HAVE TO GIVE THE PROPER CREDIT FOR THE CREATION AND DIRECTION OF THIS AMAZING SEQUENCE, and it doesn't go to Mr. Van Dyke. The resident MGM artistic genius designer of these shots - as well as the director of them - and the editing, was Montage Master SLAVKO VORKAPICH. He was so well known at the studios that scripts requiring a montage would just say, VORKAPICH MONTAGE. True. Check him at IMDB. BTW, notice how fresh that earthquake sequence looks even today? That's Vorkapich- ahead of his time!
@stayAU I live in dc and the dc quake was not the same as this one this one the buildings fell and fell on people in dc a cuple of bricks fell of the moument but thats all the damgage and noone got hurt or killed it was only 5.2 this one was like 7 or 8 sumthin dis video was two sad for me
@MzCutiez1 I did not say it was the same as this quake. I felt a rolling sensation that people in San Fran often describe of their quakes. The faults in California are more active but the Earthquakes on the Atlantic side have the potential to produce more quakes like the one in Haiti. Buildings did fall in Mineral VA and exterior walls collapsed in some area's like Falls Church and Alexandria.
Very well done! Although as a member of an old San Francisco family (since the 1850s with several residences in the city at the time of the quake - some survived some didn't) and as a historian of the quake, I'm a bit disappointed by the severe inaccuracy of it. Although I was impressed that they recreated a model of the capital building.
It,s amazing to see that big tower falling down in pieces, I think it was the City Capitol- I saw real footage of that same building and this movie shows exactly how it fells-Also that big man-statue falling in the carriage- Horses running in terror...Everything so real!!- I have been 3 times in San francisco, I,m from Argentina, and I must say that it,s my fav city from the States- Carlos
Excellent scene,great F/X.If this was done today, it would all be CGI-and not too covincing. BTW, the chandelier in my dining room shook the same way in the Virginia earthquake a few weeks ago. I felt it in New York!
@loufalce I am in Virginia and I was thinking of that roaring noise in the film. We heard that thought it was military jets. It was weird because I have relatives in California and I was on Youtube checking out the Quake during the World Series I was all worried for them. And I felt the the jerking and then rolling motion they described. I was waiting to vaporize and my mom is like its an earthquake. We had to run out of the house cuz there are no real secure beams or doorways to stand under. =P
@stayAU ....a very rare.occurance in Metropolitan NY.. Thank God it only lasted for a few seconds.At first it felt like a big truck passing by, until I saw the news that a TV show was interupted for. I wouldn`t like to experiece that again, pretty scary.
@loufalce there is a fault in VA and we do get earthquakes every couple of years but the ones I did feel one sounded like a truck and this larger quake sounded like military jets. I wonder if we are on the same fault line? Yes that quake in the DC Metro area was pretty scary depending on your location to the fault line. Our walls were jerking. Mean ol California making fun of us. This felt the same as a CA quake to me, I was born in CA.
The set of the music hall was built on a moving platform that created the tremor effect. If you see, the dramatic effect of the earthquake on the street is created for the great editing, like the shower scene in Psycho.
@CitrineVlogging But they did and still do. The earth is very powerful. My great uncle was a very high society lawyer back then, he was 27 when the quake hit, it woke him and everybody else up he ran to the street his house collapsed in 8 seconds. Any expensive thing he owned in there was gone. He was left only with the clothes on his back. He said that was the first time he felt like a human not rich or poor, not black or white he said it was good to see the natural family of man.
all the fancy CGI in todays world wouldn't create such realism as this sequence...wonderful stuff, created so accurately...today it would be slick and fake, the women would have attitude and everyones language would leave nothing to the imagination........
And if you've never been in an earthquake that's like a f&%king eternity!
Of course the earthquake damaged mainly the infrastructure of the city, most houses being wood frame. It was the fire afterward that raged for 3 days that destroyed most of the city.
@Scotsbell You're right and so is the movie: it begins with a title card that says the quake hit at "Five-Twelve a.m." The scene depicted is an all-night event.
@crazypenny94 -- Just great special effects recreating the real-life 1906 earthquake. However, Clark Gable's character was based on a real-life person, Wilson Mizner, a gambler from the Barbary Coast. Mizner was a friend of the screenwriters and they based their script on his memories.
@crazypenny94 Yes. It was in the early morning till a great effect of a real-life earthquake in the early morning of a great-shake started on wensday in 5:13 caused of San Franscinco Junk and Bricks.
Please give a little help here. In the Movie San Francisco, Mary Blake (Jeanette MacDonald) sings a beautiful aria. She actually sings it 3 times. For the life of me I cannot figure out which opera was used in that film and what the name of that aria is. Heeeellllllllpppppp!!!......Thanks.
