10 Favorite Movies Set in San Francisco

I have been in US since August 2009. Most of you would probably know that I was doing my Masters until earlier this year. After finishing my masters, I moved to San Francisco Bay area in last 2-3 months. Cities like Boston and New York certainly have their own identity and place in films but personally I was always attracted more towards San Francisco, probably because of its distinct architecture and road structure which comes from city based on top of multiple hills. Now wondering through the streets of this city, I always wonder if I have seen this place somewhere. So, instead of just wondering about these movies I decided to make a list of my favorite movies set in city of San Francisco. Considering this list is as much about San Francisco as much about movies, I have given some relevance to how prominently city of San Francisco features in it as well. As a result, though I prefer Harold and Maude(1971) or Guess Who is Coming to Dinner(1967) to some of the movies in the list, they do not have enough San Francisco in them to make this list or The Birds(1963) since Bodega Bay isn't exactly San Francisco. Oh, and The Maltese Falcon(1941) totally would have made the list if I didn't confuse it with The Big Sleep(1946). Imagine my surprise when I realized there is no Lauren Bacall in The Maltese Falcon(Me: Are you freaking kidding me? I HAVE SEEN IT! oh, that was The Big Sleep? Nooo or maybe it was) Let's get to it then.

NOTE: Some potential Spoilers in the description of movies. If you haven't seen the movie and don't want it spoiled, skip the description part.

Lombard Street, San Francisco

10. The Graduate(1967): I might have put it way high up in the list but seriously I remember only 3 things about this movie - 1. Mrs. Robinson's Legs 2. "Mrs. Robinson, you are trying to seduce me" 3. That final shot of Dustin Hoffman and Katherine Ross in bus and as iconic as these 3 things are I felt it rather unfair to judge whole movie on it. I promise I will re-watch it soon though.

9. Rise of the Planet of the Apes(2011): I probably was one of the very few people last year who didn't fell in love with this movie instantly. Actually, there are very few things I liked about it. One of them is Andy Serkis, who was brilliant off course and epic final battle between Apes and Humans on Golden Gate bridge and they are enough to warrant this place in this list.

8. The Rock(1996): If you asked me few years back when I was back in India and wasn't watching as many movie as now, I would have put this movie much higher up in the list. Those were the days when Michael Bay wasn't synonymous to shit and he made movies I could stand. I have seen so many more movies now but The Rock is still rock-solid, especially after being there, on eerie Alcatraz.

7. Dirty Harry(1971): I haven't seen all the other Dirty Harry movies yet but still I have enough reasons to put this movie in this list. Reason 1: Its Dirty Harry. Reason 2: Its Clint Eastwood as Dirty Harry. It is normal to wonder 'So, this is where Clint Eastwood was standing' while visiting Golden Gate National Recreation area where Harry finds the body of the girl buried, right ?

6. Bullitt(1968): Again, do you need any more reason than Steve McQueen? If you do, incidentally I have one. That Car chase through the streets of San Francisco. Believe me, they made those streets like that so that one day, Steve McQueen can chase bad guys on it just like that. I am not even joking. Well, and does Jacqueline Bisset's British accent qualify for a reason ? I am kinda sucker for that too.

5. Milk(2008): Not only this story of Harvey Milk, California's first openly gay elected official, is shot in San Francisco almost in it's entirety(even when they show he is in NYC, those shots were actually shot in San Francisco), Gus Van Sant shot lot of it on actual location like Milk's apartment is where Milk actually lived in Lower Haight or his camera shop is where his actual shop was.

4. Zodiac(2007): I usually have tough time defending this movie because even I hate the fact that they never find out who the real killer is but you can't blame Fincher for whatever actually happened in reality and besides that I love almost everything about this movie - tension building with every murder, case consuming everything in lives of Downey Jr. and Gyllenhaal's characters and finally, nagging question of whether Allen was Zodiac and if not then who was ?  
 
3. The Game(1997): Back-to-back Fincher here. Throughout this movie Michael Douglas runs all over San Francisco like crazy. But when Sean Penn accuses Douglas that he is the one doing all this, he is with CRS and they fight on those stairs - call me crazy but - probably that was the first time I thought, 'I love this place! I would love to go to this city some day'.

2. The Conversation(1974): Because of the three other heavyweights Coppola directed in the same decade I feel like The Conversation sometimes never gets the due credit. This movie deserves its place in any list, if for nothing else, for one scene at the very end of movie where Gene Hackman tears his own apartment down. Brilliant !! Heavily influenced by Antonini's Blowup(1966), it is a fascinating character study of Gene Hackman's character Harry Caul, San Francisco based surveillance expert.

1. Vertigo(1958): As I think back probably this along with The Game, as I said above, were two movies that got me interested in San Francisco. The other day, we took a cruise tour of the bay and our tour guide took us right under the Golden Gate Bridge, close to Fort Point where Kim Novak jumps into water and Jimmy Stewart saves her. Probably I was the only one to get that reference but that kinda made me happy.

So, here is my list. Did I miss anything ?