When she would sing the song "San Francisco" in concert, Judy Garland would often make a (snide) reference to Jeanette MacDonald standing in the ruins of the city and singing. Garland was referring to a scene in the movie San Francisco, a nominee for Best Picture of 1936. MacDonald doesn't actually sing in the ruins, but she does get to perform several numbers throughout the film, including one after the earthquake of 1906 strikes. The most famous, undoubtedly, is the title song, the one that Garland would herself perform years later.
The film begins on New Year's Eve in 1905, less than four months before the earthquake strikes. No one is too concerned about the possibility of a natural disaster, though. They all have more pressing issues on the Barbary Coast where much of San Francisco is set. A fire has given several of the area's leading citizens the idea that they need stricter fire codes. They come to Blackie Norton (Clark Gable) to ask him to run for the position of supervisor so that their voices can finally be heard. For too long, the property owners, all of them apparently living on Nob Hill, have kept the standards too low to avoid dangerous situations like the burning building that opens the film. Blackie, reluctant at first, realizes that he might enjoy the influence that political power could give him.
However, he has Jeanette MacDonald's Mary Blake to keep him distracted. She shows up at his club looking for a job. The building where she lived is the one that burned down, and now she wants, or maybe needs, to sing for a living. Even though he repeatedly insults her pious sensibilities by asking to see her legs and trying to kiss her, Blackie hires her and almost immediately begins to fall in love. That she's able to resist Blackie's considerable charms is a testament to her faith, something noticed by one of Blackie's childhood friends, Mike Mullin (Spencer Tracy), now a priest in the Barbary Coast region. He recruits Mary to sing in his choir, and they start a friendship that, at times, frustrates Blackie's intentions.
Everyone, it seems, has higher aspirations. Mary wants to sing opera at the Tivoli Opera House instead of Blackie's saloon, and the conductor of Blackie's orchestra repeatedly tries to help her, much to Blackie's dismay. Father Mullin wants Mary to help turn Blackie into a better man, one who doesn't run a saloon with scantily clad dancing girls and lots of gambling and drinking. Blackie wants Mary for himself, but he faces competition from one of the wealthy Nob Hill residents, Jack Burley (Tim Holt), a man with connections to the opera house. Both men resort to some pretty underhanded actions in order to maintain their control over Mary. At one point, Blackie threatens to shut down the opera because Mary is still under contract to him. Burley counters by getting the police to shut down Blackie's casino because he's been selling liquor without a license.
There are two interesting sequences in the final third of the film. One is, of course, the infamous earthquake. While special effects have gotten more sophisticated over the years, the devastation in San Francisco is still pretty jaw-dropping. Buildings crumble, water pipes burst and flood the streets, and the ground opens up deep chasms. This must have been spectacularly scary stuff in 1936. The other sequence occurs right before the earthquake, actually mere hours beforehand. It's the annual "Chicken Ball" where the club with the best performers on the Barbary Coast is awarded a trophy and $10,000. First up is a talented troupe of African American dancers. They're followed by the Golden Gate Trio and a rendition of "Philippine Dance." Since Blackie's performers have all been jailed, it's up to MacDonald's Mary to save the show.
MacDonald had a lovely voice that was really best suited to operatic music or to operettas. Her performance of more popular styles of music is only accomplished by having them sound very operatic. She gets several such songs here, but the film's creators also provide her with a couple of extended production numbers from the operas Faust to showcase her true talents. It's only during the performance of the movie's title song at the Chicken Ball that MacDonald really overreaches. For the first time in the movie, she overacts while singing. She redeems herself at the end of the film with a version of "Nearer My God to Thee" that is so powerful it makes Gable's Blackie pray. And that's no small feat given his professed atheism.
Gable and Tracy are both strong here. Gable was such a reliable actor. You always knew he was going to be at his best when playing rogues like Blackie. He has a way of looking at MacDonald that reveals not only how much he loves her but also how much he is attracted to her physically. Tracy is his equal in talent, but he has less screen time than Gable. It's truly a supporting if pivotal role in the film, and he does an admirable job portraying a man of God working in a section of the city that's best known for its vice and corruption. Both men would work together in another film nominated for Best Picture, 1938's Test Pilot, and both films depict a clear bond of friendship between the characters and between the actors.
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