5 ms·

A Man Scours San Francisco for the Traces of Film Noir

63 points by qzervaas 10y ago

JoeAltmaier 10y ago
Film locations can be iconic. In a motel room, bored and channel-surfing, I saw a '70s movie on a beach with a distinctive headland in the distance and a large boulder jutting out of the surf. Next channel, old B&W movie, same beach, this time a suicide wading out into the surf by the same rock. Both scenes playing at the same time on adjacent channels.
- Neeek 10y ago
  Did you stumble on to the final scene of "A Star is Born"? I wonder how many films end with people wading in to the surf to take their own life...
  - Graham24 10y ago
    The TV show the Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin did that on Swanage beach.
bigdubs 10y ago
San Francisco is a great place to do this because it looks basically the same as it did in the 60s. Whether this is a good or bad thing is up to other people to debate.
- dasil003 10y ago
  San Francisco is also a great place to catch screenings of classic film noir in the historic Castro Theatre (complete with pipe organ): http://www.noircity.com/ http://www.noircity.com/
  - tomkinstinch 10y ago
    Another place to experience old and strange films in SF is at one of the small "Strange Sinema" screenings at Oddball Films[1,2]. It's not so much a theater as it is a film archive near 18th St with projector room and a few couches. I found my favorite tamale restaurant thanks to the proprietor, and have seen an eclectic and memorable set of films at the screenings. Everything from Jacques Cousteau-like underwater films to Cold War-era Air Force test footage. It's weird authentic SF at its best. Be sure to chat with Stephen afterward. 1. https://vimeo.com/176204115#t=7s https://vimeo.com/176204115#t=7s 2. https://oddballfilms.blogspot.com/ https://oddballfilms.blogspot.com/
- 13of40 10y ago
  I like finding filming locations in modern movies with minimal evidence, like the names from street signs, etc. It's kind of interesting how often they totally fake filming locations. Lots of movies supposedly set in the U.S. are filmed in Canada for some reason, and I just watched one the other day that was supposed to be in Seattle but it was filmed in some town in the midwest. (They had a Seattle skyline scene at one point that was about as convincing as the Emerald City in the Wizard of Oz.) Bonus, if you're into that sort of thing: https://geoguessr.com/ https://geoguessr.com/ (Dropped somewhere in the world at random in Google Street View, how accurately can you figure out where you are?)
  - agret 10y ago
    That website is a very cool 'game' haha I like it a lot :)
  - mcpherrinm 10y ago
    Geoguessr is a lot of fun. It's great with a few coworkers and a conference room projector for wasting a bit of time at the end of the day, too.
- galago 10y ago
  A lot of the locations in Hitchcock's Vertigo look much the same today. Its much different in NYC as these images of Taxi Driver locations show: http://www.scoutingny.com/new-york-youve-changed-taxi-driver-part-1/ http://www.scoutingny.com/new-york-youve-changed-taxi-driver...
at-fates-hands 10y ago
Reminds me a lot of the documentary "LA Plays Itself": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hYg01uqz9U https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hYg01uqz9U
- IvyMike 10y ago
  Technically it's "Los Angeles Plays Itself". This may seem pedantic, but it's a point made in the movie itself: "The acronym functions here as a slightly derisive diminutive. Now it’s become second nature, even to people who live here. Maybe we adopted it as a way of immunizing ourselves against the implicit scorn, but it still makes me cringe. Only a city with an inferiority complex would allow it." (Also it turns out there was already a film called "LA Plays Itself") http://www.standardhotels.com/culture/whatever-you-do-dont-call-it-la-los-angeles-plays-itself-arrives-at-last http://www.standardhotels.com/culture/whatever-you-do-dont-c...
  - diogenescynic 10y ago
    One of the best documentaries I've ever seen. I highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't seen it.
  - melvinmt 10y ago
    Thanks for the quote. Just found the entire transcript: http://newfilmkritik.de/archiv/2005-03/los-angeles-plays-itself/ http://newfilmkritik.de/archiv/2005-03/los-angeles-plays-its... It's a good read :)
- RichardCA 10y ago
  "Los Angeles Plays Itself" - Thom Andersen's 2003 documentary, can be found on Youtube (paid), and is essential viewing IMHO. "L.A. Plays Itself" - Fred Halsted's 1972 avant-garde gay porn film, the only hardcore work in the permanent collection of the MOMA, referenced in "Los Angeles Plays Itself". Sorry, had to put that in.
DonaldFisk 10y ago
Fans of The Prisoner (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Prisoner https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Prisoner) have been doing this for years: http://www.theunmutual.co.uk/locationsguide.htm http://www.theunmutual.co.uk/locationsguide.htm A scene from The Prisoner was shot in the GEC Marconi building in Borehamwood (now demolished). This was where the Elliott 803 computer (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elliott_803 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elliott_803) was designed and built. Tony Hoare worked there.
donretag 10y ago
I highly encourage everyone that is interested in this type of detective work to read Pop Spots http://www.popspotsnyc.com/ http://www.popspotsnyc.com/ Bob Egan goes through such amazing detail to pinpoint exact location of still photographs, movie frames and even paintings.
ghaff 10y ago
If you're a Harold and Maude fan check out the following. (I helped out in a small way because I'm something of a map geek and had a rental car one weekend). http://www.boffo.us/haroldandmaude/ http://www.boffo.us/haroldandmaude/
vogt 10y ago
As a die hard Noir buff, I love that there is someone who has retired from the SV scene and now dedicates their time to not just noir film history, but specifically as it pertains to San Francisco.

