San Francisco (film)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

San Francisco
original film poster
Directed by	Woody Van Dyke
Produced by	John Emerson Bernard H. Hyman
Written by	Robert E. Hopkins
Starring	Clark Gable, Jeanette MacDonald, Spencer Tracy
Music by	Walter Jurmann Bronislaw Kaper
Cinematography	Oliver T. Marsh
Distributed by	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
Running time	115 min
IMDb profile

The 1906 San Francisco earthquake is the historical background for San Francisco, a 1936 movie romance film between a gambling hall tycoon, played by Clark Gable, and a promising but impoverished singer, portrayed by singer Jeanette MacDonald. Spencer Tracy, playing a supporting role as a priest, used this film as a career accelerator by knocking Gable down during a boxing match.

The then very popular singing voice of MacDonald in the female lead also helped make this film into a hit. The film was directed by Woody Van Dyke, and the earthquake montage sequence was created by montage expert Slavko Vorkapich. The Internet Movie Database reports that famous silent-era directors D. W. Griffith and Erich Von Stroheim contributed to the script without screen credit.

Gable plays a jaunty atheist throughout the film until the very end, when he "finds God" upon discovering that MacDonald's character survived the earthquake after all.

The title song, composed by Walter Jurmann and Bronislaw Kaper, is sung by the Jeanette MacDonald character a half-dozen times in the film, and becomes in the end an anthem for survivors of the earthquake. It is now a popular sentimental sing-along at public events such as the city's annual earthquake commemoration.

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!

(Judy Garland popularized a version of the song with additional lyrics.)

The film received only a single Oscar:

• Best Sound, Recording - Douglas Shearer (M-G-M SSD)

It was nominated for five others:

• Best Picture - John Emerson and Bernard H. Hyman, producers
• Best Actor in a Leading Role - Spencer Tracy
• Best Assistant Director - Joseph M. Newman
• Best Director - W.S. Van Dyke
• Best Writing, Original Story - Robert E. Hopkins