The San Francisco Story is a 1952 film noir in a Western setting directed by
Robert Parrish, starring Joel McCrea and Yvonne de Carlo.
The rough and tumble Barbary Coast of San Francisco is recreated with attention to detail,
including Florence Bates as a saloon keeper Shanghaiing the unwary.
Noir elements include lots of shadows, discordant musical score, snappy dialogue,
a disabused hero who resists the good fight, and a femme fatale.
A schematic but insightful rendering of political corruption, the film is essentially about standing up to bullies.
User Review
Fifties production line western has it's moments.
16 January 2004 | by Mozjoukine
Quote from mozDisplay MoreJoel McCrea had made these his home ground and this independent effort, picked up by Warners, was pushed along by the amiable Robert Parrish who obviously found some elements more involving than others.
The dialogs between McCrea and Yvonne De Carlo, in her spotless Fifties outfits, are lifeless and often filmed against back projection. However when Tor Johnson opens the hatch to Florence Bates' waterfront dive bar with a back room full of drunken sailors that she's sold to shanghai-ing captains, thing pick up. The scenes are played for comedy and the smoke filled, low roof ship's hold decor is striking.
Easy to get nostalgic for a time when these came two a time in neighborhood theaters.