IMDb RATING
7.2/10
6.1K
YOUR RATING
A Barbary Coast saloonkeeper and a Nob Hill impresario are rivals for the affections of a beautiful singer, both personally and professionally, in 1906 San Francisco.A Barbary Coast saloonkeeper and a Nob Hill impresario are rivals for the affections of a beautiful singer, both personally and professionally, in 1906 San Francisco.A Barbary Coast saloonkeeper and a Nob Hill impresario are rivals for the affections of a beautiful singer, both personally and professionally, in 1906 San Francisco.
- Won 1 Oscar
- 3 wins & 6 nominations total
Charles Judels
- Tony
- (as Charles Judells)
Warren Hymer
- Hazeltine
- (as Warren B. Hymer)
- Director
- W.S. Van Dyke(uncredited)
- Writers
- Anita Loos
- Robert E. Hopkins
- Herman J. Mankiewicz(uncredited)
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaClark Gable did not want to make this film but he was at the mercy of MGM studio head Louis B. Mayer, who had just paid off one of his numerous paramours.
- GoofsAs Blackie walks away from a building being blown up (actually a process shot), Clark Gable's head becomes momentarily transparent.
- Quotes
Jack Burley: [referring to Mary Blake] Well, there's no law against an opera singer being slender, young and beautiful.
- Crazy creditsPrologue: "San Francisco--guardian of the Golden Gate--stands today a Queen among seaports--industrious, mature, respectable. But perhaps she dreams of the Queen and city she was--splendid and sensuous, vulgar, and magnificent--that perished suddenly with a cry still heard in the hearts of those who knew her, at exactly 5:15 a.m. April 18, 1906."
- Alternate versionsAfter initial premiere, the manager of the Paramount Theater in San Francisco added to the downbeat ending a few shots showing the Golden Gate Bridge being built. Seeing the positive public reaction, MGM decided to have the sequence added to all other prints in release.
- ConnectionsEdited into What Price Safety! (1938)
- SoundtracksSan Francisco
(1936)
Music by Bronislau Kaper and Walter Jurmann
Lyrics by Gus Kahn
Played during the opening credits and often in the score
Sung by Jeanette MacDonald (uncredited)
Reprised by her and others at a political rally and at the end
Featured review
Gable, MacDonald, and Tracy as San Francisco topples around them
As in the '70s, disaster films were all the rage in the '30s, with "Hurricane," "The Rains Came," "In Old Chicago," and, of course, 1936's "San Francisco" which certainly sent the other studios running to destroy anything they could. The film stars Clark Gable, Jeannette MacDonald, and Spencer Tracy as three citizens of that beautiful city on April 18, 1906, when the big earthquake struck.
Gable plays Blackie Norton, a quintessential role for him - a tough, charming rogue who runs The Paradise Club. MacDonald is the lovely and talented Mary Black who arrives there looking for work, and Spencer Tracy is Father Tim, who is Blackie's conscience (so he ignores him) and Mary's moral compass. Mary is torn between two loves - her love for Blackie and her love for opera. Burley (Jack Holt) wants her contract from Blackie so he can star her at the Tivoli Opera, but in all things, she suppresses her own desires so that she can stay with Blackie. She finally does leave but returns...only to leave again after an ugly confrontation between Blackie and Father Tim. Things get a lot uglier at an annual contest - and that's when the chandelier starts moving back and forth.
It's amazing what the films in the pre-computer age were able to do with special effects because the earthquake in "San Francisco" is dazzling, spectacular, and downright scary. Given the horrors of 9/11 and Katrina, one is drawn into the devastation and suffering as people search for loved ones, watch their houses fall, go crazy, and see their beloved city dynamited because there's no water to stop the raging fires. 70 years later, it's all way too close to home.
As good as he always was with Gable, Spencer Tracy did not have much of a role as the good father, but he's excellent. MacDonald poses a problem. Normally, she plays a diva or spitfire, and she did those roles beautifully. But Mary Blake is a modest and religious woman who speaks softly and sublimates her own desires for the man she loves. It doesn't ring true, and it doesn't work opposite the volatile Blackie of Gable's. If Mary had been more like other roles she played, MacDonald probably would have had good chemistry with him. As it is, they don't make much of a couple. Her singing is pretty until she hits the opera stage - with the combination of the tinny sound system in those days and the way women were trained on high notes then, the end result isn't good. She sings "The Jewel Song," which she often did in concert, the finale of "Faust," and "Sempre Libera." MacDonald was a lyric coloratura and suited to the demands of the opera stage in the '30s, but today she sounds dated as standards have changed.
This is a great film to see to appreciate the artistry of the early technicians. The effects in "San Francisco" hold up against anything that came 40 years later. The ending is pure Hollywood hokum, but very stirring. It gave this viewer goosebumps. Don't miss Hollywood at its very best.
Gable plays Blackie Norton, a quintessential role for him - a tough, charming rogue who runs The Paradise Club. MacDonald is the lovely and talented Mary Black who arrives there looking for work, and Spencer Tracy is Father Tim, who is Blackie's conscience (so he ignores him) and Mary's moral compass. Mary is torn between two loves - her love for Blackie and her love for opera. Burley (Jack Holt) wants her contract from Blackie so he can star her at the Tivoli Opera, but in all things, she suppresses her own desires so that she can stay with Blackie. She finally does leave but returns...only to leave again after an ugly confrontation between Blackie and Father Tim. Things get a lot uglier at an annual contest - and that's when the chandelier starts moving back and forth.
It's amazing what the films in the pre-computer age were able to do with special effects because the earthquake in "San Francisco" is dazzling, spectacular, and downright scary. Given the horrors of 9/11 and Katrina, one is drawn into the devastation and suffering as people search for loved ones, watch their houses fall, go crazy, and see their beloved city dynamited because there's no water to stop the raging fires. 70 years later, it's all way too close to home.
As good as he always was with Gable, Spencer Tracy did not have much of a role as the good father, but he's excellent. MacDonald poses a problem. Normally, she plays a diva or spitfire, and she did those roles beautifully. But Mary Blake is a modest and religious woman who speaks softly and sublimates her own desires for the man she loves. It doesn't ring true, and it doesn't work opposite the volatile Blackie of Gable's. If Mary had been more like other roles she played, MacDonald probably would have had good chemistry with him. As it is, they don't make much of a couple. Her singing is pretty until she hits the opera stage - with the combination of the tinny sound system in those days and the way women were trained on high notes then, the end result isn't good. She sings "The Jewel Song," which she often did in concert, the finale of "Faust," and "Sempre Libera." MacDonald was a lyric coloratura and suited to the demands of the opera stage in the '30s, but today she sounds dated as standards have changed.
This is a great film to see to appreciate the artistry of the early technicians. The effects in "San Francisco" hold up against anything that came 40 years later. The ending is pure Hollywood hokum, but very stirring. It gave this viewer goosebumps. Don't miss Hollywood at its very best.
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- blanche-2
- May 5, 2006
- How long is San Francisco?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Grad greha
- Filming locations
- San Francisco, California, USA(background footage)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $1,300,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 55 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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