Themes: Forces of Nature, Lovers Reunited, Opposites Attract
Main Cast: Clark Gable, Jeanette MacDonald, Spencer Tracy, Jack Holt, Jessie Ralph
Release Year: 1936
Country: US
Run Time: 116 minutes
MPAA Rating: NR
Plot
The MGM historical "spectacular" San Francisco was allegedly based on a three-sentence synopsis, submitted verbally to producer B.F. Zeidman by studio troubleshooter Bob Hopkins. The story begins on the Barbary Coast on New Year's Eve, 1906, as rakish but likeable political boss Blackie Norton (Clark Gable) hires demure young singer Mary Blake (Jeanette MacDonald) to perform at his rowdy Paradise gambling house. Local priest Father Mullin (Spencer Tracy), Blackie's best friend, disapproves of the exploitation of the lovely Mary, feeling that she's suited for classier surroundings. Jack Hurley (Jack Holt), Nob Hill socialite and Blackie's political rival, agrees with Father Mullin and offers the girl the opportunity to sing with the San Francisco Opera. Blackie, who's fallen in love with Mary but won't admit it to himself, jealously holds on to her contract, forcing Mary to walk out on him. For the rest of the film, Mary is torn between the "respectable" lifestyle offered her by Hurley and the baser creature comforts provided by Blackie. It looks for a while that Hurley has won out, but fate takes a hand in the form of the devastating San Francisco Earthquake of April 18, 1906 (a special effects tour de force for art directors Arnold Gillespie and his uncredited associate James Basevi). Hurley is killed in the holocaust, while Blackie, desperately searching for Mary in the rubble, at long last finds religion and prays to God for his sweetheart's salvation. At the end, an unidentified bit player shouts defiantly "We'll build a new San Francisco!" -- and by golly, they do! The Hollywood censors were not so much bothered by the sexual subtext of San Francisco or its harrowing earthquake finale as they were by a scene in which Father Mullin is knocked down by an unrepentant Blackie. To "purify" this potentially blasphemous sequence, screenwriter Anita Loos quickly added an earlier scene in which Mullin and Blackie, both dressed in turtleneck sweaters, genially duke it out at an exercise gym, whereupon the priest cold-cocks Blackie with the greatest of ease. By establishing that Mullin could have punched out Blackie, but chooses not to in the controversial later scene, not only allows that scene to pass, but also strengthened the priest's character. San Francisco proved to be one of MGM's biggest hits, remaining in almost constant reissue for the next three decades. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
"I never will forget how that brave Jeanette just stood there in the ruins and sang and SANG!" belted Judy Garland in one of her memorable television specials. Garland had the audience in stitches, but Jeanette MacDonald took it well, it was said, and why shouldn't she have? San Francisco had removed her from the wooden Nelson Eddy and right into the arms of Clark Gable, with Spencer Tracy as her guardian angel, of sorts, to boot. MGM had assigned the dependable W.S. Van Dyke to direct this the company's second blockbuster of 1936. Nominated for both The Great Ziegfeld and San Francisco, Van Dyke ended up competing against himself at the Academy Awards, eventually losing to Frank Capra (Mr. Deeds Goes to Town). Perhaps that was fair enough. If Mr. Deeds stands as a testament to Capra's genius (and writer Robert Riskin's), both San Francisco and The Great Ziegfeld remain crowning achievements of the studio system, MGM-style. Quite a few writers worked on the screenplay to San Francisco, including Herman J. Mankiewicz and Anita Loos, but only the latter earned an onscreen credit. While Van Dyke obviously stood for the major portion of the direction, everyone from special effects designer James Basevi to, reportedly, D.W. Griffith had a hand in there, the latter often credited with helming MacDonald's rousing pre-earthquake rendition of Gus Kahn, Bronislau Kaper, and Walter Jurman's famous title song. Had there been an award for Best Special Effects in 1936, Basevi would almost certainly have won, San Francisco's earthshaking tremors remain far more effective than such later "spectacles" as Earthquake (1974), Panavision and Sensurround notwithstanding. Then again, maybe not -- nominated for Academy Awards in four categories, San Francisco lost in all of them, including Spencer Tracy as Best Actor, an honor which instead went to Paul Muni of The Story of Louis Pasteur. Forty-eight years later, the title song lost a bid to replace "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" as the city's official anthem. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
"Blackie" Norton (Clark Gable), a saloonkeeper and gambler in the notorious Barbary Coast, Norton owns the Paradise Club on Pacific Street. He hires a promising but impoverished classically-trained singer from Benson, Colorado, Mary Blake (Jeanette MacDonald). She becomes a star attraction at the Paradise, and a romance develops between Blackie and Mary. 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 FranciscoBoard 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 skimpy; 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 fire breaks. 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 march from Golden Gate Park and the smoldering ruins dissolve into the San Francisco of the mid 1930's.
Production
The earthquake montage sequence was created by montage expert Slavko Vorkapich. The Barbary Coast 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.[3]
Music
The title song, composed by Bronislaw Kaper and Walter Jurmann with lyrics by Gus Kahn, is sung by Jeanette MacDonald a half-dozen times in the film, and becomes an anthem for the survivors of the earthquake. It is now a popular sentimental sing-along at public events such as the city's annual earthquake commemoration. It is one of two official city songs, along with "I Left My Heart in San Francisco."[4] Years later, Judy Garland added the song to her concert repertoire, with a new introduction that starts, "I never will forget Jeanette MacDonald. Just to think of her it gives my heart a pang. I never will forget how that brave Jeanette. Just stood there in the ruins and sang. A-a-a-and sang... San Francisco Open Your Golden Gate." Judy goes on to sing of the Cable Cars and Market Street. It was also sung by the cast of Beach Blanket Babylon at Candlestick Park prior to Game 3 of the 1989 World Series on October 27, 1989, ten days following the Loma Prieta Earthquake.
The words sang by Mary Blake (Jeanette MacDonald) at the Paradise with the Professor (Al Shean) and at the Chicken's Ball on the morning of April 18, 1906.
It only takes a tiny corner of
This great big world to make the place we love;
My home upon the hill, I find I love you still,
I've been away, but now I'm back to tell you...
San Francisco, open your golden gate
You let no stranger wait outside your door.
San Francisco, here is your wanderin' one
Saying "I'll wander no more."
Other places only make me love you best,
Tell me you're the heart of all the golden west.
San Francisco, welcome me home again;
I'm coming home to go roaming no more!
Early in the film the song "The Darktown Strutters Ball" can be heard. The trouble is that the song was written in 1917 and the title card plainly says December 31, 1905 and April 18, 1906.
Elisabeth Buxbaum: Veronika, der Lenz ist da. Walter Jurmann – Ein Musiker zwischen den Welten und Zeiten. Mit einem Werkverzeichnis von Alexander Sieghardt. Edition Steinbauer, Wien 2006, ISBN 3-902494-18-2
Footnotes
^Reid, John (2004). Award-Winning Films of the 1930s. Lulu.com. pp. 129. ISBN1-411-61432-1.
^Rich, Sharon; Eddy, Jon (1994). Sweethearts: The Timeless Love Affair--on-screen and Off--between Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy. Donald I. Fine. pp. 165. ISBN1-556-11407-9.
