Ted. Here.
What the hell was I going to do now?
San Francisco
1936
San Francisco is set in the months leading up to the earthquake of 1906. The opening title card describes the old city as “splendid and sensuous, vulgar and magnificent.” Damn right. It still is.
The movie is about high culture versus low, faith versus cynicism, good versus evil. There’s something approaching a “B” plot that I promise you won’t care about. There’s a rivalry between the Palace saloon and the highfalutin Opera theater, and prize money is at stake at something called the Chicken’s Ball. But it’s really only about Blackie Norton (Clark Gable), the “most godless, scoffing, and unbelieving soul in all of San Francisco” falling for the sweet opera singer Mary Blake (Jeanette MacDonald) as she learns how to put over a number in his saloon (hint: it involves a lot of feathers and outsized arm gestures).
But I’m getting ahead of myself. We begin on New Year’s Eve. Showgirls! Confetti! Streamers! Gable’s Blackie is king of the Barbary Coast. He owns a joint called Norton’s Palace where the swells go to have fun—not the kind of place where a preacher’s daughter should be singing. But the little lady is new in town and looking for a job. Blackie asks to see her legs before he asks to hear her sing. And when she sings, boy, she sounds just like Jeanette MacDonald. Which may or may not be a good thing, depending on your feelings about operetta. Blackie’s into it.
Oh! I haven’t even mentioned Spencer Tracy! He’s Blackie’s childhood friend—and a priest! Father Tim Mullin, who can beat Blackie at fisticuffs. He lives for the day when Blackie will stop thinking that God is for suckers. Will the preacher’s daughter be able to get through to him? Or will Blackie succeed in corrupting her? It sure looks like it, much to Tracy’s dismay. When Gable talks MacDonald into leaving the Opera to come sing “San Francisco” at his joint (wearing a darling little military number with a capelet and spangled hot pants), Tracy is appalled, telling Gable “You can’t take a woman in marriage and then sell her immortal soul.” I mean, come on. They’re just spangled hot pants.
It’s going to take a major act of the sucker’s God to get everybody together again. Which brings us to The Earthquake. Considering this film was made in 1936, the special effects are pretty amazing. There are a lot of quick editing cuts, which weren’t too common at that time. Brick walls collapse, an entire theater is turned to rubble, people are crushed while running for their lives, and Jeannette (unhelpfully) faints. The aftershock is even more impressive, as is the widespread fire that overtakes the city.
With the city on fire, will Blackie finally find some faith? Okay, that’s not a fair question. But I have to say, when he’s reunited with Father Tim and Mary, even these jaded old eyes got a little misty. Mainly because of the look Tracy gives Gable. Spencer Tracy. Yes. Every time, yes.
“We’ll build a new San Francisco!” someone shouts in the crowd. And in the final shot, as “Glory, Glory, Hallelujah” morphs into the fifth version of “San Francisco” of the film, we see the smoldering wreckage of the old sinful city turning into the modern (and blessedly still sinful) city of 1936. It really is amazing what 30 years can do. I’d love to see the view from that site now.
Don’t blink or you’ll miss it:
Gable shirtless in high-waisted short shorts as he spars with Spencer Tracy in the boxing ring. (Tracy wears sensible leggings and a turtleneck, no fashion victim, he.)
Where you’ll cringe:
Oh dear. The Chicken’s Ball. The opening number looks like a minstrel show. Mercifully, we only get a glimpse of it. Another thing we glimpse is the obligatory Asian “houseboy” who exists to make chop suey for Gable upstairs at the Palace.
Best line about my new home:
“They call us the wickedest city in the world. And it’s a bitter shame it is, for deep down underneath all our evil and sin we’ve got right here in San Francisco the finest set of human beings that was ever rounded up on one spot. Sure, they had to have wild adventure in their hearts, and dynamite in their blood, to set out for here in the first place. That’s why they’re so full of untamed deviltry now.”
Movies My Friends Should Watch
Sally Lee
Want More Sally?
If you enjoyed Sally Lee’s movie blogs, check out the Movies My Friends Should Watch website for more.
Visit www.moviesmyfriendsshouldwatch.com.
And watch good movies!
About the Author
Margaret Dumas lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she reads and writes books when she isn’t watching old movies.
The Movie Palace Mystery Series
by Margaret Dumas
MURDER AT THE PALACE (#1)
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