Anyone stop to think,what would an opera star, being doing in a speak easy at 5;12 in the morning swinging her arms and hips ...dropping to her knees and hitting high c's?
@glawsny -- Watch the movie, it's a fantastic story.(SPOILER ALERT) She goes back to her Barbary Coast roots to help win money for her old love in a talent contest, but he rejects her anyway. The earthquake is a wake up call to them both at the moment they believe they don't love each other anymore.
What was worse is after the earthquake the city burned due to the gas leaks. Plus the water supply was limited due to the water system shutting down, so they were unable to put out the fires.
I like that movie, it got really good effect except the old fashion actors u know they can be quite dramatic. But i think that classic movie made the best earthquake effect!
Re: earthquakes:Sorry Glock but check your facts...earthquakes vary in duration and strength. The 1964 Alaska earthquake, began at 5:36 P.M. AST on Friday, March 27, 1964.[2], Lasting nearly five mins, ,It had a magnitude of 9.2, at the time making it the second largest earthquake in the recorded history of the world.[2][3]" This movie is shown with respect and love in San Francisco, every year. Its a classic, for the cast, the music the special effects. Regards, former resident of So. Calif.
Im sorry, I do like this movie but that is just not what an earthquake is like. They are very brief and happen at least once every 2 years or so. You get used to them.
You gotta remember all the destruction that went down in 1906 they didnt exactly have modern retrofitting. If a quake of that magnitude struck today the damage would be FAR less.
I was blown away when as a child i saw this part of the film... It still is good considering it was made so long ago. Antother film is also very good. The Good Earth,,,, l take a look.
I agree, for the age of the movie, the effects are really well done. I have been living in San Francisco and performing with my band for about a year now, and still haven't experienced one yet...
you will eventually... I first moved to San Jose and was wondering when I would ever feel anything till one evening 2 years ago San Jose was struck with 5.6 earthquake. I thought it was semi truck hitting my house because my house experienced a whiplash effect of shaking. It was very trippy of how motion would move like that.
It's not an award ceremony. Some famous stage actor was in the city doing a performance, and the earthquake happened after the show ended. I've never seen this movie, but I heard that's what happened.
And by high noon, I'm assuming your referring to the wagons and stuff in the street. It was the early 1900's, so, yeah, they still had horse-drawn carriages and the roads weren't paved.
Go to your local library and check out the many books they have on the subject. Pretty interesting stuff.
I'm really impressed by the special effects. It really does look pretty realistic and considering the age of the movie, really it's impressive. Thanks for posting!
@TomateFarcie yeah, compare this to the scenes in the film "Deluge," released three years previously and it's a quantum leap by early effects standards...
Be sure to read all about this great film on IMDB! The special effects were very advanced considering the year it was made. I beleive this also won "Best Song for that year! Buy the film it is awesome, recants a very rare moment in Americana.
much better this movie than Earthquake from 1975. The scenes when the Capitol building is falling in pieces are GREAT, and that big statue..falling in the carriage..well..AMAZING. Great film. I just can,t imagine the horror the people feels during an earthquake..Carlos
A cinematic marvel. San Francisco was one of the big movies out of the Golden Age. They lifted entire sets up on hydraulic lifts and rockers and shook them down. It wasn't just a bunch of shaky camera work. Wonderful.
As I recall..... this is a real long long movie.... I always just sit & wait for this sequence & then for good old Jeanette walkin at the end with her white dress in rags singing along.
I heard that, apart from hyraulics, they also used electro magenets to hold walls up & then just literally turned the current off so they fell. Just great.
my fathers uncle took my dad to see this when he was a little boy in the 1930's to a lowes state drive in ( yes they had them back then ) he fell asleep, he was only a small kid but his uncle woke him up during the earthquake scene , great movie thanks
It's too bad that the writer didn't take the time to figure out in his story or script what time the actual quake hit; it's was 5:12 AM; not when this movie depicts it. Majority of the city's population was in-doors asleep. There are only a handfull few written accounts of people witnessing the actual start and finish; I recall a police officer on his early morning beat wrote one, which mentions the street moving like the ocean.
The writers got it right: the movie opens with a title card describing the exact date and time of the earthquake; the scene you're watching takes place after an all-night celebration.
Well, this is a film you know, and they took some liberties with the accuracy to make a good movie. Pretty common. And there are thousands of written accounts about the quake, not unlike the police officer you mention. Actually, the quake stands as one of the first modern ones to be thoroughly examined, much due to its location, and was important to researchers worldwide. Cheers & best wishes for a happy new year!
For the time this was a great movie. mostly forgotten these days. Many new shots were used in this movie which made way for other films. A great film.....
wow, since that wasn't the big one were waiting for, i wonder how much worse will the big one be, it most likely may be stronger then the one that really hit san fransico long ago before this movie came out...
