San Francisco – A Film Lovers Paradise
When thinking about San Francisco three things come immediately to mind; The iconic Golden Gate Bridge, epic car chase scenes that seem last a lifetime and Dirty Harry gnarling menacingly at the camera.
This is Hollywood’s San Francisco an amazing place with scenic vistas and classic cars. Although most of those cars are gone, I was glad to see that the cinematic value of the city has not disappeared. From the Presidio to the panoramic view offered by the twin peaks come see why this city has captured the imagination of setters, novelists, outlaws and movie stars.
*Although most of the pictures displayed in this post are my own, I would like to thank my friend Kurt Cummings for sending me a few extras as I had a horrible camera during my visit to San Francisco.
Table of Contents
Arrival In San Francisco
I flew into San Francisco Airport located at the south of the city. The most convenient way to get downtown is to take a taxi, but wanting to save a few dollars I took the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transportation), a train built in the 1970’s to serve the bay area. The yellow line will get you downtown, where the train dips underground. I found it interesting, lots of characters. I’m so used to travelling elsewhere that I forget about some of the weird things you see on public transport in the United States. Don’t forget to get off before the last stop or the train will take you across the bay to Oakland (I was distracted and accidentally did this once).
As a political sidenote: BART suppresses crime statistics for their transit system. Although I felt safe, I could see why some would not.
A Brief History:
Spanish and Mexican Period:
Following the discovery of the San Francisco Bay in 1767 by Spanish explorer Don Gaspar de Portolá, a settlement was established in 1776. The settlement consisted of a mission by the name of Mission Dolores. This was essentially a religious outpost specializing in religious conversions protected by a fort, named the Presidio. Although the settlement was located at an ideal location, on the greatest natural Deepwater bay on the pacific, the settlement grew slowly due to the inhospitable terrain.
In 1821 Mexico became independent from Spain, the land privatized and English speakers began populating the town albeit slowly. William Richardson, an Englishman established the first homestead and established the street grid for the town of Yerba Buena, the forbearer of San Francisco.
In 1846, the Mexican–American War brought an end to the Mexican rule. The city was taken with little effort.
American Era:
The settlement would take off during the California gold rush when prospectors called the Forty-Niners (as in 1849) inundated the town. Almost overnight the population increased from 1000 to 25 000 residents. A port was hastily built on wooden piles and land began being reclaimed from the sea. The completion of the Pacific railroad in 1869 established the city as a large trading center, the city was now moving towards its destiny at a brisk pace as immigrants continued to flood the bay area, many from Asia. Cable cars opened in the 1870’s and the famous San Francisco Victorians began to pop up. By the end of the 19th century the city was one of the largest in the country.
A series of disasters struck the city at the start the 20th century; both a bout of bubonic plague and the 1906 earthquake. The earthquake was the most damaging of the two, destroying three quarters of the city due to subsequent fires caused by a ruptured gas lines. The city was rebuilt in grander style. In 1915 the Panama-Pacific International Exposition prompted the engineering of some of the city’s greatest civil works. During the Great Depression the Golden Gate Bridge as well as Alcatraz was completed and the city once gain held a major international event when it hosted the Worlds Fair in 1940.
During the Second World War many sailors made the city their home, yet after the war the city fell on hard times, with many of the city’s wealthy leaving for the suburbs during the 50’s to the 80’s. On the flip side this period is marked with a new cultural movement, the counterculture! The hippy movement was in full swing, triggering an explosion in California’s music scene. In 1967, the Summer of Love brought thousands of young people to Haight-Ashbury and kickstarted a musical revolution. In the subsequent years, the nearby Castro district became a hotbed for the gay community. Eventually the city began to revitalize and high-rise construction began anew.
In 1989 the city was hit by another earthquake. This destroyed the Embarcadero, a freeway cutting the city off from the waterfront. An urban boulevard was installed in its place reconnecting the historic core to the rest of the city.
The 90’s brought the dot-com boom and the 2000’s the tech boom. Since then the city has intensified heavily and the cost of living increased significantly.
