Photos From the Road: San Francisco and High Sierra Movie Locations

Here's the next in a series of photo posts from this summer's road trip to Oregon, which took us through San Francisco as we headed north and inland through the Sierra Nevadas on the drive home. Click any photo to enlarge for a closer look!

We were only in San Francisco for 24 hours, but that was enough time to find a few classic film locations! We took a late-afternoon walk along the wharf, which was a key location during the climactic ransom sequence in EXPERIMENT IN TERROR (1962). Lee Remick filmed here:

For photos of the above area as it looked in the film, visit Reel SF.

After breakfast at the appropriately themed Hollywood Cafe the next morning, we headed for Montgomery Street, where Lauren Bacall's DARK PASSAGE (1947) apartment still stands. Humphrey Bogart costarred with Bacall.

A look at the side of the apartment building, with the bay peeking through in the background:

We were amused to discover that THE HOUSE ON TELEGRAPH HILL (1951) was just steps down Montgomery Street from the DARK PASSAGE apartment. Richard Basehart and Valentina Cortesa lived here in the thriller directed by Robert Wise. Based on construction materials visible here, the building, a former restaurant, is currently undergoing renovations.

The house doesn't appear identically as it did in the film, due in part to a fake facade constructed around the building for the movie. For a more detailed history, including screen shots, visit Robby's post at Dear Old Hollywood, along with Reel SF.

The beautiful view from "The House on Telegraph Hill." Incidentally, the scenes in the yard were actually filmed in the garden at Coit Tower a little higher up the hill.

The corner building below is James Stewart's house in VERTIGO (1958). We didn't drive further up Lombard Street for a better look at the entrance as we were trying to spare our car as many of the steep hills as we could!

The original entry at the left of the building has been walled off and gated, so it looks quite different from its appearance in the film. For more photos, I again recommend visiting Reel SF, which is a great resource for San Francisco movie locations! Virginie Pronovost has also posted excellent photos of additional VERTIGO locations at THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF CINEMA.

Fort Point, at the foot of the Golden Gate Bridge, is a key location in multiple films, including both VERTIGO and THE MAN WHO CHEATED HIMSELF (1950), which I saw at this year's Noir City Film Festival.

Here's how it looked in VERTIGO...

...and nearly a decade earlier, here are Lee J. Cobb and Jane Wyatt outside the fort in THE MAN WHO CHEATED HIMSELF.

Due to fencing, this was as close as I could get to where Kim Novak jumps into the bay in VERTIGO!

Walking inside the fort was an amazing experience! It was built between 1853 and 1861.

This tower was a key location in the suspenseful climax of THE MAN WHO CHEATED HIMSELF:

My husband recognized Fort Point as the location where a helicopter lands in POINT BLANK (1967) with Lee Marvin. I've got a copy of that film so I can check it out soon.

There were movie locations on the drive home as well! I wrote about the Bridgeport locations for OUT OF THE PAST (1947) and NIGHTFALL (1957) in 2010 and 2014; please click on the links to check out photos and more extensive information on those sites.

In the meantime, here's a quick look at the courthouse glimpsed in OUT OF THE PAST...

...and Ken's Sporting Goods, seen here on the left, was Marny's Diner in the same film, with a different porch.

Finally, I'm fond of THE SECRET OF CONVICT LAKE (1951), which starred Glenn Ford, Gene Tierney, and Zachary Scott. While the village in the film was clearly built on a soundstage, here's a nice look at the real Convict Lake for fans of the film!

I'll be posting additional "road trip" photos in the future, including a look at the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco.