On order of Burley, April 17, 1906 the San Francisco Police Department
padlocks the Paradise. Mary sings the song San Francisco and wins the Chicken's Ball for the Paradise; Blackie refuses the prize money. Then, at 5:13 a.m. April 18, 1906, the earthquake hits and then the fires erupt. The water mains are broken. Mat has been taken from the destroyed Hall of Justice on Washington Street; a nurse tells Blackie, Mat will not survive, as Mat says he was wrong about Mary. Blackie goes to Nob Hill and sees Mrs. Burley (she senses her son has died, and Blackie saw the dead Burley) as the US Army troops from the Presidio
prepare to blow up the mansions as firebreaks. Father Tim takes Blackie to Golden Gate Park
. Blackie sinks to his knees and finds God upon discovering that Mary survived. Men yell, "The fire's out!" and "We'll build a new San Francisco!" The people (a surprisingly multi-racial group, given the era of the film) march from Golden Gate Park
, arm-in-arm, singing the Battle Hymn of the Republic, and the smoldering ruins dissolve into the "modern" San Francisco of the mid 1930's.
barroom set was built on a special platform that rocked and shook to simulate the historical temblor. (Similar sets were built for the 1974 disaster film Earthquake).
There are two versions of the ending. The original release features a stylish montage of then-current (1936) scenes of a bustling San Francisco, including Market Street and the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge
. When the film was re-released in 1948, it was thought these scenes were dated and the film fades out on a single long shot of the modern business district. However, the TV and 16mm versions of the film seen in the 1950s and 60s were struck from the original version which includes the montage. The current DVD and cable version features the shorter, 1948 version.
Gable and Tracy also made two other films together, Test Pilot
and Boom Town
, before Tracy eventually insisted on the same top billing clause in his MGM contract that Gable had enjoyed, effectively ending the American cinema's most famous screen team.
Gable had played a similar character also named "Blackie" two years earlier in the smash hit gangster epic Manhattan Melodrama
, with William Powell
and Myrna Loy
.
may be the best-remembered part of the film. It was composed by Bronislaw Kaper
and Walter Jurmann
, with lyrics by Gus Kahn
. It is sung by Jeanette MacDonald a half-dozen times in the film, and becomes an anthem for the survivors of the earthquake. It has now a popular sentimental sing-along at public events such as the city's annual earthquake commemoration, as well as one of two official city songs, along with "I Left My Heart in San Francisco
".
Early in the film the song "The Darktown Strutters Ball" can be heard; this is a historically inaccurate inclusion, since the song was written in 1917.
During the two operatic scenes in the film, MacDonald sang excerpts from Charles Gounod
's Faust
and Giuseppe Verdi
's La Traviata
.
1936 in film
The year 1936 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*May 29 - Fritz Lang's first Hollywood film Fury, starring Spencer Tracy and Bruce Cabot, is released.*November 6 - first Porky Pig animated cartoon...
musical
Musical film
The musical film is a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, though in some cases they serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate...
-drama
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
directed by Woody Van Dyke, based on the April 18, 1906 San Francisco earthquake
1906 San Francisco earthquake
The San Francisco earthquake of 1906 was a major earthquake that struck San Francisco, California, and the coast of Northern California at 5:12 a.m. on Wednesday, April 18, 1906. The most widely accepted estimate for the magnitude of the earthquake is a moment magnitude of 7.9; however, other...
. The film, which was the top grossing movie of that year, stars Clark Gable
Clark Gable
William Clark Gable , known as Clark Gable, was an American film actor most famous for his role as Rhett Butler in the 1939 Civil War epic film Gone with the Wind, in which he starred with Vivien Leigh...
, Jeanette MacDonald
Jeanette MacDonald
Jeanette MacDonald was an American singer and actress best remembered for her musical films of the 1930s with Maurice Chevalier and Nelson Eddy...
, and Spencer Tracy
Spencer Tracy
Spencer Bonaventure Tracy was an American theatrical and film actor, who appeared in 75 films from 1930 to 1967. Tracy was one of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, ranking among the top ten box office draws for almost every year from 1938 to 1951...
