San Francisco Film Locations Then & Now

Saint Mary of the Assumption Church on the corner of Van Ness and O’Farrell was built in 1891, and destroyed by an arsonist fire September 6th 1962. A new Saint Mary’s was built to block west on Gough. The KRON TV Building now occupies this spot. In 1903 President Teddy Roosevelt visited San Francisco, and gave a parade past this location at Van Ness and O’Farrell to review all of the schoolchildren in San Francisco. A remarkable piece of film exists showing Teddy standing in his carriage passing the church at this spot. Click on the link here, and go to full screen for the best effect.

The fellow who runs the film museum in Niles CA was on ’60 Minutes’ last summer doing a segment concerning this historic piece of film. Although, originally thought to be filmed in 1905, he believes, with ample evidence, that it was shot in April 1906, just a few days before the 1906 Earthquake and Fire. That being the case, most of these buildings and, no doubt, a lot of these people were running out of time. Click on the link below the photos to see the film. It’s an incredible piece of history to watch, and some of the rudest drivers I’ve ever seen! Sound effects have been added to this version.

We’ll begin at 5th and Market. Keep your eye on that fellow with license plate #4867. The building at left center is the Flood Building, one of the few Market Street buildings to survive the 1906 earthquake.

This is 3rd and Market. No traffic cops or streetlights, just “Ready or not, here I come!”

Newspaper row, in front of the old Palace hotel on the right: I love these unsupervised kids darting back and forth in front of the moving cable car. Almost like, “Oh Well, one less mouth to feed.”

As we approach the Ferry Building, our little friend with license plate #4867 is back, almost running down a horse and buggy. Good thing we got his license number!

That daredevil darting in between the moving cable cars works for ‘The People’s Express Company.’ Just the driver to put in charge of your fragile or priceless items!

‘A Trip Down Market Street’ ends at the Ferry Building among dapper gentlemen, a couple of nuns, and one very bored looking Victorian maiden.

The Fisherman’s Wharf Lagoon before Alioto’s. Those are the masts of the 1886 ship the Balclutha, now on display at the Hyde Street Pier.

Chinatown in the 1940s:

Fisherman’s Wharf in the 1950’s Click on the link here for a wonderful 1950’s color film tour of, just about, all of San Francisco!  (Thumbnail image)

The 1936 film ‘San Francisco’ starring Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, and Jeanette MacDonald, opens up on New Year’s Eve 1905, three and a half months before the April 18th 1906 Earthquake, with champagne being served to the public out of the famous Lotta’s Fountain on Market Street. They did a pretty good job at creating a replica for the fountain! (Thumbnail image)

The inmates are transported to the old Montgomery Barracks in the Presidio at the upper left. Just a few years ago when I did the comparison at the lower left, the area was, relatively, quiet. Now thanks to the popularity of the Walt Disney Museum in the barracks, there’s a new lawn, pay parking, (Oh, well!) and a great museum to enjoy. (Thumbnail image)

Sometimes, our government isn’t, entirely, honest with us. (No!!!) In the 1950 film ‘Experiment Alcatraz’ some of the island’s most notorious inmates are secretly transported to an army location to test the side effects of an experimental medication that may curb their criminal drive with the promise of a parole for testing the serum. The project appears to go terribly wrong when some of the prisoners develop uncontrollable homicidal urges! “Well, that didn’t work!”

  Charlie Chaplin loved shooting outdoors, and he scouted his film locations himself. While shooting in Niles Calif. in 1915, he traveled up to Oakland to film scenes for ‘A Night Out’. In a once ritzy apartment area near Lake Merritt, the two buildings he filmed in front of still exist. The plot is simple, Chaplin, and Ben Turpin go out for a night on the town, get drunk, and fall down a lot. That’s all you really have to know. (Thumbnail image)

 
Chaplin was beginning to hit his stride during this period, and was on his way to becoming the world’s first “Superstar,” and areas like these forgotten locations are where it all began. (Thumbnail image)