We just took a trip to San Francisco last week. Before the trip "What's Up, Doc?" was shown on HBO or Cinemax. My family saw this movie at the theater when I was 7 and it has remained one of my favorites. Seeing it again just before our trip made me curious about the shooting locations. I found a tourism site (http://www.mistersf.com/cinema/index.html?cinwhatsup04.htm) that mentions a few of the locations. I used Google Maps street view to find some others. It was interesting to map out the chase scene, as they went all over town. I'm sure the locals snicker as they watch the chase jump from one side of town to the other and back again (especially during the part of the sequence where they're on the bicycle cart). Anyway, here is a rundown of the major locations in the chase scene, with a couple of blanks/question marks where I don't really know. If anyone can help with those I'd appreciate it.
1 - 2018 California St. (aka 888 Russian Hill - the Larrabee residence)
2 - Filbert St. at Leavenworth - steep street with cars parked on the right side of the frame (notice the cars are different between the shots of the bicycle and the shots of the cars)
3 - 23rd and Balboa - the plate glass scene (the VW bus is on Balboa closer to 24th) - note this is way on the west side of town, far from any of the other shooting locations
4 - Jackson St. between Stockton and Grant - the Chinatown parade and dragon
5 - Dashiell Hammett St. at Bush - leading to the costume shop at Chelsea Place
5.5 - Garbage Can Chase - ??? - I don't know where this was shot; anyone?
6 - Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul - on Filbert St. facing Washington Square; scene of the VW theft (that was a very long alley)
7 - Lombard Street viewed uphill/west from Leavenworth
8 - Clay St. driving west toward Hyde St. (near collision with two cable cars)
9 - Sacramento St. at Van Ness - scene of the car hauler full of VW bugs
10 - Alta Plaza Steps - still damaged from the taxi's rough landing (which inspired a city ordinance requiring permission for such shoots)
11-13 - Hyde Street at Bay, North Point and Beach Streets (toward the Hyde St. cable car turnaround) - if you look closely at the first shot of the VW coming toward the camera down the hill you can spot another cameraman popping out from behind a dark car on the right side of the street; the shot of the VW going downhill from the rear was shot from that spot.
14 - ??? - The shots at the pier for the Sausalito Ferry are actually somewhere on the east side of town south of the Bay Bridge (visible in the background along with Yerba Buena Island); the scene may have been shot in the same area as the shoot for "459 Dirella Street" (where Eunice is dropped by the taxi), which was shot at Pier 70 (see the Mr. SF site for a visual overlay of that scene)
One other location of interest not in the chase scene is early on when Judy is watching the guy toss the pizza dough. This was shot at Bush and Jones. The "Owl Market" in the background is still a 24-hour store, but the signs have changed in the last 35 years.
If anyone has others please post. By the way, we had a great time in SF.
reply
share