. The then very popular singing of MacDonald helped make this film a hit, coming on the heels of her other 1936 blockbuster, Rose Marie
Rose Marie (films)
The 1924 Broadway musical Rose-Marie has been the basis of three MGM films of the same title. The best-known film adaptation was released in 1936; however, a silent version was released in 1928 and another film was released in 1954. All three versions are set in the Canadian wilderness...
. The Internet Movie Database
Internet Movie Database
Internet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
reports that famous silent film
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
directors D. W. Griffith
D. W. Griffith
David Llewelyn Wark Griffith was a premier pioneering American film director. He is best known as the director of the controversial and groundbreaking 1915 film The Birth of a Nation and the subsequent film Intolerance .Griffith's film The Birth of a Nation made pioneering use of advanced camera...
and Erich von Stroheim
Erich von Stroheim
Erich von Stroheim was an Austrian-born film star of the silent era, subsequently noted as an auteur for his directorial work.-Background:...
contributed to the screenplay without screen credit. Griffith also helped direct the famous earthquake sequence.
Plot summary
"Blackie" Norton (Clark GableClark Gable
William Clark Gable , known as Clark Gable, was an American film actor most famous for his role as Rhett Butler in the 1939 Civil War epic film Gone with the Wind, in which he starred with Vivien Leigh...
), a saloonkeeper and gambler in the notorious Barbary Coast
Barbary Coast, San Francisco, California
Barbary Coast was a red-light district in old San Francisco, California. Geographically it constituted nine blocks bounded by Montgomery Street, Washington Street, Stockton Street, and Broadway...
, owns the Paradise Club on Pacific Street. He hires a promising but impoverished classically-trained singer from Benson, Colorado named Mary Blake (Jeanette MacDonald
Jeanette MacDonald
Jeanette MacDonald was an American singer and actress best remembered for her musical films of the 1930s with Maurice Chevalier and Nelson Eddy...
), who becomes a star attraction at the Paradise. The Professor (Al Shean
Al Shean
Al Shean was the stage name for comedian Abraham Elieser Adolph Schönberg, although other sources give his birth name variously as Adolf Schönberg, Albert Schönberg, or Alfred Schönberg. He is most remembered for being half of the vaudeville team Gallagher and Shean, and as the uncle of the Marx...
) can tell Mary has a professionally trained voice. Mat (Ted Healy) feels Mary is not going to stay on the "Coast." Complications arise when she is offered an opportunity to sing in the opera. Mary is hired by the Tivoli Opera House on Market Street. She becomes involved with Nob Hill scion Jack Burley (Jack Holt
Jack Holt (actor)
Jack Holt was an American motion picture actor. He was a leading man of silent and sound films, and was known for his many roles in Westerns.-Early life:...
). Meanwhile, Blackie's childhood friend, Roman Catholic Father Tim Mullen (Spencer Tracy
Spencer Tracy
Spencer Bonaventure Tracy was an American theatrical and film actor, who appeared in 75 films from 1930 to 1967. Tracy was one of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, ranking among the top ten box office draws for almost every year from 1938 to 1951...
), keeps trying to reform him, while the other nightclub owners attempt to convince Norton to run for the City and County of San Francisco Board of Supervisors in order to protect their crooked interests.
Norton knocks out a heckler during a speech in Golden Gate Park
Golden Gate Park
Golden Gate Park, located in San Francisco, California, is a large urban park consisting of of public grounds. Configured as a rectangle, it is similar in shape but 20% larger than Central Park in New York, to which it is often compared. It is over three miles long east to west, and about half a...
. Blackie wants to stop Mary singing at the Tivoli, he hears her and does not stop the opera. Mary meets Burley's mother (Jessie Ralph
Jessie Ralph
Jessie Ralph was an American stage and screen actress, best known for her matronly roles in many classic motion pictures....
