SAN FRANCISCO - DVD review

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.

Yet it's the special effects that eventually upstage them all. Even today with our elaborate CGI work, we would probably have a hard time duplicating all the earth tremors, cracking sidewalks, and burning buildings we see in "San Francisco."

Trivia: Both Gable and Tracy resisted participating in the movie. For his part, Gable was not fond of the idea of having Jeanette MacDonald singing at him. There are stories of his being aloof with her throughout the filming, ignoring her off the set, and even purposely eating garlic before their first on-screen kiss. I would also theorize that Gable, carefully nurturing his manly image at that time, had his doubts about appearing in a musical. Tracy, too, had his uncertainties about doing the picture, mainly because he wasn't sure about portraying a priest, being of Irish Catholic descent. Ironically, he was nominated for an Academy Award in the part and several years later won an Oscar for his role as Father Flanagan in "Boys Town."

Video:
The 1.33:1 black-and-white transfer looks good for its age, especially in terms of its solid shades and its B&W contrasts, which show up quite vividly. Definition is also quite good, and there is hardly an age mark, line, blemish, or flicker in sight. There are, however, varying degrees of grain, the image looking anywhere from crystal clear to slightly rough. Fortunately, the original print must have been in excellent shape and WB's video engineers must have done a fair amount of touching up because the result is more than pleasing.

Audio:
One finds a pleasantly wide dynamic range for so early a sound film, the sonics nicely reproduced and cleaned up by the Dolby Digital 1.0 mono processing. Perhaps we might have expected this, given that the movie won an Oscar for Best Sound Recording. Background noise is mostly absent, too, making the dialogue and music easy to appreciate. The frequency range is limited, though, and the midrange and treble are a little hard sounding, but it's nothing distract one from the film.

Extras:
In tribute to an enduring classic, Warner Bros., who now own the MGM film, afford it a decent slate of extras. First up, there's a forty-six minute TNT documentary profile, "Clark Gable: Tall, Dark & Handsome," hosted by Liam Neeson. Surprisingly, while it comments on a good deal of Gable's public and personal life, with extensive excerpts from his films, it contains practically no mention of "San Francisco." Next, there are two vintage James A. Fitzpatrick "TravelTalk" shorts: "Cavalcade of San Francisco" and "Night Descends on Treasure Island," both in color and each lasting about eight minutes. Then, there is a classic MGM cartoon, also in color, called "Bottles," about ten minutes long. Finally, there is an alternate ending sequence that features unfinished glimpses of the Golden Gate and Bay Bridges in what was then the present, 1936.

The extras conclude with thirty-two scene selections (but no chapter insert); a return engagement theatrical trailer; English and French spoken languages; and English, French, and Spanish subtitles.

Parting Thoughts:
The very best period pieces often hold up well in movies, and "San Francisco" is a prime example. It could have been made in 1936, 1946, or 1956; and if it had been in widescreen and color, it could be mistaken for 1966 or 1976. The acting, the direction, the technical effects all look as good today as anything Hollywood has produced in the last sixty years. And if you're not moved by the movie's ending, you're made of stone.

"San Francisco" is grand entertainment, nominated for six Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Actor (Spencer Tracy), Best Director (W.S. Van Dyke), Best Assistant Director (Joseph Newman), Best Writing (Robert Hopkins), and winning, as I said earlier, for Best Sound (Douglas Shearer).

Warner Bros. have made "San Francisco" available separately or in a box set, "The Clark Gable Signature Collection," which also includes "Dancing Lady," "China Seas," "Wife Versus Secretary," "Boom Town," and "Mogambo."