Synopsis: SAN FRANCISCO was one of the most successful picture of the 1930s, and the sources of its popularity are readily apparent to this day. Both Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy are excellent, with Gable playing Blackie Norton, a dashing, brawling, gambler with a big heart, and Tracy playing Nob Hill... SAN FRANCISCO was one of the most successful picture of the 1930s, and the sources of its popularity are readily apparent to this day. Both Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy are excellent, with Gable playing Blackie Norton, a dashing, brawling, gambler with a big heart, and Tracy playing Nob Hill snob Jack Talbot, who vies with Blackie for the attentions of beauty Mary Blake (Jeanette MacDonald). MacDonald's voice is as good as gold as she sings the title song, arias, popular music, and religious tunes. MGM built genuine reproductions of preearthquake San Francisco for the sets, including landmarks that were destroyed in the 1906 natural disaster. The special effects are accomplished with an aplomb equal to anything produced previous to the digital era, re-creating the quake with alarming and frightening realism. And, unlike many subsequent disaster films, SAN FRANCISCO's plot is sufficiently engaging to make the film worthwhile even without the climactic catastrophe. With it, W.S. Van Dyke's SAN FRANCISCO becomes a fabulous melodrama that should not be missed. [More]