Huntington Park at the top of Nob Hill, San Francisco
One day not too long ago my friend Dave and I went on an excursion into three San Francisco neighborhoods to shoot video of classic film locations. I'd done some research and worked out a way to cover many films in just a few hours.
The Fairmont Hotel has appeared on film and TV many times
We began our tour on Nob Hill where such sites as Huntington Park, Grace Cathedral, the Brocklebank Building, the Pacific Union Club, The Fairmont Hotel, the Mark Hopkins Hotel and steep cable car-tracked hills have long figured in films shot or set in the city...films like The Lady from Shanghai, DOA, Dark Passage, The Line Up, Vertigo, Bullitt, various of the Dirty Harry movies, etc.We moved on to North Beach and made three more stops in that colorful neighborhood to check on sites featured in films like Vertigo, Pal Joey, Play it Again, Sam, Basic Instinct and Foul Play. Our final destination was Pacific Heights where we shot just one building, a "mid-century modern" monolith used in Days of Wine and Roses that is no longer contemporary and is now a bit of an eyesore in an upscale part of town.
Dave edited the video, added a music track and recorded my narration. I then tried but was unable to upload the video to Blogger and eventually gave up...and forgot about it. Then, a few days ago, a Twitter friend tweeted about a photo contest his site,Writing with Hitchcock, was sponsoring that involved posting personal photos of Hitchcock film locations. After I entered a still photo I'd taken of the building at 900 Lombard where Scottie Ferguson lived in Vertigo, I remembered the video. Once I'd managed to post it on Facebook, I posted it on YouTube and, only slightly delayed...here it is...my mini-tour of San Francisco film locations. Dave and I hope to get back out there again one day. I'd love to venture into other neighborhoods as well as do a "Hitchcock tour" of the San Francisco Bay Area.
Eleven words… my claim to celebrity status; my fifteen minutes of fame which if you took a stop watch and measured, would run well under that length of time. And although I would have many small screen appearances later on in “The Streets of San Francisco,” these few words to this day still get me the most attention. Why? Because Clint Eastwood films are both well known and greatly admired not only in the U.S., but also by audiences around the world. Therefore to be associated with a Clint Eastwood movie usually guarantees that an actor (even a bit one as myself) will receive instant and lasting recognition.