What to do In San Francisco?
The bay area is enormous, as such I recommend doing specific activities in confined areas. That way you will be able to see all the things worth seeing and conserve precious energy. San Francisco, like Rome was built on seven hills, now expanded to 44 and walking up and down those San Francisco hills can prove to be an exhausting journey.
Districts:
Haight-Ashbury and the Panhandle:
I will begin with the Haight district as my two-star hotel was located on nearby historic Oak Street. The neighbourhood is home to many one-hundred year old wooden Victorians. These homes are called the Painted Ladies, and are named after their distinctive bright colours. Once urban blight, they were repainted in the 60’s and are now fashionable. The most famous Painted ladies can be found in Alamo Square. This greenspace offers a wonderful backdrop of the city skyline with some the prettiest row of painted ladies in the foreground. The park was once a watering hole for on the horse route from the Precision to Mission Delores and is named Alamo for the sole cottonwood tree that donned its premise (Alamo is cottonwood in Spanish).
The other major attraction in the area is the hippy paradise of Haight Street. The neighbourhood, once decisively not a hip place to live, was a refuge for counterculture figures who could not afford to live in North Beach. Artists such as the Grateful Dead, Big Brother and the Holding Company, and Jefferson Airplane got their debut here. The street still retains some of its counterculture character including the smell of Marijuana in the air. The street is a major shopping destination and includes many pot shop, arts & crafts stores as well as many record stores. For vinyl lovers, watch out for Amoeba Music and Rasputin in particular, I spent hours browsing. For people looking to listen to bands, not too for from Haight Street is the Historic Fillmore Auditorium, one of the most iconic music venues in Rock and Roll history.
The panhandle is a thin linear park that leads to the much larger Golden Gate Park. Pretty houses line it and a monument to assassinated president William McKinley can be found here.
Japantown & Pacific heights
Japantown is one of the oldest ethnic enclaves in the United States and was at one time the largest Japanese enclave outside of Japan. The Second World War changed the demographics of the neighbourhood as internment camps displaced ethnic Japanese people to land all along the Pacific coastline. After the war many of the district’s residents made the choice not to return. Although much of the historic fabric has been ripped out of the district due to urban renewal, the area has many great shops and restaurants for those interested in Japanese culture.
In contrast Pacific Heights, to the north of Japantown, is the most expensive neighbourhood in the United States. True to its name it sits on a hill overlooking the San Francisco Bay with a view of the Fine Arts Palace and the Golden Gate Bridge. It is in this part of the city that you can see the prettiest historic mansions in the city, with beautiful decorative entrance ways. For movie lovers you can stop by Mrs. Doubtfire House.
Chinatown
When entering Chinatown via Grant Ave you are greeted by a modest, yet elegant, stone portal called the Dragon Gate. I inadvertently stumbled upon the portal on my first evening in town and was pleasantly surprised by the scale of this Chinatown. This historic neighbourhood is the largest Chinese enclave outside of China and it shows. The beautiful old brick buildings have been painted in different colours and orientalized, there are many decoration and signs with mandarin script. This is where Americanized Chinese food was invented and where Asian culture still thrives to this day. I found it to be a bit deserted at night but rather lively during the day.
*** Apparently there is a 19th century vibrator museum on nearby Polk street, I have not attended but I think it would be funny.
North Beach (Little Italy) & Telegraph hill
North Beach is the neighbourhood that dreams are made of. Encompassing the vibrant Little Italy neighbourhood, with great views of the financial district due south, this is where the action happens.
The first thing we did in the district was to rent a car and drive down Lombard Street, the most crooked street in America. Go early in the morning as cars line up in the afternoon, and try to navigate your car down the steep and winding road. Once you get to the bottom of the section it’s a wicked ride up and down the hills of the city.