One of the best originals of a movie quake I've ever seen and not one bit of CGI. My late husband met Clark Gable and said he was the best person you could ever run into.
Some of the silent films I've seen before had like subtitles.
This one hasn't got sound at all, how are we supposed to know whats going on? And how come the White House is in San Francisco when it's really in New York?
COMMENT (part 1) Thanks for the fantastic comments. John Hoffman (my dad) was responsible for this and some of the other montage sequences in the film. A friend of his (David Shepard), tells me the film had already been shot, but the studio execs weren't happy with it so they handed it over to him to see if he could salvage it. He rewrote, directed and edited some of the scenes.
iiiiiirene - glad to read your comment;I saw your father when he introduced a screening of "San Francisco" at LACMA in 1977; the quake is even more realistic and stunning on the big screen, and the audience gave it a round of applause! Other work of his that I've seen are the montages for the 1933 film "Secrets"; his style is powerful and much more rythmic, precise and effective than current rapid editing.
Thanks for the info rayrad7. I was only 12 in 1977 and wish I'd have been older. I could have learned so much from him. So any info such as yours is truly appreciated. :) Must get hold of a copy of 'Secrets'.
You're right it was a late night at the Opera House ... Enrico Caruso appeared in Carmen at the Mission Opera House a few hours before the disaster. However, he was in bed sleeping when he was awakened by the quake at 5:12am.
occurred at 5:12 AM April 18, 1906 .... Very interesting movie. However, there were no theatrical productions that early in the morning. Great video and thanks for posting it!
If I recall, it is established in the film that the event at Blackie's is an all-night party, and that the city of San Francisco was known for such "debaucheries."
Wow, amazing special effects for 1936! And great editing too; very advanced then and still way ahead of a lot of films today in the 21st century; frenzied, short, and violent.
My great-grandmother went through something like this when she survived the 1906 Earthquake.
The editing in this sequence was obviously influenced by Eisentstein's celebrated Odessa steps massacre sequence in The Battleship Potemkin (1925). The same principles are at work, chiefly the quick intercutting of simple but arresting images, with the cutting become more rapid as the scene progresses, producing the effect of increasing violence and destruction (even though many of these images are closeups of single objects or single faces). It's a brilliant bit of editing.
Wow... Amazing effects for a 1936 movie!!! I just did some quick research on it and read that whole sets were hoisted on hydraulic lifts and rockers, and literally shaken down. cool...
Would have liked to hear her sing San Francisco. But those scenes were so great they were used in other pictures. And I agree Clark Gable was the King of Hollywood in his day. Real Dreamy!
Getting killed by a falling naked dude! Now that sucks! Fantastic special effects. It's always amazed me, as to how well movies have been made from the earliest days of film. Good stuff, Maynard!
Hi, I like your video clip and have rated it as awesome. Please check out mine on some 1930's movie star cards. They include: Jeanette Macdonald, Gary Cooper, Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, Maurice Chevalier, Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford ....
thanks for showing this vt. of the movie; I've heard the song (which she is said to lypsinc) Judy Garland 1952: "San Francisco", concert in New York City.
Character actor Edgar Kennedy who plays the sheriff, was actually in the SF earthquake.
hemming701 1 day ago
Beautiful San Francisco!
BestSanFranciscoBusi 2 weeks ago
HAVE TO GIVE THE PROPER CREDIT FOR THE CREATION AND DIRECTION OF THIS AMAZING SEQUENCE, and it doesn't go to Mr. Van Dyke. The resident MGM artistic genius designer of these shots - as well as the director of them - and the editing, was Montage Master SLAVKO VORKAPICH. He was so well known at the studios that scripts requiring a montage would just say, VORKAPICH MONTAGE. True. Check him at IMDB. BTW, notice how fresh that earthquake sequence looks even today? That's Vorkapich- ahead of his time!
cyberlarry7 4 weeks ago
@stayAU I live in dc and the dc quake was not the same as this one this one the buildings fell and fell on people in dc a cuple of bricks fell of the moument but thats all the damgage and noone got hurt or killed it was only 5.2 this one was like 7 or 8 sumthin dis video was two sad for me
MzCutiez1 1 month ago
@MzCutiez1 I did not say it was the same as this quake. I felt a rolling sensation that people in San Fran often describe of their quakes. The faults in California are more active but the Earthquakes on the Atlantic side have the potential to produce more quakes like the one in Haiti. Buildings did fall in Mineral VA and exterior walls collapsed in some area's like Falls Church and Alexandria.
stayAU 2 days ago
HOLY SHIT IS THIS REAL?
