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San Francisco Overview:

San Francisco (1936) was a Black-and-white - Drama Film directed by W.S. Van Dyke and produced by John Emerson.

Academy Awards 1936 --- Ceremony Number 9 (source: AMPAS)

AwardRecipientResult
Best ActorSpencer TracyNominated
Best DirectorW.S. Van DykeNominated
Best WritingRobert HopkinsNominated
Best PictureMetro-Goldwyn-MayerNominated
See More Oscar Winners

San Francisco BlogHub Articles:

6 Day French Noir Fest Coming to San Francisco

By The Lady Eve on Sep 16, 2018 From Lady Eve's Reel Life

French Film Noir Series Focuses on the Frenetic '50s, Including Jeanne Moreau and Jean Gabin Programs My friend Steve Indig, who's been brilliantly managing promotion for Midcentury Productions' film festivals for the past few years, has just announced details of this year's French film noir serie... Read full article

HITCHCOCK & HERRMANN: "NORTH BY NORTHWEST" COMES TO THE SAN FRANCISCO SYMPHONY

By The Lady Eve on Nov 24, 2017 From Lady Eve's Reel Life

On Friday, December 1 and Saturday, December 2, The San Francisco Symphony will present the Alfred Hitchcock blockbuster, North by Northwest, featuring Bernard Herrmann's iconic score. As with all film series presentations, North by Northwest will be screened with its score scrubbed from the soundtr... Read full article

FRENCH NOIR RETURNS TO SAN FRANCISCO NOVEMBER 3

By The Lady Eve on Oct 13, 2017 From Lady Eve's Reel Life

Jean Gabin and Jeanne Moreau in Gas-Oil, screening on "Rare Gabin Saturday," Nov. 4 4 DAYS/13 FILMS: "THE FRENCH HAD A NAME FOR IT 4" San Francisco's venerable Roxie Theater will host the 4th installment of THE FRENCH HAD A NAME FOR IT, a leading-edge festival of French film noir pioneered... Read full article

The San Francisco Silent Film Festival: GET YOUR MAN (1927) and the Importance of Film Preservation

By Lara on Jun 12, 2017 From Backlots

The Castro district of San Francisco filled with silent film fans from around the world June 1-4, as the San Francisco Silent Film Festival kicked off for the 22nd year in a row. As loyal readers of this blog know, the San Francisco Silent Film Festival is a particular favorite of mine. The atmosphe... Read full article

A Rare Noir is Good to Find 2, San Francisco's Second International Film Noir Festival - Coming in May

By The Lady Eve on Apr 25, 2017 From Lady Eve's Reel Life

For four days in May, twelve mostly rare films noir from eleven countries around the world will screen at San Francisco's Roxie Theater in the heart of the city's Mission District. The event, A Rare Noir is Good to Find 2, is the second international film noir festival to be presented at the Roxie b... Read full article

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San Francisco Quotes:

Mary Blake: I'm going to stay.
Father Mullin: That's right. You're in probably the wickedest, most corrupt city, most Godless city in America. Sometimes it frightens me. I wonder what the end's going to be. But nothing can harm you if you don't allow it to because nothing in the world, no one in the world, is all bad.
Jack Burley: One never knows where one's gonna find talent.
Blackie Norton: No, no, one never does, does one?
[first lines]
Blackie Norton: Well sister, what's your racket?
Mary Blake: I'm a singer!
Blackie Norton: Let's see your legs!
Mary Blake: I said, I'm a singer!
Blackie Norton: Alright, let's see your legs!
[pointing at necklace]
Blackie Norton: Hey. I thought I told you not to wear that thing.
Trixie: Ah gee, honey, I think it's nice.
Blackie Norton: Yeah? Well I think it makes you look cheap!
[Rips it off of her]
Blackie Norton: Now don't wear it anymore. Blackie doesn't like it.
Jack Burley: [referring to Mary Blake] Well, there's no law against an opera singer being slender, young and beautiful.
See More Quotes from San Francisco
San Francisco Facts
Al Shean (born Adolph Schoenberg), who plays the Professor in the film was once half of one of the most popular teams in vaudeville - Gallagher and Shean. He was also the younger brother of Minnie Marx, the matriarch of The Marx Brothers clan, and was instrumental in writing many of the first sketches that his madcap nephews first performed on the vaudeville circuit before their enormous success on Broadway and in Hollywood.
The comment that Spencer Tracy makes about the "Rooney kid" is an ad-lib (watch Jeanette MacDonald's expression reacting to it). Tracy had worked with Mickey Rooney earlier that year in Riffraff and knew that director W.S. Van Dyke abhorred retakes, priding himself on bringing in productions fast and under budget - hence his nickname, "One-Take Woody".
Jeanette MacDonald's older sister, Blossom Rock, signed with MGM and was given the name Marie Blake. Jeanette's character in San Francisco was named Mary Blake. Her sister used the name Blossom Rock when she played Grandma Addams on The Addams Family.
One of Mary's opera gowns was later used for "Glinda" in The Wizard of Oz.
Spencer Tracy, playing a priest, makes a note to himself in one scene, "That Rooney kid skipped Mass again..." Two years later, he again plays a priest in Boys Town and is charged with reforming a boy played by Mickey Rooney.
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