When I returned on foot the next day we walked through the neighbourhood. Sights include Washington Square park, home to Saint Peter and Paul Church as well as a statue of Benjamin Franklin. Many community activities are held here. This is the park that Scorpio attempts to assassinate a priest in the first Dirty Harry movie. In the evening we walked to Coit Tower, completed in 1933 the Art Deco structure was meant to beautify the city. This is the place where Dirty Harry meets Scorpio for the ransom. The tower is filled with cool murals. When I exited it was the evening and we were starving. Going up and down the hills looking for food we finally stumbled open a well lit street with people out and about. We had made it to the nightlife and restaurant scene. I was pretty impressed!
Fisherman’s Wharf & Other Piers
San Francisco is built on a peninsula, as such it has an expansive waterfront. This section covers the north shore, a commercial area that was once a prime maritime port, until after the Second World War when larger tankers required the construction of new naval facilities. Like many of these decaying facilities, San Francisco has transitioned these areas into prime tourist attractions in their own right.
Hyde pier has historic ships, but so does the pier beside it, Pier 45. This area is referred to as Fisherman’s Wharf and is a real gem. Albeit touristy, there is a lot to see here. We started at the Musée Mécanique as the name would suggest it harbours mechanical machines such as retro arcade games. One of the funniest items was a Victorian peeping machine, basically old school pornography, where looking though a peephole you are exposed to a series of lewd imagery. Right beside the museum is the USS Pampanito, a Second World War era submarine. Other attractions include an old fisherman’s chapel and the SS Jeremiah O’Brien, another WW2 era vessel. The streetscape and waterfront include a mish-mash of great restaurants and tacky attractions such as Madame Tussauds and a Rainforest Café (nothing wrong with tacky, we stopped at the café). Pier 43 has a historic archway and Pier 41 offers the Alcatraz tours (see next section, also offered at pier 33 that’s where I took mine from). Pier 39 offers more of the same sort of touristic attraction as Pier 45, with more shopping and a carousel. The main draw for me was the hundreds of Sea Lions that line the dock, basking in the sun. They are loud, lazy and proud!
While at Pier 45, I ate at a seafood restaurant that was a filming location for the bond film, a View to a Kill. I only noticed that this was the case a few year later when re-watching the movie.
Alcatraz Island
If you could only pick one thing to do in San Francisco, make this it! Tickets for the island ferry can be purchased from Pier 33 but I would book in advance as they book up quickly. The boat-ride takes 20 minutes each way but allows you as much time as you want to explore the island unhindered and offers a great view as you approach it from afar. I recommend the night as you can come in at the end of the day while it is still light out and by the time you leave the place develops a dark and spooky feel about it.
The island was first occupied by the Spanish who built several structures. After the Mexican–American War, the land was set aside for a US government military facility. In 1853 the US army began fortifying the island and by the time of the US civil war, the island was a military stronghold filled with cannons. It is during the war that the island first served as a prison housing confederate sympathizers. Barracks were built to house them and as times changed the military uses for the for became less evident. By 1933 it was converted into a federal penitentiary, for the worst prisoners from other American jails. It was thought to be inescapable due to the high cliffs as well as cold waters and high currents of the bay. These currents will most certainly wash you far out into the Pacific Ocean. Many escapes were attempted, one famously ended in the Battle of Alcatraz. The film Escape from Alcatraz with Clint Eastwood is based on the escape attempt by Frank Morris who may have made it out alive in one of the greatest escapes ever devised.
Alcatraz was closed in 1963, just a year after the Morris escape. The official reason was a prison reform and a push towards rehabilitation. Furthermore salt corrosion had caused extensive damage to the buildings. The true reason may be more political in nature, the jail escape along with protest of the citizens of San Francisco who did not want the jail within the city limits may have put the building out of commission. 1964, just a year after closing, it was occupied by a new group of people, but not convicts this time. It was a large group of Native Americans, they stayed for years as part of a land claim protest. Although sympathy for their cause may be felt, they did damage many of the facilities on the island. Hence the graffiti seen on the site as well as the destroyed structures.
For movie buffs, the ending scene of Dirty Harry: The Enforcer, takes part on Alcatraz.
