San Francisco (film)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | San Francisco |
| Original title | San Francisco |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1936 |
| length | 115 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 0 |
| Rod | |
| Director | WS Van Dyke |
| script | Anita Loos |
| production |
John Emerson Bernard H. Hyman |
| music | Walter Jurmann |
| camera | Oliver T. Marsh |
| cut | Tom hero |
| occupation | |
| |
San Francisco is a 1936 American film starring Clark Gable , Jeanette MacDonald and Spencer Tracy . The film describes the events of the great earthquake in San Francisco in 1906.
action
On New Year's Eve 1905, the young singer Mary Blake seeks work in Blackie Norton's dance hall in San Francisco . Norton hires them, not just because of their voice, but mostly because of their looks. Mary's appearances quickly become very popular and although she likes Norton very much, she doesn't want to get involved in an affair with her boss. On the other hand, she befriends Norton's childhood friend, the priest Tim Mullin.
The opera director Jack Burley, who belongs to the high society of San Francisco, comes into the bar. Burley is the opponent of Blackie Norton. Both are running for elections for the next city council. He tries to convince Norton not to run in the elections. But Norton is sticking to his candidacy. Burley announces a tough fight for him. When Burley hears Mary Blake sing, he is fascinated by her and offers her an engagement in his opera. Mary has long dreamed of such an engagement, but now she finds herself in a bind. On the one hand, she is in love with Blackie and wants to be loyal to him, on the other hand, her dreams have never been so close to realization.
Mary and Blackie are slowly getting closer. Blackie is already celebrating his future marriage, but Mary moves away from him again, provoked by jealous comments from colleagues. She leaves Norton's establishment and goes to Burley's opera. On the day of her first premiere, she again received a marriage proposal from Burley, which she left unanswered. Norton also comes to the premiere with the sheriff to cancel the performance with the argument of his existing contract with Mary. However, when he saw Mary's performance on stage and witnessed her success, he dropped that plan. After the performance, he proposes to her in the cloakroom. She then leaves the opera and comes back to Blackie's bar.
However, Blackie's friend Tim Mullin thinks this was the wrong step for Mary's future career. There is an argument with the friend, where Blackie knocks Tim down. Because of this brutal clash, Mary leaves Blackie again and returns to Burley's opera. Burley sees his chance now and sends the police to Blackie's bar under the most banal reasons. The entire ensemble is arrested and Blackie is left with nothing. On the same evening there was to be a competition for the best performances in night clubs. The profit should finance his election campaign. Mary and Burley also come to the competition. Mary learns of the machinations of her future husband. She decides to help Blackie and to compete for him. However, he does not know about it and is too proud to accept the award later, he insults Mary, who desperately leaves him with Burley. And at that very moment, the great San Francisco earthquake begins . Burley dies under the rubble. Blackie finds herself during the disaster and experiences God. He pacifies himself with Father Tim Mullin and returns to Mary forever.
background
MGM was looking for a suitable film material to provide Jeanette MacDonald with a solo vehicle, as she was increasingly dissatisfied with only playing in operettas alongside Nelson Eddy . Finally, the studio found a suitable material in this love melodrama about the rise of a young singer. At the same time, she was joined by the studio's biggest male star: Clark Gable. Jeanette MacDonald received the bulk of the songs in the film. The biggest success was the theme song San Francisco .
Gable and MacDonald didn't get along well as he didn't like their constant hiring in makeup and camera shots. It remained the actress' only foray into more serious realms. Her next solo appearances were harmless comedies like The Firefly , which she used as a Napoleonic spy, and Broadway Serenade , in which she was seen as a spirited stage star. Ironically, Rose-Marie , the sound film version of an operetta starring MacDonald and Nelson Eddy, was the major commercial success in 1936 .
criticism
According to Reclam's film guide , the film "enjoys a legendary reputation in large circles, not least due to the popular song San Francisco ". Otherwise, the "leading actors who keep the quite conventional story going for two thirds of the time" would have contributed to this reputation. Towards the end, "then the trick technique [...] in the representation of the earthquake, which was unusually realistic for the time, creates spectacular tension".
The film-dienst described the film as "[n] och always effective cinema entertainment", which results from a "mixture of emotion, tension, outstanding disaster sensations and groundbreaking sound effects".
Awards
The film received six Oscar nominations in 1937 , but only the Oscar for best sound went to the MGM musical. Spencer Tracy was nominated for Best Male Leading Role, WS Van Dyke was nominated for Best Director and San Francisco was also nominated for Best Picture . The star of the film, Clark Gable, received nothing. The film also won the Photoplay Award for best film of the year in 1936 .
Web links
- San Francisco in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ Reclam's film guide . 1973, ISBN 3-15-010205-7 .
- ^ San Francisco. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .