San Francisco is often used as a backdrop for movies of all kinds. Francis Ford Coppola’s American Zoetrope studios are here (in the strangely shaped building in Kearny and Columbus), as is Lucasfilm (in the Presidio). Unfortunately, none of them tour, but for any movie lover with a good visual memory, walking around town is like a big movie tour, anyway.
5 great things for movie lovers in San Francisco
- Vertigo Movie Sites – One of the quintessential San Francisco movies in terms of the number of San Francisco sites it portrays, Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo draws devoted fans to see its sights. You can take our self-guided tour or avoid the hassle of driving and contact A Friend in Town tour company whose owner has been showing fans Vertigo locations for over 10 years.
- Sundance Kabuki Theater: If you are lucky enough to live in a city where cinema is evolving into a new kind of experience, you can skip it, but if your films are on the local multiplex, you will enjoy this new… generation of cinema. If the movie that’s playing in your Auditorium 1 is interesting, you’re headed to one of the best movie-watching spots we’ve ever seen. Reserve a seat on the balcony, stop at the bar for a drink of your choice, and enjoy the experience. Get there early for a light meal or order a ride inside. If you are late, they will give you a pager (silent) so you know when you are ready.
- Castro Theater: Castro’s calendar seems to have been put together by an eclectic movie lover, with a mix of classics, singing movie screenings, and strangers. Its 70mm mini-film festivals also offer an extraordinary opportunity to see films like Lawrence of Arabia as their creators intended.
- San Francisco Movie Tours – We haven’t had a chance to try these yet, but it seems like a fun way to see the city’s movie sites.
- Moviemaking, Disney Style – You ‘d expect to find it in SoCal, but it’s actually in the Presidio. To see the life of Walt Disney and the history of making animated films, you can’t beat the Walt Disney Family Museum. While in the Presidio, you can stop at the Letterman Center to see the Yoda Fountain at Lucasfilm headquarters (Building B courtyard, 1 Letterman Drive).
- San Francisco Movie Sites – Our guide will help you find locations from Dirty Harry , Bullitt, and more classic San Francisco movies.
- Movie Palaces in the San Francisco Area: Palo Alto’s Greek / Assyrian-style Stanford Theater offers regular tributes to movie stars and directors, often showing them in double roles. In the East Bay, the Orinda Theater is an art deco icon. You can get to Palo Alto using Caltrain or Orinda by BART.
Annual San Francisco Film Events You Should Know About
- San Francisco International Film Festival, April-May – Claimed to be the oldest film festival in the world, starting in 1957.
- San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival, June: Screens at the Castro Theater in San Francisco, as well as other venues in the area.
- Noir City, January – This festival celebrates the elegant crime dramas of the mid-20th century. You know: low-key, black-and-white footage, gritty crime stories, full of moral ambiguity.
If that’s not enough, the San Francisco Film Commission lists more film festivals in and around San Francisco.
The best bites
While not a real movie theater experience, the movies that flash on the Foreign Cinema walls will keep your movie theme going while feeding. Kabuki Cinema serves gourmet chocolate and Peet’s coffee in their snack bar.
Where to stay
San Francisco is a compact city, so almost anywhere in the city will do just fine. Check our recommended hotels.
Get there
San Francisco is 87 miles from Sacramento, 385 miles from Los Angeles, and about 200 miles from Lake Tahoe.
