San Francisco Film Locations Then & Now

Elisha Cook, ‘Wilmer’ in the ‘Maltese Falcon’ arrives at the Ferry Building on his way to commit murder in the 1947 film ‘Born to Kill’. The star of the movie, Lawrence Tierney, once guest starred on ‘Seinfeld’ but was not asked to return after he, reportedly, threatened Jerry with a knife during the show.

The intersection of Hayes and Laguna was the setting for Eric Von Stroheim’s 1925 masterpiece ‘Greed’, considered by many film historians as one of the best movies ever made. Originally running nearly eight hours (that would have been a lot of popcorn to consume) it was eventually cut down to under two and one half hours when released.

The intersection of Broadway and Kearny could almost be called the “Hollywood and Vine” of San Francisco with the number of movies using this spot for location filming. Here Steve McQueen crosses to the west in the 1968 movie ‘Bullitt’.

Steve McQueen turns north at Broadway and Kearny towards Enrico’s Restaurant, Enrico’s, a favorite of celebrities such as Bill Cosby and Woody Allen, celebrates it’s fifty fifth anniversary this year

Goldie Hawn, second from the top in pink, climbs north from the Broadway and Kearny intersection in the 1972 movie ‘Butterflies Are Free’. The film has some interesting San Francisco locations, but the first fifteen minutes with Goldie in her Maidenforms are what a lot of people, including me, remember the most.

Walter Matthau and Bruce Dern approach the intersection of Kearny and Broadway to the east in the 1974 film ‘The Laughing Policeman’. The fish & chips shop seen in the ‘Butterflies Are Free’ scene was still there.

Cary Grant and Suzy Parker cross the intersection of Kearny and Broadway to the south in the 1957 film ‘Kiss Them for Me’. That’s the old Vanessi’s Restaurant, closed now, behind them

Clint “Dirty Harry” Eastwood approaches the intersection of Kearny and Broadway to the north in the 1976 movie ‘The Enforcer’.

Many San Francisco tour companies mistakenly take visitors to a location on Lombard Street, and point out that the Mel’s Drive-In scene in the 1967 film ‘Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner’ was filmed there. It wasn’t, it was located at a spot in the Crocker Amazon District at the southern end of San Francisco now occupied by the Crocker Amazon Senior Center. Notice the Bank of America signs. Bank of America changed their color from black to pink in 2008 to show awareness to breast cancer.