DiegoHitched 1 month ago
Save me Rhett!!!
getback9691 2 months ago
don't like it , I Love it !!! :D
MrDuhhrr 3 months ago
Very well done! Although as a member of an old San Francisco family (since the 1850s with several residences in the city at the time of the quake - some survived some didn't) and as a historian of the quake, I'm a bit disappointed by the severe inaccuracy of it. Although I was impressed that they recreated a model of the capital building.
mlitsonata1 3 months ago
It,s amazing to see that big tower falling down in pieces, I think it was the City Capitol- I saw real footage of that same building and this movie shows exactly how it fells-Also that big man-statue falling in the carriage- Horses running in terror...Everything so real!!- I have been 3 times in San francisco, I,m from Argentina, and I must say that it,s my fav city from the States- Carlos
gwtwcarlos 4 months ago
If this ever happens again I'm killing myself
Django5198 5 months ago
Excellent scene,great F/X.If this was done today, it would all be CGI-and not too covincing. BTW, the chandelier in my dining room shook the same way in the Virginia earthquake a few weeks ago. I felt it in New York!
loufalce 6 months ago
@loufalce I am in Virginia and I was thinking of that roaring noise in the film. We heard that thought it was military jets. It was weird because I have relatives in California and I was on Youtube checking out the Quake during the World Series I was all worried for them. And I felt the the jerking and then rolling motion they described. I was waiting to vaporize and my mom is like its an earthquake. We had to run out of the house cuz there are no real secure beams or doorways to stand under. =P
stayAU 1 month ago
@stayAU ....a very rare.occurance in Metropolitan NY.. Thank God it only lasted for a few seconds.At first it felt like a big truck passing by, until I saw the news that a TV show was interupted for. I wouldn`t like to experiece that again, pretty scary.
loufalce 1 month ago
@loufalce there is a fault in VA and we do get earthquakes every couple of years but the ones I did feel one sounded like a truck and this larger quake sounded like military jets. I wonder if we are on the same fault line? Yes that quake in the DC Metro area was pretty scary depending on your location to the fault line. Our walls were jerking. Mean ol California making fun of us. This felt the same as a CA quake to me, I was born in CA.
stayAU 1 month ago
The set of the music hall was built on a moving platform that created the tremor effect. If you see, the dramatic effect of the earthquake on the street is created for the great editing, like the shower scene in Psycho.
cobolsaurus 6 months ago
Comment removed
cobolsaurus 6 months ago
Buildings are well built in reality they wouldn't have fallen that easily.
CitrineVlogging 6 months ago
@CitrineVlogging But they did and still do. The earth is very powerful. My great uncle was a very high society lawyer back then, he was 27 when the quake hit, it woke him and everybody else up he ran to the street his house collapsed in 8 seconds. Any expensive thing he owned in there was gone. He was left only with the clothes on his back. He said that was the first time he felt like a human not rich or poor, not black or white he said it was good to see the natural family of man.
CHNJ101 4 months ago
@CHNJ101 Oh Wow how sad.
CitrineVlogging 4 months ago
This scared me the first time I saw it in 1970 just days before the Sylmar quake. It still holds up today.
roz805 6 months ago
This is and always will be one of the greatest scenes in movie history.
York22 6 months ago
gone with quake
dhksrksalem 7 months ago
wow! those effects must have been the equivilent 2 avatar in 1936! love it
dumphuq 8 months ago
black and white is better than color
MrDougindixie 10 months ago
whats a earth quake
MultiDollar1234 10 months ago
Id wanna know what it would be like to live back in the 1900's!
StonerEyes420 11 months ago
this is a play
mona12278 11 months ago
Seriously, scarier and more chilling than any modern disaster movie using special effects.
pinoydramaacademy 11 months ago
Find out when next earthquake may take place:
WORLD-EARTHQUAKES . COM
worldethq 1 year ago
This film depicts how much the American people have suffered. My heart goes out to the San Francisco people who were hurt in this horrible event.
SugarTomAppleRoger 1 year ago
Special effects for that movie was better then the 1974 Earthquake Movie
db1burns01 1 year ago
I don't believe it could be done as well today with CGI. Damned impressive!
phlashba 1 year ago
all the fancy CGI in todays world wouldn't create such realism as this sequence...wonderful stuff, created so accurately...today it would be slick and fake, the women would have attitude and everyones language would leave nothing to the imagination........
perth45 1 year ago
How long did the real 1906 earthquake last?
FamilyGuyFanatic800 1 year ago
@FamilyGuyFanatic800
About a minute (I think 56 seconds).
And if you've never been in an earthquake that's like a f&%king eternity!
Of course the earthquake damaged mainly the infrastructure of the city, most houses being wood frame. It was the fire afterward that raged for 3 days that destroyed most of the city.
kenrfc 1 year ago
Appreciate that films based on fact are often changed for dramatic effect but this earthquake actually hit at something like 5am. :)
Scotsbell 1 year ago
@Scotsbell You're right and so is the movie: it begins with a title card that says the quake hit at "Five-Twelve a.m." The scene depicted is an all-night event.