As you first approach the island by way of the ferry, the first thing that will strike you is how high “The Rock” is from the ocean. Although the buildings are in a ruinous state the complex is impressive. When you get off the boat you are given headphones for the audio tour, we did this in conjunction with having a guide show us around. Thousands of men passed through the gates of this jail and their stories are waiting to be heard. I knew that Al Capone was held here as a prisoner but after hearing about some of the other high profile prisoners, I knew that we would be there a while. Speaking of Al, the tour stops at his cell. After completing the tour of the main complex you can return to the mainland on the boat or wait around for other alternative tours to start. The park wardens are very knowledgeable and feel free to ask them anything. Alcatraz has been one of my favorite museums to visit in America due to the quality of the guided experience. For those further interested in the historic prisons that held Al Capone in confinement, check out Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia.
By the time we completed the other tours it was pitch dark outside. As we were exiting the cell block towards the boat launch to catch the last ferry back to the mainland, we were stopped by a park ranger. The ranger asked us if we wanted to see the old Spanish foundations of Alcatraz, they only open it up a few times a year to small groups. Of course we did, so four of us remaining in the cell block were rounded up and we went down a trapdoor staircase into the basement. At some point in time the area was used as solitary confinement. The vaulted masonry archways were worn by time and the walls had old gratify scribbled on them from the old prisoners counting the days they were in here. It was a unique experience and a very personal touch by the ranger to take us down there.
I left the island content with my visit, it was an incredible experience! Again, as a reminder, I highly recommend that you book ahead of time as tickets can be hard to come by.
Presidio & Golden Gate Bridge
Neighbouring Fisherman’s Wharf is a large expanse of green space called the Presidio. It is part of the golden gate national recreational area. The fortified area was the first Spanish foothold in Alto California and would become a major military installation under the rule of the United States government. Today you can visit many heritage sites while enjoying one of the few unspoiled park areas in the city limits. Pretty heritage buildings, such as the officers club, and the old coast guard buildings can still be visited as well as a masonry military fort, called Fort Point located just under the Golden Gate Bridge. This fort was abandoned after the civil war when the US army had sensed the vulnerability of masonry construction to artillery fire as in Fort Sumter. The Golden Gate Bridge was designed so as to not destroy the structure and it has been featured prominently in movies such as Vertigo. The view from here is magnificent.
On the other side of Presidio is another structure associated with movies. The Palace of Fine Arts, a splendid structure if there ever was one. Many other sights still stand from the military years such as artillery positions, monuments, the beau art legion of honour and the ever imposing Fort Winfield Scott. If you are not interested in these things there is always the beach!
The bridge itself is a wonder to drive, built in 1937 it is one of the most iconic bridges in the world. This structure, along with the Clifton Suspension Bridge in the British city of Bristol, are personal favourites of mine.
The north shore of the San Francisco Bay is just as interesting. Perched high above the bridge are abandoned WW2 batteries and below the bridge you will find Fort Baker. In my opinion the battery offers the best view of the bridge and I spend some time at the top of the battery looking at tankers pass under the Golden Gate on their way to the Bay Area container port.
Mission/Castro/Twin Peaks:
After driving down the Great Highway, up Sutro Heights and down the coast I turned my sights on the Twin Peaks. I channeled my inner Steve McQueen and recreated my favorite car chase scene following the winding roads up the scenic mountain spot towards the massive antenna. When coming back down I was in the Castro District not far from where I had originally rented my car from. A sea of rainbow flags greeted me, once a working class neighbourhood, this is now the lively center of gay life in San Francisco.
If you continue north from here you are in the Mission District, named after Mission Dolores. This is the center of Latin culture. Visit the old mission Delores and experience the beautiful murals.
Both districts are worth the time to explore and offer a unique flavor.
Financial District
The opening scene of the original Dirty Harry movie has a serial killer named Scorpio looking down the barrel of a sniper rifle before firing at a victim swimming in the rooftop pool of the Hilton Hotel, in what I would describe as one of the best opening sequences in film. This area is the financial district, where a pyramid shaped building dominates the skyline. This building is the Transamerica Pyramid, a symbol of the city.
