A Carefully Plotted, Totally Stalky Map of Hitchcock's 'Vertigo'
- ️Lamar Anderson
- ️Tue Oct 07 2014
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Considering the many movies shot in San Francisco—hey there, Mrs. Doubtfire, The Rock, and the rest of you—we have to hand it to Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo for truly getting around San Francisco and showing off the city. As the troubled (and supposedly possessed) Madeleine (played by Kim Novak) follows her great-grandmother Carlotta's ghost around San Francisco, we're treated to a midcentury tour of the city through the voyeuristic gaze of Jimmy Stewart's Scottie. So what if some of those domestic views, like Coit Tower oh-so-perfectly framed in Scottie's Lombard Street window, are faked? It's the 50s, and those sets are now as iconic as the film's real locations.
Since the movie's climax happens off-map, we'll address its setting up here. The climactic scene in the bell tower doesn't take place in San Francisco, but about 90 miles down the peninsula, in San Juan Bautista. When Hitchcock filmed Vertigo, the church did not actually have a bell tower. Instead, he art-directed an image of one into the scene, an insertion that feels almost silly to point out, since it would be hard to miss for anyone who happened to be watching the movie with their eyes open.
· Mapping San Francisco Buildings Used in Movies and Television [Curbed SF]
· 'Vertigo's' San Francisco locations [SFGate]
· Vertigo (1958) Locations [The Hitchcock Zone]
In the police chase in the opening sequence, Scottie followed the fleeing suspect and the cop over the rooftops of Taylor Street, running from Washington toward Jackson.
Photo via Reel SF
Scottie's college sweetheart and unheeded voice of reason Midge lived on Telegraph Hill, though the scenes in her apartment were filmed in a studio with a faux backdrop of the view.
Photo via the Hitchcock Zone
Ernie’s, the Montgomery Street mainstay where Scottie first glimpses Madeleine, closed in the mid-90s and reopened for a time as Essex Supper Club. There are some rather fancy condos next door, at No. 845.
Photo via the Hitchcock Zone
Scottie lived in a duplex at 900 Lombard Street, with a working fireplace (sigh) and a faux view of Coit Tower—which wasn’t actually visible from the building. The interior is all soundstage, and the front of the building has changed somewhat. According to the Hitchcock Zone, in 2012 the owners added an exterior wall and did some repainting. The property last sold in 1990 for $900K, according to Redfin.
Photo via Reel SF
The Brocklebank, at Mason and Sacramento, is the home of Gavin and Madeleine Elster. In real life, the building is a privately managed rental—which is why you never see any listings for it—with a lengthy wait list. Apartments are either one-bedrooms or three-bedrooms.
When Midge and Scottie do their reconnaissance on Carlotta Valdes, they head over to a fictional bookshop, Argosy, to quiz the all-knowing owner. The bookstore is based on the Argonaut Book Shop, which opened at 336 Kearny Street in 1941. After the Bank of America HQ shot up a block away, owner Robert Haines’s rent spiked accordingly, and he moved the store six blocks to its current location, 786 Sutter. Robert Jr. runs the ship now. The Argosy you see in the movie is a studio replica of Argonaut.
Photo via the Hitchcock Zone
Built in 1888, the Fortmann Mansion on Gough Street enjoyed a star turn as the McKittrick Hotel, the manse that Carlotta's husband built and abandoned her in. The property was vacant during filming and was demolished in 1959. Now there’s a sports field in its place.
Photo via Artistic Homes of California, 1887-1890; H/t Noe Hill
Madeleine makes her suicidal leap into the bay from Fort Point in the Presidio. Somehow driving right up to the water's edge doesn't seem so feasible anymore.
Photo via the Hitchcock Zone
In the 50s, the flower shop where Madeleine buys a copycat of Carlotta’s bouquet was located at 224 Grant, now a 7 for All Mankind store.
Madeleine visits Carlotta's portrait in the Legion of Honor, and after her death Scottie lurks around a young woman sitting in front of the painting, vaguely creeping her out. As the Hitchcock Zone tells it, Vera Miles (of Psycho fame) originally posed for the Carlotta portrait, but the results were a mess, and Paramount eventually brought in artist John Ferren to create the painting shown in the movie.
According to the Chronicle, Carlotta’s gravestone remained on the Mission Dolores grounds for years after filming was over—it figured into some local tours—but all the traffic through real gravestones eventually convinced the bishop to send it packing.