) at her Nob Hill mansion. She tells Mary, she started out as Massie, the washerwoman in 1850 on Portsmouth Square
Portsmouth Square
Portsmouth Square is a one-block park in Chinatown, San Francisco, California, that is bounded by Kearny Street on the east, Washington Street on the north, Clay Street on the south, and Walter Lum Place on the west....
; then, she married the elder Burley. Despite Father Tim's best efforts, Blackie remains a jaunty Barbary Coast atheist. However, Father Tim tells Mary that the new church organ was paid for by Blackie.
Mary returns to the Paradise and is dressed in a skimpy fashion; Father Tim takes her from the Paradise and Blackie. On order of Burley, April 17, 1906 the San Francisco Police Department
San Francisco Police Department
The San Francisco Police Department, also known as the SFPD and San Francisco Department Of Police, is the police department of the City and County of San Francisco, California...
padlocks the Paradise. Mary sings the song San Francisco and wins the Chicken's Ball for the Paradise; Blackie refuses the prize money. Then, at 5:13 a.m. April 18, 1906, the earthquake hits and then the fires erupt. The water mains are broken. Mat has been taken from the destroyed Hall of Justice on Washington Street; a nurse tells Blackie, Mat will not survive, as Mat says he was wrong about Mary. Blackie goes to Nob Hill and sees Mrs. Burley (she senses her son has died, and Blackie saw the dead Burley) as the US Army troops from the Presidio
Presidio of San Francisco
The Presidio of San Francisco is a park on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula in San Francisco, California, within the Golden Gate National Recreation Area...
prepare to blow up the mansions as firebreaks. Father Tim takes Blackie to Golden Gate Park
Golden Gate Park
Golden Gate Park, located in San Francisco, California, is a large urban park consisting of of public grounds. Configured as a rectangle, it is similar in shape but 20% larger than Central Park in New York, to which it is often compared. It is over three miles long east to west, and about half a...
. Blackie sinks to his knees and finds God upon discovering that Mary survived. Men yell, "The fire's out!" and "We'll build a new San Francisco!" The people (a surprisingly multi-racial group, given the era of the film) march from Golden Gate Park
Golden Gate Park
Golden Gate Park, located in San Francisco, California, is a large urban park consisting of of public grounds. Configured as a rectangle, it is similar in shape but 20% larger than Central Park in New York, to which it is often compared. It is over three miles long east to west, and about half a...
, arm-in-arm, singing the Battle Hymn of the Republic, and the smoldering ruins dissolve into the "modern" San Francisco of the mid 1930's.
Production
The earthquake montage sequence was created by montage expert Slavko Vorkapich. The Barbary CoastBarbary Coast
The Barbary Coast, or Barbary, was the term used by Europeans from the 16th until the 19th century to refer to much of the collective land of the Berber people. Today, the terms Maghreb and "Tamazgha" correspond roughly to "Barbary"...
barroom set was built on a special platform that rocked and shook to simulate the historical temblor. (Similar sets were built for the 1974 disaster film Earthquake).
There are two versions of the ending. The original release features a stylish montage of then-current (1936) scenes of a bustling San Francisco, including Market Street and the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge
Golden Gate Bridge
The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the opening of the San Francisco Bay into the Pacific Ocean. As part of both U.S. Route 101 and California State Route 1, the structure links the city of San Francisco, on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula, to...
. When the film was re-released in 1948, it was thought these scenes were dated and the film fades out on a single long shot of the modern business district. However, the TV and 16mm versions of the film seen in the 1950s and 60s were struck from the original version which includes the montage. The current DVD and cable version features the shorter, 1948 version.
Gable and Tracy also made two other films together, Test Pilot
Test Pilot (film)
Test Pilot is a 1938 film directed by Victor Fleming and featuring Clark Gable, Myrna Loy, Spencer Tracy, and Lionel Barrymore. The movie tells the story of a daredevil test pilot , his wife , and his best friend...
and Boom Town
Boom Town (film)
Boom Town is a 1940 adventure drama Hollywood film starring Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, Claudette Colbert, Hedy Lamarr, and Frank Morgan. A story written by James Edward Grant in Cosmopolitan magazine titled "A Lady Comes to Burkburnett" provided the inspiration for the film.-Plot:"Big John"...