Other sights in the vicinity include the Ferry building, a beau art building dating from 1892, with a distinctive clocktower. It was once hidden by a freeway but is now connected to the neighbourhood. Although it no longer serves it intent with ferry traffic dropping due to the use of bridges the structure has regained dignity being converted into a public market.
The last major sight is the imposing city hall building built in Beau Art style located not far away in the city center.
Golden Gate Park and West End Neighbourhoods
My last day in the city was spent exploring the western part of the city. I walked through the panhandle as well as the massive Golden Gate Park. From the conservatory of flowers at one end to the windmill at the other, the distance is a little more than three miles, thus making this San Francisco’s central park. There are a lot of people going about their leisure activities and lots to see, including water buffalo! I then enjoyed a walk up the very sandy beach to the Sutro Baths located by the elevated cliff house.
This bathhouse completed in 1896 was one of the wonders of a modern age. It was upon its completion the largest structure of its kind before it caught fire during its demolition in 1966. Today only traces of the concrete foundation remain but the area remains interesting. There are small coves to explore on the site and many trails to explore.
On the way back through the park, a city employee stopped in front of us with his golf cart and offered us a ride, picking up and dropping people off along the way – doing this all the way back to the panhandle. He was a funny guy, and I was happy to be getting a ride. It was a hot day, the sun was shining bright and after all the walking it was nice to get a break.
South Beach & South of Market
At the area near pier 40, you have the San Francisco Giants baseball stadium. If you want to enjoy the quintessential American experience this is the place to do it.
The area named South of Market has become trendy in recent years. The old warehouse district has been re-adapted into an entertainment district with upscale dining.
Day trips:
Wine Country (Napa valley)
California is famous for it’s wines. If you are a wino like me you have to make it up north of the city to the Napa valley. Don’t bother driving and just enjoy the wine without having to worry about intoxication at the wheel of a motor vehicle. Take a bus tour or even do the valley by train there are plenty of options.
City Day Trips
If interested you can cross the bay to Oakland. Although a little rough around the edges the city has many attractions such as historic neighbourhoods, the Oakland Athletics baseball team and a zoo. Berkeley is a pretty university town and you can see the “haunted” Winchester mansion in San Jose
Muir Woods
This old growth forest is located half an hour north of the Golden Gate Bridge. The main attraction is a walk though the giant Sequoia’s (Redwood Trees). Well worth it if you are like me and have never seen trees this tall before. The picture will not do the park justice, tree truck are much wider than a human and they are so tall you cannot capture the height of the trees with a camera. If you are there on a warm day like us, this is a nice place to get out of the sun. Do note that the parking lot is often full, reservations may be required in the future.
Sausalito:
Ok, laugh all you want but getting an ice cream cone in Sausalito was on my bucket list. This gorgeous seaside community may be small but is well worth the walk around. There is a marina here and many houseboats. Even better yet you can see the outline of downtown San Francisco from across the bay. The community used to be the rail terminus for goods coming into the city. We hit Sausalito by car after our morning at Muir Woods.
Stinson Beach & Scenic Coastline Drive
Drive past the Golden Gate, and up the north shore to find a coastal paradise. There are two beachfront communities (Stinson and Muir Beach) and scenic vistas. The roads don’t have guardrails but it only adds to the excitement. The hills are all development free, and you can feel like you are driving though nature, as you stare into the rolling waves of the Pacific Ocean.
San Francisco in Film
San Francisco Bay is one of the most scenic locations in the world, as such it should come to no surprise that filmmakers in Hollywood would move north to take advantage of it. After all California is movie heaven!
If you are a movie buff there are tours dedicated just to movie locations. If you do some searching online you can also find itineraries to do these locations on your own time.
Unlike some movie list, this one only includes memorable movies that either showcase the city or films that hold some sort of cultural relevance. This list includes lots of Clint Eastwood entries, as a resident of California he filmed a lot of his films in his home state. Furthermore you will find that Hitchcock is one of the filmmakers who made the city their own through their films.
