Movie of the Week: San Francisco (1936)

This week, ruthless nightclub owner Clark Gable chases after virtuous opera singer Jeanette MacDonald in San Francisco.

Clark is Blackie Norton, a ruthless saloon-keeper in 1906 San Francisco. Despite their differences, he falls in love with Mary Blake (MacDonald), a small town minister’s daughter and aspiring opera singer whom he hires to sing in his revue. His childhood pal, priest Tim Mullin (Spencer Tracy), objects to him putting Mary on display and stopping her from her opera aspirations. Realizing that Tim is right and that she should pursue her dreams instead of letting Blackie hold her back, Mary leaves him and becomes a successful opera star. It isn’t until the shattering earthquake on April 18, 1906 that devastates his city that Blackie realizes his true feelings for Mary and sets out to find her among the rubble.

This film is a favorite of many a Clark Gable fan, and it is not difficult to see why. As far as Gable fans are concerned, this one has it all: action, romance, special effects, drama. A prestige project for MGM, San Francisco took fifty two days to shoot and costs $1.3 million, an extremely large sum in 1936. Money well spent, however, as the film went on $5.3 million at the box office, becoming the second biggest hit of Clark’s entire career, after Gone with the Wind.

Jeanette is not the best of Clark’s leading ladies, that is certainly true. Their chemistry is a bit stilted. Clark is constantly making forward advances on her with that smirk and raised eyebrows while she bats her eyelashes and looks oh-so-shocked.

He’s a real charmer:

“I’m a sucker if I’ve ever known a girl like you before.”
“You know I like looking into those big lamps of yours.”
“I’m crazy about you kid, you know it, don’t you, honey.”
“How does it feel to feel like a woman and be afraid of it?”

This is one of Clark’s typical 1930’s rogue characters who is really a jerk but you are supposed to love him anyway. He selfishly puts Jeanette under contract to bind her to him when the opera house becomes interested in her, even though he is well aware that her life’s dream is to be an opera star, not a featured singer in a nightclub.

Spencer Tracy is here again playing second fiddle to Clark. And again, he’s Clark’s conscience as he would be again in Test Pilot and Boom Town. He’s a priest this time even! They’re childhood friends just like Clark and William Powell in Manhattan Melodrama, and just like that film Clark (named Blackie in both films) takes the “bad” road while his childhood chum takes the “good” road. Spencer is a priest yet his best buddy Clark runs a seedy nightclub, mocks religion and God, punches men in the face and exploits his own fiancé!

Well hey, you get to see Clark box Spencer wearing what looks like a high waisted diaper!

Clark of course sees the light, about religion and his real love for Jeanette after the earthquake. San Francisco was shook by a 7.9 earthquake at 5am on April 18, 1906. Over 3,000 people died and about 80% of the city was destroyed. The ensuing fires lasted for days afterward.

The effects of the earthquake are really quite amazing for a film made 82 years ago. D.W. Griffith was hired to direct the earthquake scenes after the producers saw the rushes of W.S. Van Dyke’s version, which they thought were rushed and fake-looking. Griffith gave them the authenticity they needed. His only direction to the mobs of extras was, “Pretend it’s an earthquake! Run for your lives! Try to help your friends!”

I’ve always felt the end feels kind of rushed—they probably could have edited some of Jeanette’s lengthy opera numbers and added in more of the city’s devastation and Clark’s “redemption.” Maybe that’s just me…

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