, before Tracy eventually insisted on the same top billing clause in his MGM contract that Gable had enjoyed, effectively ending the American cinema's most famous screen team.
Gable had played a similar character also named "Blackie" two years earlier in the smash hit gangster epic Manhattan Melodrama
Manhattan Melodrama
Manhattan Melodrama is a 1934 crime melodrama film, produced by MGM, directed by W. S. Van Dyke, and starring Clark Gable, William Powell, and Myrna Loy...
, with William Powell
William Powell
William Horatio Powell was an American actor.A major star at MGM, he was paired with Myrna Loy in 14 films, including the popular Thin Man series in which Powell and Loy played Nick and Nora Charles...
and Myrna Loy
Myrna Loy
Myrna Loy was an American actress. Trained as a dancer, she devoted herself fully to an acting career following a few minor roles in silent films. Originally typecast in exotic roles, often as a vamp or a woman of Asian descent, her career prospects improved following her portrayal of Nora Charles...
.
Music
The title songTheme from San Francisco
The theme from San Francisco, also known as "San Francisco", was a song from the 1936 American film San Francisco. The song had music written by Bronislaw Kaper and Walter Jurmann, with lyrics by Gus Kahn. The film is set in San Francisco before and after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake...
may be the best-remembered part of the film. It was composed by Bronislaw Kaper
Bronislaw Kaper
Bronisław Kaper was a Polish film composer who scored films and musical theater in Germany, France, and the USA. The American immigration authorities misspelled his name as Bronislau Kaper...
and Walter Jurmann
Walter Jurmann
Walter Jurmann was an Austrian-born composer of popular music renowned for his versatility who, after emigrating to the United States, specialized in film scores and soundtracks....
, with lyrics by Gus Kahn
Gus Kahn
Gustav Gerson Kahn was a musician, songwriter and lyricist.-Biography:Kahn was born in Koblenz, Germany in 1886. The family emigrated from there to the United States and moved to Chicago, Illinois in 1890...
. It is sung by Jeanette MacDonald a half-dozen times in the film, and becomes an anthem for the survivors of the earthquake. It has now a popular sentimental sing-along at public events such as the city's annual earthquake commemoration, as well as one of two official city songs, along with "I Left My Heart in San Francisco
I Left My Heart in San Francisco
"I Left My Heart in San Francisco" is a popular song, written in 1954 by George Cory and Douglass Cross, and best known as the signature song of Tony Bennett...
".
Early in the film the song "The Darktown Strutters Ball" can be heard; this is a historically inaccurate inclusion, since the song was written in 1917.
During the two operatic scenes in the film, MacDonald sang excerpts from Charles Gounod
Charles Gounod
Charles-François Gounod was a French composer, known for his Ave Maria as well as his operas Faust and Roméo et Juliette.-Biography:...
's Faust
Faust (opera)
Faust is a drame lyrique in five acts by Charles Gounod to a French libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré from Carré's play Faust et Marguerite, in turn loosely based on Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust, Part 1...
and Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
's La Traviata
La traviata
La traviata is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on La dame aux Camélias , a play adapted from the novel by Alexandre Dumas, fils. The title La traviata means literally The Fallen Woman, or perhaps more figuratively, The Woman...
.
