San Francisco (DVD)
APPROX. 115 MINS. - PROD. YEAR: 1936 - MPA RATING: NR
" ...a big, brawling, boisterous, sentimental, touching, inspiring, thoroughly entertaining motion picture.
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April 18, 1906; 5:12 a.m.
Many years ago, my father told me when he was a child he remembered seeing the red glow of San Francisco burning over the horizon. At the time, we lived about twenty miles east of the City, and the fire that resulted from the Great Quake blazed for quite a while.
The movie that continues to best document the tragedy in our popular culture is the 1936 MGM release, "San Francisco," with Clark Gable, Jeanette MacDonald, and Spencer Tracy. The first two-thirds of the film may be a little heavy on the melodrama, but the last half hour is still an amazingly exhilarating account of the earthquake and its aftermath. (And the film lists 5:13 a.m. as the moment the quake struck, something of a debatable issue, apparently.)
Like most disaster pictures that came after it, "San Francisco" starts by telling the story of fictional characters who later become involved in the movie's events. The formula has worked all the way through "Titanic" and beyond, but it's never been better done than here. "San Francisco" is a big, brawling, boisterous, sentimental, touching, inspiring, thoroughly entertaining motion picture, with big stars, lots of action, and plenty of music.
The tale begins on New Year's Eve 1905, about four months before the quake. The first thing we notice is that MGM spent a ton of money on a lavish production and a finely detailed recreation of the pre-quake City. W.S. Van Dyke ("Tarzan the Ape Man," "The Thin Man" series) directed the picture from a screenplay by Anita Loos, who in turn based it on a story by Robert Hopkins. Pioneering filmmaker D.W. Griffith also contributed some scenes, and director Erich von Stroheim added some dialogue, both men uncredited.
The film quickly introduces its main characters: Clark Gable as Blackie Norton, tough-guy owner of the Paradise saloon on the Barbary Coast; Spencer Tracy as Father Tim Mullin, Blackie's best friend since boyhood; and Jeanette MacDonald as Mary Blake, an opera singer in need of work and willing to sing in Blackie's joint to make a buck. Mary's operatic voice impresses Blackie, although he's too cool to admit it. Mary herself also impresses him, and it isn't long before he falls for her.
But, naturally, they have a rocky romance. They are from opposite sides of the track, so to speak. He's coarse and rough; she's elegant and refined. He's never met a proper lady like her before. The Fig Newton in the setup is Jack Burley (Jack Holt), a rich big shot in the City who is also a patron of the arts. He, too, falls for Mary and lures her to sing serious opera at the Tivoli Opera House in exchange for her marrying him. So what's a mug like Blackie to do?
While Gable is his usual self-confident self, his Blackie Norton is a far more complex character than you might expect. Blackie believes in nobody and nothing but himself. But the supposedly black-hearted Blackie really has a heart of gold; it's just buried pretty deep. "Say," says Blackie when he finally hears Mary sing opera, "I've never caught this opera racket up to now. How long's it been going on?" However, Blackie and Father Tim fight over what Tim considers the "exploitation" of Mary's talents and soul. Then just when you think you've got Blackie figured for a bum, he does something endearing. And just when you figure him for a hero, he does something stupid.
Ms. MacDonald sings beautifully, and her character maintains a love-hate relationship with Blackie throughout the story; but she rather overacts her part. Compared to Gable and Tracy, MacDonald seems to be performing to the upper balcony, overemphasizing every gesture. Fortunately, her songs make up for any thespian deficiencies. Chief among them is, of course, "San Francisco" by Gus Kahn, Brouislau Kaper, and Walter Jurmann, plus "Would You" by Nacio Herb Brown and Arthur Freed, and various selections from Verdi and Gounod.
Tracy is clearly the best actor in the film. His Father Tim loves Blackie like a brother but at the same time considers him a force for evil, running a drinking, gambling, pleasure house as he does. The film made Tracy a star, and he went on in the next two years to become the first actor to win back-to-back Oscars.
