Quarantine Culture: Film in San Francisco
Kim Novak in Vertigo
We are in week two of the shelter-in-place order to contain the coronavirus. How do we keep ourselves, families, and friends entertained now that staying in is the new going out? Why not enjoy some quarantine culture with movies set in San Francisco? Our scenic city has long been a cinema darling, and while we have limited access to its beauty, why not enjoy it on film?
Alfred Hitchcock's 1958 masterpiece Vertigo captured the changing San Francisco cityscape. The film noir psychological thriller's iconic locations set the stage for actors James Stewart as former police detective John "Scottie" Ferguson and Kim Novak in the dual role of Judy Barton and Madeleine Elster. While the Palace of Fine Arts, Palace of the Legion of Honor, Mission Dolores, "Empire Hotel," Brocklebank Apartments, and Fort Point remain, Ernie's Restaurant and Ransohoffs Department Store are gone. The elegant florist Podesta Baldocchi is now an online business.
Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct
Vertigo inspired neo-noir erotic thriller, Basic Instinct, with Sharon Stone staring as a Hitchcock blond. Directed by Paul Verhoeven, the 1992 movie has more to offer than provocative views of Stone's character villainess Catherine Tramell. As a wealthy heiress and crime novelist, she lives in a Georgian-Revival Pacific Heights mansion that was the San Francisco Decorator Showcase twice, in 1990 and 1998. Along with detective Nick Curran (Michael Douglas), hanging out at North Beach's Tosca Café, there are scenes of Telegraph Hill, Russian Hill, Pier 7, and SOMA.
Jeff Bridges in Fearless
Australian film director. Peter Weir, selected San Francisco for the backdrop of his 1993 drama Fearless. Exploring the tenuous space between life and death, it stars Jeff Bridges as Max Klein, an architect who survives a plane crash. Weir, a leading figure in the Australian New Wave cinema movement, chose Isabella Rossellini, Rosie Perez, Tom Hulce, and John Turturro for supporting roles. Along with the rooftop of the San Francisco Landmark Percy & Polk designed Kohl Building, the director highlighted the Romanesque Revival Saints Peter & Paul Church in North Beach and SOM's modern skyscraper at 555 California Street.
Robin Williams as Mrs. Euphegenia Doubtfire/ Daniel Hillard
If you are not in the mood for drama, erotic thrillers, or film noir, perhaps a feel-good comedy? Director Chris Columbus' Mrs. Doubtfire stars Robin Williams who plays Daniel Hillard, an out of work actor posing as a British nanny, Mrs. Euphegenia Doubtfire. Sally Fields is his estranged wife Miranda, an overworked interior designer. A circa 1893 Pacific Heights Victorian serves as the family home in the 1993 film. Take in the photogenic views of Crissy Field, the peak of Hyde Street and Columbus Avenue with the Transamerica Pyramid and copper-clad flatiron Sentinel Building in the background.