Zacatown 1 year ago
@Zacatown Oh right, I stand corrected! I remember watching this movie as a kid and loving it. One of the black and white classics :)
Scotsbell 1 year ago
Was this real?
crazypenny94 1 year ago
@crazypenny94 -- Just great special effects recreating the real-life 1906 earthquake. However, Clark Gable's character was based on a real-life person, Wilson Mizner, a gambler from the Barbary Coast. Mizner was a friend of the screenwriters and they based their script on his memories.
Zacatown 1 year ago
@crazypenny94 Yes. It was in the early morning till a great effect of a real-life earthquake in the early morning of a great-shake started on wensday in 5:13 caused of San Franscinco Junk and Bricks.
Againya23 1 year ago
Please give a little help here. In the Movie San Francisco, Mary Blake (Jeanette MacDonald) sings a beautiful aria. She actually sings it 3 times. For the life of me I cannot figure out which opera was used in that film and what the name of that aria is. Heeeellllllllpppppp!!!......Thanks.
LVmusiclover 1 year ago
@LVmusiclover -- According to a website devoted to her, she sang arias from "Faust" and "La Traviata" in the film.
Zacatown 1 year ago
The opera is Faust by Gounod. Hope this helps.
jdewitt77 1 year ago
Anyone stop to think,what would an opera star, being doing in a speak easy at 5;12 in the morning swinging her arms and hips ...dropping to her knees and hitting high c's?
glawsny 1 year ago
@glawsny -- Watch the movie, it's a fantastic story.(SPOILER ALERT) She goes back to her Barbary Coast roots to help win money for her old love in a talent contest, but he rejects her anyway. The earthquake is a wake up call to them both at the moment they believe they don't love each other anymore.
Zacatown 1 year ago
Anyone who lives near SF should check out the annual Earthquake celebration near Lotta's Fountain.
krull7 1 year ago
Still to this day is not the best but still great visual effects. The ground breaker of 1936. Still on my top ten disaster sequences of all time.
MrCastilloNathaniel 1 year ago
Around 1:50-1:51 that big ass brick fell on that guy big time !!! OMG :O
JaeDizzley1995 2 years ago
Have to say, for 1936, this was state of the art stuff, amazing work making it look real.
Anynom 2 years ago
one of the best edited sequences in film history... only a bit overshadowed by Eisenstein's perfect stairs sequence in Battleship Potemkin
cifra2 2 years ago
Very good movie... although the real quake stroke at five in the morning!
henricusbajanensis 2 years ago
horses...
MAMEYUS 2 years ago
The after shock shortly afterwards was also very well done, it should be posted with this.
kportguy1 2 years ago
This scene is proof you do not need CGI to be convincing. This scene rivals that of modern movies.
York22 2 years ago
yah, for the old mov, is a great effect sequence...lol
xuk85 2 years ago
@York22 i was wondering how did they do that. didn't look like background boards cuz the bricks did fall down...
sdutango 1 year ago
@York22 ..Actually its a lot better. They really made MOVIES back then.
loufalce 6 months ago
What was worse is after the earthquake the city burned due to the gas leaks. Plus the water supply was limited due to the water system shutting down, so they were unable to put out the fires.
OtterPops22 2 years ago
I like that movie, it got really good effect except the old fashion actors u know they can be quite dramatic. But i think that classic movie made the best earthquake effect!
NateCUnder 2 years ago
it's scary to know this is bound to happen again any day now...i dread the day
joshtj44 2 years ago
History was rewritten for this film. The quake occurred shortly after 5AM but for more dramatic effect the time was changed to early evening.
carrotville 2 years ago
that was probably a 6.2...i've been through worse with my big fat girlfriend.
sharpasaneraser 2 years ago
Re: earthquakes:Sorry Glock but check your facts...earthquakes vary in duration and strength. The 1964 Alaska earthquake, began at 5:36 P.M. AST on Friday, March 27, 1964.[2], Lasting nearly five mins, ,It had a magnitude of 9.2, at the time making it the second largest earthquake in the recorded history of the world.[2][3]" This movie is shown with respect and love in San Francisco, every year. Its a classic, for the cast, the music the special effects. Regards, former resident of So. Calif.
jacoul7 2 years ago 3
Im sorry, I do like this movie but that is just not what an earthquake is like. They are very brief and happen at least once every 2 years or so. You get used to them.
You gotta remember all the destruction that went down in 1906 they didnt exactly have modern retrofitting. If a quake of that magnitude struck today the damage would be FAR less.
