MovieChat Forums > San Francisco (1936) Discussion > Two different versions of the final glim...

Two different versions of the final glimpse into the future?

posted 15 years ago by galocke
10 replies | jump to latest

At the very end of "San Francisco," all the earthquake survivors in the park stand and gaze down at the burning city, and suddenly, as the music reaches its crescendo, there is a glimpse of the city as it will be rebuilt in the future. Every time EXCEPT ONE that I've seen this movie on TV, and on my VHS version as well, the rebuilt downtown area of San Francisco looks as it did at around the time the movie was made (1936). However, Channel 9, the PBS station in S.F., once showed a version of the movie in which the final "future glimpse" was very different -- much later in time than in the version usually encountered. Many of the buildings are clearly of later vintage, and the streetcars running on Market Street are of the Magic Carpet or PCC variety that didn't arrive in San Francisco until 1948. Has anybody else come upon this "alternate" ending of the movie? Can anybody explain it?

[–] rdg-5 15 years ago

I was wondering, you may be right as I was surprised to see that the movie was made in 1936 but yet remember the scenes as being more 1950s.

Reading about the movie it was originally shot with various snippets of the bridge under construction and other landmarks that were later cut out of the film so it sets a sort of precedent where companies can "splice and dice" the ending as they see fit.

It's also probably but not on Wiki or IMDB that during the 1950s re-release (if there was one) that they would re-do the ending for whatever reason.

[–] gayspiritwarrior 15 years ago

It's not out of the question that MGM would have monkeyed with the ending in that way. Mid-century they were a little slapdash with rereleases. Sometime in the mid-60's they rereleased Gone With The Wind with much fanfare in a stretched-out "wide-screen" version. Fortunately they did away with all the prints from that fiasco.

"The value of an idea has nothing to do with the honesty of the man expressing it."--Oscar Wilde

[–] Walthall 15 years ago

As originally released, in 1936, _San Francisco_ ended with a montage of the city as it looked at the time, with the Golden Gate Bridge still under construction (it was completed and opened in 1937), and four tracks of vintage (PRE-PCC) streetcars still operating on Market Street (reduced to two tracks in 1948). When the film was re-released nationally in 1948, MGM freeze-framed the modern day San Francisco skyline and eliminated the earlier, now dated 1936 montage. This is the version that is now shown on TCM, and most widely accessible on pre-recorded VHS tape and DVD. MGM did no further tampering with it, and no further attempt was ever made to "modernize" it. When the MGM library was sold to television in 1957, stations were provided with 16MM prints, which were struck from the original negative, and so retained the original ending, but new 35MM prints provided to revival motion picture venues in the 1970's were struck from the 1948 re-release negative and so provided the newer ending.

[–] galocke 15 years ago

Thanks, Walthall, for the explanation. You've been able to fill in all the historical details I was hoping for. Plus, I had forgotten that the modern-day S.F. skyline was freeze-framed in the 1948 re-release.

[–] stevenfallonnyc 14 years ago

A spoiler warning definitely would have helped....

[–] WarpedRecord 14 years ago

Why so? People do realize that San Francisco was, in fact, rebuilt, right?

[–] gribfritz2 12 years ago

The first few words of the thread are:

At the very end of "San Francisco,"

Seriously, if someone doesn't have the self-control to stop reading there, what good would a spoiler tag do?

[–] PretoriaDZ 14 years ago

I just got the San Francisco DVD from Netflix and you are correct - there is an alternate ending. It is on the DVD under Features.

[–] reggiebat 11 years ago

I HAVE SEEN 3 DIFFERENT VERSIONS.
1 THE ORIGINAL SF OF THE 1930'S. THEY APPEAR ON THE SCREEN 2 OR 3 SECONDS EACH

2 THE SF OF THE 1940'S OR 50'S THEY APPEAR ON THE SCREEN 2 OR 3 SECORDS EACH

3 THE LATEST VERSION I HAVE SEEN. - REALY BAD. BURNT OUT SF FADES INTO MODERN
SF. MUST HAVE BEEN DRUNK AT THE TIME YUCK.

PLEASE BRING BACK THE ORIGINAL!!!!

PS. THEY WRECKED RED RIVER THE SAME WAY CUTTING OUT THE WALTER BRENNAN COMENTRY BUT I FINALLY FOUND A COPY WITH IT RESTORED ON THE INTERNET.

[–] aldiboronti 10 years ago

No need to shout.