Cinematic San Francisco: A Tour

San Francisco is a scenic city to include in movies. Amongst Alcatraz Island, the Transamerica Pyramid, the Golden Gate Bridge, and the houses that are close together, many movies have been filmed in the city by the bay.

Many of the Dirty Harry movies take place in San Francisco. High Anxiety takes place at the San Francisco Hyatt when Mel Brooks gets afraid of heights and nearly takes a tumble off the side of the railing. Vertigo with James Stewart takes place all over the city, and Madeleine's suicide leap off the Golden Gate is a chilling scene etched in classic cinema's cornea.

Alcatraz Island has been featured in several different films. The Birdman of Alcatraz chronicles the life of Robert Stroud, played by Burt Lancaster. The Rock starring Sean Connery and Nicolas Cage was filmed almost entirely on Alcatraz Island. Clint Eastwood starred in 1979's Escape from Alcatraz as a dramatic escape is planned.

Alcatraz is an island after all, and the only way to get there is by boat. Prices range from $26 to $33 for adults departing every thirty minutes.

George Lucas' homage to his teenage years American Graffiti is filmed largely on the streets of San Francisco. Mrs. Doubtfire takes place in San Francisco between the house the family lives in to the park in which the title character plays soccer with the kids.

Humphrey Bogart made a film called Dark Passage in San Francisco, including the famous house at 1360 Montgomery Street that doubled as Lauren Bacall's apartment.

The Golden Gate Bridge is used in many films. Magneto uses the bridge as a play toy in X-Men: The Last Stand. A View to a Kill saw Roger Moore's James Bond grapple with his nemesis on top of the bridge. Christopher Reeve saves a bus load of school children from hurtling off the bridge in the original Superman. A Klingon bird-of-prey narrowly misses the Bridge as it hurtles towards the Bay in the climactic ending to Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.

Amidst the seafood on Fisherman's Wharf and the historic cable cars, San Francisco is a beautiful city to have in film and it's no wonder that filmmakers return to the city over and over. While you take in the sights and sounds, take a cinematic journey through over fifty years of movies when you stop off at different points of the city that may be off the beaten track or right in the way of your sightseeing.