Between the Golden Gate and Alcatraz, these films shot in San Francisco
As early as 1897, the San Francisco Bay Area was being explored by American operators in search of images. These images revealed the city's coastal and urban landscapes, particularly the Golden Gate and Alcatraz. These two iconic monuments of the region, both completed in the 1930s, are instantly immortalized by the seventh art. The majestic bridge, inaugurated in 1937, appeared in The Maltese Falcon (1941), a film noir classic starring Humphrey Bogart. Since then, the Golden Gate has appeared regularly in film and television. Filmmakers even take great pleasure in destroying it with superheroes(Superman, 1978, X-Men: The Final Confrontation, 2006), legendary monsters(Godzilla, 2014, Pacific Rim, 2013 or The Monster Came from the Sea, a monster movie classic from 1955), and even showers of objects and creatures (in Sharknado V, 2017, San Andreas, 2015 or Terminator: Genisys also in 2015). Alongside this joyous destruction, the Golden Gate appears in Dangerously Yours (1985), the fourteenth episode in the James Bond saga, in Eye for an Eye (1981) with Chuck Norris, in Star Trek in 1986 and 2009, and in numerous animated films such as Soul (2020), The Mitchells vs. the Machines (2021) and The New Heroes (2014), where the city has become a hybrid between East and West called San Fransokyo. But the finest shots of the steel giant and his adopted city are surely to be found in Vertigo (1958), one of Alfred Hitchcock's many masterpieces. A film shot in the four corners of the city, with James Stewart and Kim Novak in the lead roles. Among the skyscrapers and along San Francisco's iconic apartments, you'll recognize the Palace of Fine Arts, the Conservatory of Flowers, the Legion of Honor and several hotels and cafés, including the Fairmont Hotel, built in 1909. If you'd like to see all the film locations, you'll need a short day's drive (or a guide).
Alcatraz is the star of several feature films, including Point Blank (1967), The Alcatraz Escapee (1979) with Clint Eastwood, and The Rock (1996) with Sean Connery, Nicolas Cage and Ed Harris. A breathtaking action film by Michael Bay, one of the masters of the Hollywood blockbuster.
Apart from these mythical locations, San Francisco is also the setting for cult films such as Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), starring Robin Williams, Dirty Harry (1971), The Towering Inferno (1974) with Steve McQueen, The Search for Happiness (2006) and the more recent Matrix Resurrections (2021), as well as more anecdotal works such as George of the Jungle (1997), Ant-Man (2014) and Sonic (2020).
On the series side
On the small screen, San Francisco appears in The Doris Day Show (1968-69), when the protagonist decides to try her luck again in a big city, rural life having failed her. Later, the sitcom Full House(1987-1995 ) set its story in the city, even though it was mostly shot in a studio. This internationally acclaimed series, broadcast in France in the late 1990s, notably revealed the twins Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. In the early 2000s, San Francisco was once again in the spotlight in Monk (2002-2009), a multi-Emmy Award-winning crime drama featuring the character of Adrian Monk, a private detective with a mental disorder. Take a stroll along the Embarcadero and you'll be immersed in an atmosphere both tender and eerie. More recently, the series Silicon Valley (2014-2019) and The Good Doctor (2017-) each feature the city in images, although the latter series is mainly filmed at San José's St. Bonaventure Hospital, a few miles to the south.
On the platforms, Netflix series Sense8 (2015-2018) and The OA (2016-2019) have both made a stop in San Francisco. In The OA, it's the Nob Hill neighborhood and the magnificent staircases of Sixteenth Avenue that you can discover, while Sense8 takes you along the walkways of Dolores Park, to the top of Twin Peaks and to the Castro Theatre, one of the city's finest cinemas, which incidentally celebrated its hundredth anniversary in 2022. The perfect place to end your wanderings and settle down to a good movie.
Being a Cinephile in San Francisco
With 103 screens in 35 cinemas, the city is sure to turn the heads of any seventh-art enthusiast. Small exhibitors share the audience with large 4D and IMAX complexes, while offering a varied selection of national and international cinema. Indulge in the comfort of the Foreign Cinema, with its oysters and food menu that perfectly match their programming, or marvel at the sumptuous façades of the Balboa, Presidio or Century, before plunging into their darkened rooms. Summer's mild climate also makes for numerous outdoor screenings, of which those in Dolores Park are undoubtedly the most popular. In early May, the San Francisco International Film Festival, the oldest in the United States, was founded in 1957. As for theatres, you'll find these films in the Castro, Vogue, Roxie and Victoria cinemas, which each year dress up in the colors of the event. Last but not least, a trip to San Francisco would not be complete without a stop at the city's two film museums: the Walt Disney Family Museum in the Presidio, dedicated to the life and work of Walt Disney, and the San Francisco Film Museum. Keep an eye out for the SFMoMA's programming and temporary exhibitions, too, as this museum is one of the city's seventh art hotspots, ideal for film lovers of all genres and backgrounds.