Academy Awards
The film won one Academy Award and was nominated for five more.| Award | Result | Winner |
|---|---|---|
| Outstanding Production Academy Award for Best Picture The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only... |
MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer... (John Emerson John Emerson (filmmaker) John Emerson was a stage actor, playwright, producer, and director of silent films... and Bernard H. Hyman) Winner was Hunt Stromberg Hunt Stromberg Hunt Stromberg was a film producer during Hollywood's Golden Age. In a prolific 30-year career beginning in 1921, Stromberg produced, wrote, and directed some of Hollywood's most profitable and enduring films, including The Thin Man series, the Nelson Eddy/Jeanette MacDonald operettas, The Women,... (MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer... ) - The Great Ziegfeld The Great Ziegfeld The Great Ziegfeld is a 1936 musical film produced by MGM. A fictionalized biography of Florenz Ziegfeld from his show business beginnings to his death, it showcases a series of spectacular musical productions. The film includes original music by Walter Donaldson and Irving Berlin... |
|
| Best Director | W. S. Van Dyke W. S. Van Dyke Woodbridge Strong "Woody" Van Dyke, Jr. was an American motion picture director.-Early life and career:... Winner was Frank Capra Frank Capra Frank Russell Capra was a Sicilian-born American film director. He emigrated to the U.S. when he was six, and eventually became a creative force behind major award-winning films during the 1930s and 1940s... - Mr. Deeds Goes to Town Mr. Deeds Goes to Town Mr. Deeds Goes to Town is a 1936 American screwball comedy film directed by Frank Capra, and starring Gary Cooper and Jean Arthur in her first featured role... |
|
| Best Actor Academy Award for Best Actor Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry... |
Spencer Tracy Spencer Tracy Spencer Bonaventure Tracy was an American theatrical and film actor, who appeared in 75 films from 1930 to 1967. Tracy was one of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, ranking among the top ten box office draws for almost every year from 1938 to 1951... Winner was Paul Muni Paul Muni Paul Muni was an Austrian-Hungarian-born American stage and film actor... - The Story of Louis Pasteur The Story of Louis Pasteur The Story of Louis Pasteur is a 1936 American biographical film. It starred Paul Muni as the renowned scientist. It was written by Toni Pollastre and Sheridan Gibney, and Edward Chodorov , and directed by William Dieterle.... |
|
| Best Writing (Original Story) Academy Award for Best Story The Academy Award for Best Story was an Academy Award given from the beginning of the Academy Awards until 1957, when it was eliminated in favor of the Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay, which had been introduced in 1940.-1920s:... |
Robert Hopkins Robert Hopkins (screenwriter) Robert E. Hopkins was a screenwriter. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Story for the 1936 film San Francisco.-External links:... Winner was Pierre Collings and Sheridan Gibney - The Story of Louis Pasteur The Story of Louis Pasteur The Story of Louis Pasteur is a 1936 American biographical film. It starred Paul Muni as the renowned scientist. It was written by Toni Pollastre and Sheridan Gibney, and Edward Chodorov , and directed by William Dieterle.... |
|
| Best Assistant Director Academy Award for Best Assistant Director In the first year of this award it referred to no specific film.*1933 winners** Charles Barton ** Rick James ** Charles Dorian ** Fred Fox ** Gordon Hollingshead ** Dewey Starkey... |
Joseph M. Newman Joseph M. Newman Joseph M. Newman was an American film director most famous for his 1955 film This Island Earth. His credits include episodes of The Twilight Zone and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour.... Winner was Jack Sullivan Jack Sullivan Jack Sullivan was an assistant director.He won the Best Assistant Director award at the 9th Academy Awards for The Charge of the Light Brigade.... - The Charge of the Light Brigade The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936 film) The Charge of the Light Brigade is a 1936 historical film made by Warner Bros. It was directed by Michael Curtiz and produced by Samuel Bischoff, with Hal B. Wallis as executive producer, from a screenplay by Michael Jacoby and Rowland Leigh, from a story by Michael Jacoby based on the poem The... |
|
| Best Sound Recording | Douglas Shearer Douglas Shearer Douglas G. Shearer was a Canadian-born pioneer sound designer and recording director who played a key role in the advancement of sound technology for motion pictures.-Early life and career:... |
|
Other awards
| Year | Award | Result | Category | Recipient |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1936 | Photoplay Awards | Won | Medal of Honor | John Emerson John Emerson (filmmaker) John Emerson was a stage actor, playwright, producer, and director of silent films... and Bernard H. Hyman |
External links
- San Francisco at Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy: A Tribute
- San Francisco showing at the Regal Stonehouse Glos 1937