MGM has managed to pull together a well-made, if somewhat meandering, drama about love and tragedy that takes place, in part, around the great San Francisco earthquake of 1906. While the romance story is merely adequate, bolstered by a fine performance from the always reliable Clark Gable, the real showcase is the earthquake itself, created by Slavko Vorkapich. Slavko was a Serbian-born independent cinematic artist whose work was highly sought after and respected in Hollywood. His work here speaks for itself and elevates what was a simple drama into a film that earned a top spot at the 1937 Academy Awards.
The film as a whole hasn’t aged well, though. It’s a turn-of-the-century look at the Barbary Coast through the eyes of Blackie Norton (Clark Gable), a saloon keeper in the coastal city. He hires Mary Blake (Jeanette MacDonald) to sing in his bar, the Paradise Club, enchanted by her voice and her appealing looks. Mary, a former choir singer, whose father was a minister, takes the job and quickly becomes a star attraction for the bar, especially for her signature tune, “San Francisco”. But her heart is in Opera music, something Blackie cannot offer her.
At the behest of his childhood friend, Father Tim Mullen (Spencer Tracy), Blackie decides to run for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors with the idea that he can use the supervisor position to implement reform. Meanwhile, Mary, who has resisted taking jobs that would take her away from Blackie, accepts a position at the Tivoli Opera House on Market Street, where she becomes involved with Jack Burley (Jack Holt), a Nob Hill scion. But she realizes that she is in love with Blackie and asks him to marry her, which he agrees to even though Burley had previously proposed to her. With her engagement to Blackie comes leaving the Opera House and returning to the Paradise Club, something that incenses Burley.
Also upset is Father Mullen, who, upon seeing the revealing outfit Mary will be wearing onstage, has a falling out with Blackie that upsets her enough to leave Blackie again. Meanwhile, Burley uses his influence with the police to get the Paradise Club closed down and many of Blackie’s workers arrested on the day of the annual Chicken’s Ball, preventing his club from having someone to perform on behalf of the club. Mary steps up and performs for the club, only to face an angered Blackie who insists she had no right to do that and refuses the prize money that she won for her performance of her signature number “San Francisco”. But before things can get out of hand, the big earthquake hits, and many people are either injured or killed in it.
This is not the strongest of films, narratively speaking. Clark Gable brings with him a certain degree of suaveness that is apparent no matter how he is acting, but it can only carry this character so far. He’s arrogant and selfish and is a user of people. This is excused as a character trait needed for those who intend to succeed in the Bay Area, and we see the same traits in Burley. That may be the case, but it makes for an inconsistent protagonist that we would be unwilling to follow at all were it not Gable playing it. As such, he doesn’t allow this character to be so callous that we can’t follow him at all, either. It’s not a perfect balance of charming and smarmy, but it isn’t excessively over the line either.
Jeanette MacDonald got her start on Broadway, working her way off the chorus line and into starring roles. She was part of the early talkie transition in Hollywood, where she worked with the likes of Ernst Lubitsch and Maurice Chevalier. Later, she would tour Europe before returning to Hollywood again. It was her idea to pair her with Clark Gable in San Francisco, though the two famously didn’t get along on set. Reportedly, he would chew garlic whenever he was going to be working up close with her just to torment her. Still, the two had on-screen chemistry that made them a charming screen couple. But the character as written is too indecisive, changing her mind between Blackie and Burley and back again. It’s a frustrating character trait that keeps her from being a string female lead.
While this is intended to be a loving tribute to the Barbary Coast, what it ends up being is another love triangle story with a surprising and actually moving ending. Blackie, who is a self-proclaimed atheist, is moved in the end to thank God that Mary has not been killed in the earthquake that shook the city. He falls to his knees, unsure how to address God, and just says simply, “Thank You.” It’s simple and eloquent, and it’s the most character development we get in the entire picture. It ends the film on a good note, even if the rest of the film isn’t quite up to the same level.
This is a sometimes funny, often frustrating picture that is always watchable, yet never excels to the heights it needs to. The version available to watch these days has been altered, too, removing the ending because in later years MGM felt that the scenes depicting the then modern city dated the film. What it was replaced with is generic and bland, unfitting for the ending of this feature, yet that is what has been made available for present day viewers. This isn’t a great film, but it deserves better.
Academy Award Nominations:
Outstanding Production: John Emerson and Bernard H. Hyman
Best Director: W.S. Van Dyke
Best Actor: Spencer Tracy
Best Writing - Original Story: Robert Hopkins
Best Assistant Director: Joseph M. Newman
Best Sound Recording: Douglas Shearer (won)
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Release Date: June 26, 1936
Running Time: 115 minutes
Not Rated
Starring: Clark Gable, Jeanette MacDonald, Spencer Tracy, Jack Holt, Jessie Ralph, Ted Healy
Directed by: W.S. Van Dyke
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