- Vertigo (1958): A film centering around an acrophobic (an extreme fear of heights) detective and the woman he was hired to follow. Before this movie races to it’s climax, it gives us an breathtaking overview of the city. The scene of Madeleine by Fort Point has become engraved as one of my favourite shots in movie history.
- The Birds (1963): This Hitchcock classic follows the story of a people in the bay, including a rich socialite, that are followed around and attacked by birds.
- Bullitt (1968): This Steve McQueen crime caper is the quintessential San Francisco movie. With a car chase scene for the ages, you can see the city in all its glory. The famous scene in question lasts over ten minutes and the racing mustangs take us on a wild ride though the city’s most famous landmarks.
- The Zodiac Killer (1971): This exploitation move was made to catch the real Zodiac killer. Although it’s a bad movie it is an interesting cultural artifact.
- Play Misty for Me (1971): Clint Eastwood’s directorial debut takes us on a wild ride down the California coast to nearby Carmel-by-the-Sea. This is the directors hometown, the one where he became mayor and clearly Clint wants us to take in the beauty of the area. The story centers around a San Francisco jockey harassed by a crazed female stalker. As an Easter egg, an advert for this movie also appears on a theater board in Dirty Harry.
- Dirty Harry (1971-1988): This quintology shows the city off like no other. In the first (and best) film, we are introduced to a killer named Scorpio. Based on the real life Zodiac Killer, Scorpio prowls the city rooftops looking for victims until thwarted by inspector “Dirty” Harry Callahan. A deathmatch between the two ensues with dramatic consequence. Some of the iconic locations visited in the series include:
- Lombard Street
- City Hall
- Coit Tower
- Washington Square Park
- Chinatown
- North Beach
- and the Ferry building.
- The Conversation (1974): Gene Hackman turns in a mesmerizing performance in this film about a surveillance professional tailing a young couple. Harrison Ford also makes a brief appearance!
- Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978): This sci-fi horror remake stars Donald Sutherland as an inspector who discovers that aliens are replacing humans while they sleep. Jeff Goldblum also makes an appearance.
- Escape from Alcatraz (1979): Clint Eastwood stars in this film about the famous 1962 escape from Alcatraz by Frank Morris. This picture was a late night rerun favourite of mine.
- 48 hrs (1982): This Walter Hill buddy cop comedy stars Eddie Murphy at the height of his fame. He plays a criminal alongside Nick Nolte, a tough cop with 48 hours to solve a crime.
- A View To a Kill (1985): This goofy Bond offering could be better but the climactic fight with Christopher Walkin on Golden Gate Bridge is one for the ages. This film certainly is underappreciated.
- Big Trouble in Little China (1986): This John Carpenter movie is a textbook cult classic taking place in San Francisco’s Chinatown. Kurt Russel fights supernatural goons from the Chinese underworld to save a green eyed woman. Enough said!
- Mrs. Doubtfire (1993): Re-watched this on a plane from Portugal back to Canada and damn this movie has aged well. Starring Robin Williams, Sally Field and Pierce Brosnan, the story follows a father (Robin Williams) that must dress as a nanny to be close to his kids after his divorce. This movie shows off the city’s old Victorians like no other, if you are a fan of the movie you can even visit the house it is shot in.
- So I Married an Axe Murderer (1993): This offbeat comedy should be considered a cult classic. Mike Myers plays a man afraid of commitment who meets the woman of his dreams. Only one problem… she may be an axe murderer.
- The Rock (1996): Sean Connery, Ed Harris Nick Cage, Terrorists and Alcatraz! What more could you possibly want. This is the only Michel Bay movie worth watching.
- Zodiac (2007): This critically acclaimed film stars Robert Downey Junior a reporter following San Francisco’s most famous serial killer, the Zodiac.
Conclusion:
Although I visited the city many years ago, my memories of the city are still vivid, if only I had a better camera and taken more picture I could have captured the city better. At the time, I never thought that I would be writing a travel blog yet there are so many things to do in this city that I will have to come back! Maybe I can get some better pictures next time.
*** Note I forgot to mention this but do take a historic streetcar around town, it is a lot of fun ***