GlockMeAmadeus7 2 years ago
I was blown away when as a child i saw this part of the film... It still is good considering it was made so long ago. Antother film is also very good. The Good Earth,,,, l take a look.
babyycat 2 years ago
I agree, for the age of the movie, the effects are really well done. I have been living in San Francisco and performing with my band for about a year now, and still haven't experienced one yet...
jasonbroccoli 2 years ago 3
you will eventually... I first moved to San Jose and was wondering when I would ever feel anything till one evening 2 years ago San Jose was struck with 5.6 earthquake. I thought it was semi truck hitting my house because my house experienced a whiplash effect of shaking. It was very trippy of how motion would move like that.
NateCUnder 2 years ago
If I remember correctly, the 1906 San Francisco earthquake started at 5:12 am...
RheeHolmes 2 years ago 3
I doubt they would be holding an awards ceremony or that it would look like high noon at that time either. :) Still a very well done film
plateshutoverlock 2 years ago
It's not an award ceremony. Some famous stage actor was in the city doing a performance, and the earthquake happened after the show ended. I've never seen this movie, but I heard that's what happened.
And by high noon, I'm assuming your referring to the wagons and stuff in the street. It was the early 1900's, so, yeah, they still had horse-drawn carriages and the roads weren't paved.
Go to your local library and check out the many books they have on the subject. Pretty interesting stuff.
Shaman145 2 years ago
@Shaman145 I was referring to the time of day, but the wagons kind of make it look like that film too :)
Also, the sun does not rise that early in March in Cali so it should still be dark.
(yeah, with 30s tech a "pesentable" night time quake would probably have been very hard to do so some liberties has to be taken)
plateshutoverlock 9 months ago
@plateshutoverlock
i mean does not rise at 5:12am
plateshutoverlock 9 months ago
I'm really impressed by the special effects. It really does look pretty realistic and considering the age of the movie, really it's impressive. Thanks for posting!
TomateFarcie 2 years ago 14
@TomateFarcie yeah, compare this to the scenes in the film "Deluge," released three years previously and it's a quantum leap by early effects standards...
orwellson 1 week ago
Be sure to read all about this great film on IMDB! The special effects were very advanced considering the year it was made. I beleive this also won "Best Song for that year! Buy the film it is awesome, recants a very rare moment in Americana.
Mod60s 2 years ago
that is the longest earthquake i've ever seen :D
OrangeJuice101 2 years ago
much better this movie than Earthquake from 1975. The scenes when the Capitol building is falling in pieces are GREAT, and that big statue..falling in the carriage..well..AMAZING. Great film. I just can,t imagine the horror the people feels during an earthquake..Carlos
gwtwcarlos 2 years ago
It wasn't the Capitol. That's San Francisco's City Hall. It has been featured in such diverse movies as "Milk" and "Pod People."
Zeyev 2 years ago
A cinematic marvel. San Francisco was one of the big movies out of the Golden Age. They lifted entire sets up on hydraulic lifts and rockers and shook them down. It wasn't just a bunch of shaky camera work. Wonderful.
saxondog2001 2 years ago 5
dayum it lasted that long?
drewprelsey 2 years ago
Even if the earthquake itself only lasts seconds, the buildings continue to fall apart. Fires errupted everywhere, explosions, etc.
TomateFarcie 2 years ago 2
Is this movie on youtube?
Tommilee09 2 years ago
torrenze downloads
jerramy 2 years ago
When the earth shakes it brings everybody down to the same level! rich or poor mother earth will not care. Equality for all.
Great scene
globehunter2 2 years ago 9
@globehunter2 i agreed, but i don't want an earthquake to balance the equality. lol.
sdutango 1 year ago
I was in the 1906 Quake(Yes im very old but still fun)It ws very creepy
Treythetired 2 years ago
Some people can count.
jerramy 2 years ago
As I recall..... this is a real long long movie.... I always just sit & wait for this sequence & then for good old Jeanette walkin at the end with her white dress in rags singing along.
I heard that, apart from hyraulics, they also used electro magenets to hold walls up & then just literally turned the current off so they fell. Just great.
bootsamou 2 years ago
Great film!
3024266 3 years ago
my fathers uncle took my dad to see this when he was a little boy in the 1930's to a lowes state drive in ( yes they had them back then ) he fell asleep, he was only a small kid but his uncle woke him up during the earthquake scene , great movie thanks
bearcub410 3 years ago
scream, rich people! scream! while the poor loot your jewels!!!
timmyturner05 3 years ago
I always knew Jeanette MacDonald's voice caused the Great Earthquake!
aaamee 3 years ago
i guess in the 30s they were thinkin "hey, it could be worse!"
canucks16 3 years ago
i agree with mikey mike
niteshockers123 3 years ago
amazing for 1936.
mikeymike1960 3 years ago
Comment removed
nintendoforever1995 3 years ago
It's too bad that the writer didn't take the time to figure out in his story or script what time the actual quake hit; it's was 5:12 AM; not when this movie depicts it. Majority of the city's population was in-doors asleep. There are only a handfull few written accounts of people witnessing the actual start and finish; I recall a police officer on his early morning beat wrote one, which mentions the street moving like the ocean.
endymionsfate 3 years ago
The writers got it right: the movie opens with a title card describing the exact date and time of the earthquake; the scene you're watching takes place after an all-night celebration.
