San Francisco in Cinema: George of the Jungle

Cable Car
When heiress Ursula Stanhope returns to the states with George of the Jungle, they trade in their tree house for Ursula's pad in the Tamalpais Building, 1201 Greenwich Street on Russian Hill. The 1997 live action version of the Jay Ward cartoon from the '60s is a good breather from intellectual films and indies. The script is pretty crappy but it moves along. George of the Jungle actually has an elephant crap scene, as well a pee one, so this criticism shouldn't be considered too unjust even by fans. After finding George on safari, Ursula falls in love with the happy-go-lucky jungle man. As George, Brendan Fraser's role is written in Hollywood Tarzenglish. He looks good in a loincloth. On his San Francisco sojourn, George visits Neiman Marcus, which he refers to as "a big, shiny cave." Also seen are a few good cityscapes, a passing cable car, the Fairmont Hotel, Lombard Street, and some authentic sidewalk moments. But the real pay off is George's dramatic Bay Bridge rescue scene. Directed by Sam Weisman, with Leslie Mann as Ursula. Mayor Willie Brown has a short speaking part, as himself, in a scene with Holland Taylor, who plays Ursula's socialite mother.

First Bank, 550 Montgomery Street ("Stanhope Bank")

More about George of the Jungle


Copyright 2002 Hank Donat
mistersf.com home