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Out of the gusty, brawling, catastrophic history of the Barbary Coast early in the century, Metro-Goldwin-Mayer has fashioned a prodigally generous and completely satisfying photoplay.
- Overview
- Production notes and credits
- Cast
- Academy Award nominations (* denotes win)
San Francisco, American dramatic film, released in 1936, that recounted the San Francisco earthquake of 1906. It is noted for the performances of its cast and for what were, for its time, stunning special effects.
The setting is San Francisco’s bawdy Barbary Coast in the days before the earthquake. Singer Mary Blake (played by Jeanette MacDonald) arrives in town and meets Blackie Norton (Clark Gable), owner of the Paradise gambling hall. Norton offers Blake a contract to sing at the Paradise, which she accepts. Later, however, Nob Hill socialite Jack Holt (Jack Burley) encourages her to join the Tivoli Opera House, and Blake, who has fallen for Norton, leaves the Paradise when she realizes that his feelings for her are not as genuine as she had hoped. Blake signs with the Tivoli and begins a relationship with Holt. After her debut, however, Blake and Norton reconcile, and she decides to resume working at the Paradise. Norton’s tough childhood friend, Father Tim Mullin (Spencer Tracy), tries to convince Norton that Blake is too good to be singing in a saloon and must pursue her career with the opera. The men have a falling out, and Blake leaves with Mullin. Further melodrama ensues, but it is interrupted when the earthquake strikes, devastating the city. Norton searches out Mullin, with whom he reconciles. The two eventually come upon Blake, who is working at a camp for survivors, and Norton rediscovers his religious faith upon finding her alive. The three join hundreds of other survivors and look over the desolate city, which the viewer sees transformed into a shining new metropolis. The film ends with the cast singing “Battle Hymn of the Republic.”
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Oscar-Worthy Movie Trivia
•Studio: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
•Director: W.S. Van Dyke
•Producers: John Emerson and Bernard H. Hyman
•Writer: Anita Loos
•Music: Herbert Stothart and Edward Ward
•Running time: 115 minutes
•Clark Gable (Blackie Norton)
•Jeanette MacDonald (Mary Blake)
•Spencer Tracy (Father Tim Mullin)
•Jack Holt (Jack Burley)
•Picture
•Directing
•Sound recording*
•Writing (original story)
•Assistant director
•Lead actor (Spencer Tracy)
- Lee Pfeiffer
Mar 1, 2011 · When her apartment building burns down, the destitute Mary auditions for Blackie Norton, the owner of a saloon on the Barbary Coast. Gable is at his most rakish and charming. His Blackie is a rapscallion with a heart of gold.
On New Year's Eve, 1905, saloon keeper "Blackie" Norton hires Mary Blake to sing in his bar, the Paradise Club on Pacific Street in the notorious Barbary Coast of San Francisco. Mary becomes a star attraction at the Paradise , especially for her signature tune, "San Francisco" .
San Francisco: Directed by W.S. Van Dyke. With Clark Gable, Jeanette MacDonald, Spencer Tracy, Jack Holt. A Barbary Coast saloonkeeper and a Nob Hill impresario are rivals for the affections of a beautiful singer, both personally and professionally, in 1906 San Francisco.
- (6.2K)
- Drama, Music, Romance
- W.S. Van Dyke
- 1936-06-26
Barbary Coast is a 1935 American historical Western film directed by Howard Hawks. Shot in black-and-white and set in San Francisco's so-called Barbary Coast during the California Gold Rush, the film combines elements of the Western genre with those of crime, melodrama and adventure.
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The 1935 film Barbary Coast stars Edward G. Robinson and is set in San Francisco during the Gold Rush era. In the 1935 film Frisco Kid , James Cagney plays the fictional leader of a vice syndicate in the Barbary Coast of the 1850s.
