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 See the York Hotel's Vertigo staircase! |
Mission
Dolores is one of many locations around town lusciously photographed
in Alfred Hitchcock's 1958 masterpiece, Vertigo, considered by many
to be the ultimate San Francisco movie. Vertigo is about, among other things,
the hypnotic power that San Francisco's mythical past has over its present
day inhabitants. This film is one of Hitchcock's best and most analyzed,
and was recently restored. Jimmy Stewart is Scottie Ferguson, a retired
police detective stricken with fear of heights. When he meets the mysterious
Kim Novak, Stewart races to his destiny. Barbara Bel Geddes is the sensible
working woman, Midge Wood. Midge helps Scottie make sense of it all at
her place on Telegraph Hill. Her address is never stated but because of
the exact
Russian Hill backdrop and attendant
exterior shots at Union and Calhoun, it
could only be 296 Union Street. When Scottie
tails Novak, a client's wife, he follows her into
Podesta
Baldocchi on Grant Avenue through a side entrance on Claude
Lane. (Claude Lane is a few blocks away from the Baldocchi location,
but not in the movies!) The "Argosy Book Shop" is based on the Argonaut
Book Shop on Sutter Street. Vertigo made its public debut on May 9,
1958 at the Stage Door Theatre, 420 Mason Street.
More Vertigo Locations:
EXTRA! Because Vertigo is among the best and most celebrated films in cinema history, its mystique is well documented. In addition to his own, Mister SF's favorite online Vertigo guides are those at Basic Hip and Widescreen Cinema. |
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Copyright 2001-2003 Hank Donat |