63 points by qzervaas 10y ago

Film locations can be iconic. In a motel room, bored and channel-surfing, I saw a '70s movie on a beach with a distinctive headland in the distance and a large boulder jutting out of the surf. Next channel, old B&W movie, same beach, this time a suicide wading out into the surf by the same rock. Both scenes playing at the same time on adjacent channels.

Neeek 10y ago
Did you stumble on to the final scene of "A Star is Born"? I wonder how many films end with people wading in to the surf to take their own life...
- Graham24 10y ago
  The TV show the Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin did that on Swanage beach.

bigdubs 10y ago

San Francisco is a great place to do this because it looks basically the same as it did in the 60s. Whether this is a good or bad thing is up to other people to debate.

dasil003 10y ago
San Francisco is also a great place to catch screenings of classic film noir in the historic Castro Theatre (complete with pipe organ): http://www.noircity.com/ http://www.noircity.com/
- tomkinstinch 10y ago
  Another place to experience old and strange films in SF is at one of the small "Strange Sinema" screenings at Oddball Films[1,2]. It's not so much a theater as it is a film archive near 18th St with projector room and a few couches. I found my favorite tamale restaurant thanks to the proprietor, and have seen an eclectic and memorable set of films at the screenings. Everything from Jacques Cousteau-like underwater films to Cold War-era Air Force test footage. It's weird authentic SF at its best. Be sure to chat with Stephen afterward. 1. https://vimeo.com/176204115#t=7s https://vimeo.com/176204115#t=7s 2. https://oddballfilms.blogspot.com/ https://oddballfilms.blogspot.com/
13of40 10y ago
I like finding filming locations in modern movies with minimal evidence, like the names from street signs, etc. It's kind of interesting how often they totally fake filming locations. Lots of movies supposedly set in the U.S. are filmed in Canada for some reason, and I just watched one the other day that was supposed to be in Seattle but it was filmed in some town in the midwest. (They had a Seattle skyline scene at one point that was about as convincing as the Emerald City in the Wizard of Oz.) Bonus, if you're into that sort of thing: https://geoguessr.com/ https://geoguessr.com/ (Dropped somewhere in the world at random in Google Street View, how accurately can you figure out where you are?)
- agret 10y ago
  That website is a very cool 'game' haha I like it a lot :)
- mcpherrinm 10y ago
  Geoguessr is a lot of fun. It's great with a few coworkers and a conference room projector for wasting a bit of time at the end of the day, too.
galago 10y ago
A lot of the locations in Hitchcock's Vertigo look much the same today. Its much different in NYC as these images of Taxi Driver locations show: http://www.scoutingny.com/new-york-youve-changed-taxi-driver-part-1/ http://www.scoutingny.com/new-york-youve-changed-taxi-driver...

at-fates-hands 10y ago

Reminds me a lot of the documentary "LA Plays Itself": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hYg01uqz9U https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hYg01uqz9U

IvyMike 10y ago
Technically it's "Los Angeles Plays Itself". This may seem pedantic, but it's a point made in the movie itself: "The acronym functions here as a slightly derisive diminutive. Now it’s become second nature, even to people who live here. Maybe we adopted it as a way of immunizing ourselves against the implicit scorn, but it still makes me cringe. Only a city with an inferiority complex would allow it." (Also it turns out there was already a film called "LA Plays Itself") http://www.standardhotels.com/culture/whatever-you-do-dont-call-it-la-los-angeles-plays-itself-arrives-at-last http://www.standardhotels.com/culture/whatever-you-do-dont-c...
- diogenescynic 10y ago
  One of the best documentaries I've ever seen. I highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't seen it.
- melvinmt 10y ago
  Thanks for the quote. Just found the entire transcript: http://newfilmkritik.de/archiv/2005-03/los-angeles-plays-itself/ http://newfilmkritik.de/archiv/2005-03/los-angeles-plays-its... It's a good read :)
RichardCA 10y ago
"Los Angeles Plays Itself" - Thom Andersen's 2003 documentary, can be found on Youtube (paid), and is essential viewing IMHO. "L.A. Plays Itself" - Fred Halsted's 1972 avant-garde gay porn film, the only hardcore work in the permanent collection of the MOMA, referenced in "Los Angeles Plays Itself". Sorry, had to put that in.

DonaldFisk 10y ago

Fans of The Prisoner (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Prisoner https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Prisoner) have been doing this for years: http://www.theunmutual.co.uk/locationsguide.htm http://www.theunmutual.co.uk/locationsguide.htm A scene from The Prisoner was shot in the GEC Marconi building in Borehamwood (now demolished). This was where the Elliott 803 computer (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elliott_803 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elliott_803) was designed and built. Tony Hoare worked there.

donretag 10y ago

I highly encourage everyone that is interested in this type of detective work to read Pop Spots http://www.popspotsnyc.com/ http://www.popspotsnyc.com/ Bob Egan goes through such amazing detail to pinpoint exact location of still photographs, movie frames and even paintings.

ghaff 10y ago

If you're a Harold and Maude fan check out the following. (I helped out in a small way because I'm something of a map geek and had a rental car one weekend). http://www.boffo.us/haroldandmaude/ http://www.boffo.us/haroldandmaude/

vogt 10y ago

As a die hard Noir buff, I love that there is someone who has retired from the SV scene and now dedicates their time to not just noir film history, but specifically as it pertains to San Francisco.