Zacatown 3 years ago
Zacatown-
Yes, the time was indeed right! They had no reason to make a mistake. The earthquake & fires are extremely well portrayed.
Kindest regards, and a happy new year!
henrygem 3 years ago
endymionsfate-
Well, this is a film you know, and they took some liberties with the accuracy to make a good movie. Pretty common. And there are thousands of written accounts about the quake, not unlike the police officer you mention. Actually, the quake stands as one of the first modern ones to be thoroughly examined, much due to its location, and was important to researchers worldwide. Cheers & best wishes for a happy new year!
henrygem 3 years ago
Tremendous special effects for 1936.
UofLCardFan08 3 years ago 2
I wasn't alive in 1906, but I was here in 1989. It rocked!
vonijoe 3 years ago
October 17, 1989. 19 years ago today.
the "little big one."
and yeah, it did rock.
oranger2525 3 years ago
...i was lucky, i was ridin the MuniBus goin to City College of SF up on the hills and felt absolutly nothing! but goin back home took me 3hrs.
gaae2000 3 years ago
Clark Gable never looked lovelier! Jeanette MacDonald belting out a few catchy tunes and the ORIGINAL disaster movie! Could anyone ask for more?
plato12000 3 years ago
Very cool how they showed the old City Hall crumbling away. All the modern CGI sucks butt nowadays now THESE were movies
junior69ec 3 years ago
For the time this was a great movie. mostly forgotten these days. Many new shots were used in this movie which made way for other films. A great film.....
babyycat 3 years ago
wow, since that wasn't the big one were waiting for, i wonder how much worse will the big one be, it most likely may be stronger then the one that really hit san fransico long ago before this movie came out...
WarriorOfChrist777 3 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Stupid!!! This earthquake happened in San Francisco, not China!!! Hence, the title "San Francisco" earthquake!!!!
publicxnuisance 3 years ago
From this movie, I can imagine how terrible it was in the earthquake in China.
goddesspiggy 3 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Stupid! The earthquake happened in the morning.
RUfaggle 3 years ago
I think it´s no necesary to say stupid, don´t you think it?
rochis13j 3 years ago 2
If you watch the whole movie they mention that its almost 5am and they are still at this celebration. So the timing is right on.
countrygirltori 3 years ago
One of the best originals of a movie quake I've ever seen and not one bit of CGI. My late husband met Clark Gable and said he was the best person you could ever run into.
mrslinarcos 3 years ago 3
When greatness kneels to God...
angelomes 3 years ago
this film was made in 1936, I believe and like Gone with The Wind, it's still terrific so's the singing....
tightsmen50 3 years ago
Recently saw this. Very good indeed. Love Gable. Thanks for sharing.
evamarlow 4 years ago 2
This was a great picture. If seen today would still be great. Clark. jeanette, Tracey. great.
64102256 4 years ago
and... when does she sing Hallelujah? I want to see that scene.
vobiscum2007 4 years ago
She sings Hallelujah at the end of the film.
amberlights1 3 years ago
who ever thought that was the white house, i bought the book on the disaster and i believe that is the city hall?
dhjustin 4 years ago
Zacatown
I've sorted it out...I had the sound turned down.
New computer!
ronnieknotts 4 years ago
Some of the silent films I've seen before had like subtitles.
This one hasn't got sound at all, how are we supposed to know whats going on? And how come the White House is in San Francisco when it's really in New York?
It doesn't make sense!
ronnieknotts 4 years ago
It's tough to argue with your logic ronnieknotts.
Zacatown 4 years ago
8 / ? ? lol, hilarious (to previous statement)
evamarlow 4 years ago
So are you Swampzois!
glawsny 4 years ago
Great special effects!
jimmyhd1969 4 years ago
groovy
swampzoid 4 years ago
someone can tell me the exactly title of this movie with my favourite actor Clark Gable? Thanks my dears !!!!
littleamore 4 years ago
The exact title is: San Francisco.
iiiiiirene 4 years ago
Thank you!!!!!
littleamore 4 years ago
COMMENT (part 1) Thanks for the fantastic comments. John Hoffman (my dad) was responsible for this and some of the other montage sequences in the film. A friend of his (David Shepard), tells me the film had already been shot, but the studio execs weren't happy with it so they handed it over to him to see if he could salvage it. He rewrote, directed and edited some of the scenes.
iiiiiirene 4 years ago
WOW! Thanks for that terrific info iiiiiirene. Who knew??