After Madeleine’s death, Scottie is an inpatient at a Buena Vista Park sanatorium, where the docs try to heal him with Mozart. The location, St Joseph’s Hospital, is now home to some lovely condos.
On one of their early dates, Scottie and Judy stroll by the lagoon at the Palace of Fine Arts.
The post-Madeleine Judy Barton is a shopgirl living in the somewhat seedy Empire Hotel, on Sutter between Hyde and Leavenworth. It was known for a while as the York Hotel but kind of couldn’t help changing its name to Hotel Vertigo.
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1302 Taylor
In the police chase in the opening sequence, Scottie followed the fleeing suspect and the cop over the rooftops of Taylor Street, running from Washington toward Jackson.
Photo via Reel SF
Midge's Apartment
Scottie's college sweetheart and unheeded voice of reason Midge lived on Telegraph Hill, though the scenes in her apartment were filmed in a studio with a faux backdrop of the view.
Photo via the Hitchcock Zone
Ernie's
Ernie’s, the Montgomery Street mainstay where Scottie first glimpses Madeleine, closed in the mid-90s and reopened for a time as Essex Supper Club. There are some rather fancy condos next door, at No. 845.
Photo via the Hitchcock Zone
Scottie's House
Scottie lived in a duplex at 900 Lombard Street, with a working fireplace (sigh) and a faux view of Coit Tower—which wasn’t actually visible from the building. The interior is all soundstage, and the front of the building has changed somewhat. According to the Hitchcock Zone, in 2012 the owners added an exterior wall and did some repainting. The property last sold in 1990 for $900K, according to Redfin.
Photo via Reel SF
The Brocklebank
The Brocklebank, at Mason and Sacramento, is the home of Gavin and Madeleine Elster. In real life, the building is a privately managed rental—which is why you never see any listings for it—with a lengthy wait list. Apartments are either one-bedrooms or three-bedrooms.
Argosy Book Shop
When Midge and Scottie do their reconnaissance on Carlotta Valdes, they head over to a fictional bookshop, Argosy, to quiz the all-knowing owner. The bookstore is based on the Argonaut Book Shop, which opened at 336 Kearny Street in 1941. After the Bank of America HQ shot up a block away, owner Robert Haines’s rent spiked accordingly, and he moved the store six blocks to its current location, 786 Sutter. Robert Jr. runs the ship now. The Argosy you see in the movie is a studio replica of Argonaut.
Photo via the Hitchcock Zone
McKittrick Hotel
Built in 1888, the Fortmann Mansion on Gough Street enjoyed a star turn as the McKittrick Hotel, the manse that Carlotta's husband built and abandoned her in. The property was vacant during filming and was demolished in 1959. Now there’s a sports field in its place.
Photo via Artistic Homes of California, 1887-1890; H/t Noe Hill
Fort Point National Historic Site
Madeleine makes her suicidal leap into the bay from Fort Point in the Presidio. Somehow driving right up to the water's edge doesn't seem so feasible anymore.
Photo via the Hitchcock Zone
Podesta Baldocchi
In the 50s, the flower shop where Madeleine buys a copycat of Carlotta’s bouquet was located at 224 Grant, now a 7 for All Mankind store.
The Legion of Honor
Madeleine visits Carlotta's portrait in the Legion of Honor, and after her death Scottie lurks around a young woman sitting in front of the painting, vaguely creeping her out. As the Hitchcock Zone tells it, Vera Miles (of Psycho fame) originally posed for the Carlotta portrait, but the results were a mess, and Paramount eventually brought in artist John Ferren to create the painting shown in the movie.
Mission Dolores Cemetery
According to the Chronicle, Carlotta’s gravestone remained on the Mission Dolores grounds for years after filming was over—it figured into some local tours—but all the traffic through real gravestones eventually convinced the bishop to send it packing.
Saint Joseph's Hospital
After Madeleine’s death, Scottie is an inpatient at a Buena Vista Park sanatorium, where the docs try to heal him with Mozart. The location, St Joseph’s Hospital, is now home to some lovely condos.
Palace of Fine Arts
On one of their early dates, Scottie and Judy stroll by the lagoon at the Palace of Fine Arts.
The Empire Hotel (a.k.a. the Vertigo)
The post-Madeleine Judy Barton is a shopgirl living in the somewhat seedy Empire Hotel, on Sutter between Hyde and Leavenworth. It was known for a while as the York Hotel but kind of couldn’t help changing its name to Hotel Vertigo.