Film Noir and San Francisco (Part I): Woman on the Run

It is always satisfying to see a film shot on location rather than a backlot with an implied setting. The 1950 crime film noir Woman on the Run, directed by Norman Foster, features many outdoor scenes in San Francisco, California (along with studio, studio/backdrop, and hybrid location shots with projected images). Not only is "The City" portrayed prominently, its location is integral to the plot.
If you want to view the best quality version of Woman on the Run, the Film Noir Foundation and UCLA Film & Television Archive released a Blu-ray/DVD restoration. A streaming version is also available on Kanopy, which is free for university students and public library card holders. I would not recommend streaming any of the poor copies from Amazon Prime Video (especially the colorized one with a misleading thumbnail).
Filming locations courtesy of Reel SF.

[@johnoden2857]

Thanks for bringing this film to my attention, which I must see. It's striking how LA noir often must include car travel for narrative continuity and to give a sense of how the city works. In San Francisco in Woman on the Run, it seems the characters are often on foot, negotiating small scale historically intact blocks. It's as if the real city is a character and the protagonists interact with it. Beyond is the bay and the ocean and some kind of metaphorical release. And the whole drama is held tight by the haunting black and white photography...

[@BrotherLaymanPaul]

Great video! More noir the better! Thank you for sharing your work!

[@Nualchemist]

Thank you for introducing this film. I watched the entire film I thoroughly enjoyed it. I think Woman on Run is a masterpiece. Being a San Franciscan, I definitely enjoyed seeing the old days of my town :)

[@smadarshemmesh279]

Thoroughly enjoyable and clear narration. Hope you upload more of these 👏👏👏

[@tammyr1489]

Woman on the Run is fantastic. Made me a fan of Ann Sheridan.

[@marymitchell8625]

Watching from OAKLAND today!

[@tommystrange]

great work, never seen. one quibble, you say such a small city, hard to hide. Nope . Plenty of places to. if you have a support group or just money. Remember, it took almost two years to find Hearst way up in the 70's!

[@TheSaltydog07]

One of my favorites.❤

[@thomasfeimer1706]

You do get a lot of Noir set in San Francisco. This is an unscientific ranking, but of "classic" noir I would guess the number one locale is L.A., followed by S.F., with N.Y.C. a surprisingly distant third. What's also noteworthy is that a surprising number of these films do utilize location shooting. Most Hollywood films were shot almost exclusively within the confines of a Hollywood studio until the late 1960's. My guesses as to why S.F. was the exception are: (1) San Francisco is close enough to L.A. for relatively easy travel. Remember, this is before jet air travel. Sound film equipment was also still fairly large and cumbersome. S.F. was within reasonable travel distance to send a crew and equipment and still be fairly economical. (2) Many noir stories required a contemporary urban setting. Though L.A. did actually have some pretty dense urban areas at this time (notably Bunker Hill), overall it was a sprawling bunch of suburbs in search of a city. S.F. is known to have a denser "eastern" looking development pattern like New York or Boston. However... (3) While the urban landscape of San Francisco may have featured some reminders of cities back east, its location on the west coast, i.e. the "gateway to the Pacific", its historic reputation from the rough and tumble "anything goes" gold rush and Barbary Coast years, and its diverse population and cultures (including one of America's biggest Chinatowns) gave it a more exotic and intriguing air. There's a line in The Portrait of Dorian Gray about how everyone who's missing eventually turns up in San Francisco. And that's what it was for much of its history: a place you could go to get away from your past and start over as someone else. Of course, once you've got there, you've also reached the end, at least of the American continent. Your back is up against the wall, figuratively speaking. That's what noir is all about.

[@peterbedford2610]

Great movie.

[@roderickfemm8799]

I have lived in San Francisco for 44 years, and love your descriptions. One nitpick: it would be more accurate to say that the buildings are built level and plumb onto a variety of slanting, crooked streets.

[@breadandcinemas6996]

You make a good point, although my old place in the Mission was anything but level. The bathroom (added on after the house was built in 1900) was somehow uphill and on the same floor.

[@hiridavidfeign]

So weird when I watch a recommendation then realize I've seen the movie. Rewatch imminent. Thanks.

[@nickbovi]

As a San Francisco native I love this film, but I don't understand why they shot the scene at the amusement park in Santa Monica, when it could have been shot at San Francisco's own Playland at the Beach.

[@bartonpercival3216]

Yup, just like the ending to The Woman from Shanghai with the scene of the fun house, or the Twilight Zone "Perchance to dream" which was filmed out at Playland at the beach. 👍🎠🎢

[@annabellefoxnesbitt9305]

Enjoyed this ❤

[@Nigelrathbone1]

The head detective same actor who plays the milquetoast sherrif in The Wild One.

[@bumperu]

The biggest small town in the USA.

[@nhmooytis7058]

Where’s Part I?

[@dans9463]

Don't smoke

[@timothymacdonnell9079]

It probably would have been cool to see San Francisco when it was a blue collar town.

[@sulevisydanmaa9981]

NORA PRENTISS is almost as good, the protagonist lives in Sea Cliff. There u go. Life on the edge ... This titellation is a misnomer : the correct 1 : MAN ON THE RUN. . . Among the top 3 exterior SF films noir , THE LINEUP, HITCHTIGO surpassing