Zacatown 4 years ago
iiiiiirene - glad to read your comment;I saw your father when he introduced a screening of "San Francisco" at LACMA in 1977; the quake is even more realistic and stunning on the big screen, and the audience gave it a round of applause! Other work of his that I've seen are the montages for the 1933 film "Secrets"; his style is powerful and much more rythmic, precise and effective than current rapid editing.
rayrad7 4 years ago
Thanks for the info rayrad7. I was only 12 in 1977 and wish I'd have been older. I could have learned so much from him. So any info such as yours is truly appreciated. :) Must get hold of a copy of 'Secrets'.
iiiiiirene 4 years ago
Wait a second... THIS IS IN BlACK AND WHITE. THE ORGINAL MOVIE IS IN COLOUR!!! WHY IS THE IN B/W???
Kashito91 4 years ago
Hi Kashito91. Actually the original movie was made in Black and White, NOT color. Perhaps you saw a computer "colorized" version?
Zacatown 4 years ago
You're right it was a late night at the Opera House ... Enrico Caruso appeared in Carmen at the Mission Opera House a few hours before the disaster. However, he was in bed sleeping when he was awakened by the quake at 5:12am.
lukethomas33 4 years ago
1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire
occurred at 5:12 AM April 18, 1906 .... Very interesting movie. However, there were no theatrical productions that early in the morning. Great video and thanks for posting it!
lukethomas33 4 years ago
If I recall, it is established in the film that the event at Blackie's is an all-night party, and that the city of San Francisco was known for such "debaucheries."
majorcana 4 years ago
Always fan-slipping-tastic! Thanks for posting! :)
lavenderliberal 4 years ago
wow Great!
stencil62 4 years ago
Love it! Classic movie: great story and great acting and amazing effects!(and made with no computer!)
CruiserLeo2007 4 years ago
Wow, amazing special effects for 1936! And great editing too; very advanced then and still way ahead of a lot of films today in the 21st century; frenzied, short, and violent.
My great-grandmother went through something like this when she survived the 1906 Earthquake.
mdhookey 4 years ago
The editing in this sequence was obviously influenced by Eisentstein's celebrated Odessa steps massacre sequence in The Battleship Potemkin (1925). The same principles are at work, chiefly the quick intercutting of simple but arresting images, with the cutting become more rapid as the scene progresses, producing the effect of increasing violence and destruction (even though many of these images are closeups of single objects or single faces). It's a brilliant bit of editing.
majorcana 4 years ago
WOW amazing.
TV341 4 years ago
Wow... Amazing effects for a 1936 movie!!! I just did some quick research on it and read that whole sets were hoisted on hydraulic lifts and rockers, and literally shaken down. cool...
greginfl 4 years ago
Would have liked to hear her sing San Francisco. But those scenes were so great they were used in other pictures. And I agree Clark Gable was the King of Hollywood in his day. Real Dreamy!
64102256 4 years ago
Thx for the video. Nevertheless, it would have been nice to hear her sing the song...
markus310773 4 years ago
Beats most of the computer generated junk of today
sfdavide 4 years ago
wow excellent effects and the edition is superb...
cobolsaurus 4 years ago
To this day the city government of SF still lies about the deathtoll from the 06 quake.
Tuber30A 4 years ago
Getting killed by a falling naked dude! Now that sucks! Fantastic special effects. It's always amazed me, as to how well movies have been made from the earliest days of film. Good stuff, Maynard!
3eyedho 4 years ago
Wow. Amazing stuff. Thanks for posting this.
noneofyourbeeswax 4 years ago
Ahhh Clark Gable isn't he dreamy
Jrnen2darkness 4 years ago
WOAH! The effects are amazing, and even rival *todays*
earthquake effects in some areas!
blinkingblythe 4 years ago
This has been flagged as spam show
If you do not copy and paste this onto 10 videos your mom will die in 4 hours
Doomsday666Jesse 4 years ago
That was amazing for 1936.
cmbojim 4 years ago
Hi, I like your video clip and have rated it as awesome. Please check out mine on some 1930's movie star cards. They include: Jeanette Macdonald, Gary Cooper, Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, Maurice Chevalier, Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford ....
creamofcardstv 5 years ago
thanks for showing this vt. of the movie; I've heard the song (which she is said to lypsinc) Judy Garland 1952: "San Francisco", concert in New York City.
from
Del.
sw1q 5 years ago
I LOVE THIS MOVIE! can you upload the song she sings before this spectacular scene??
marcelstemarie 5 years ago