North Beach and
Telegraph Hill on Film
The hotel pool where Dirty Harry opens, the church Cecil B. DeMille filmed half-built, and the apartment where Bogart hides out in Dark Passage. Nine stops from the Transamerica Pyramid up to Coit Tower.
Nine stops, a century of cameras.
This walk starts in the Financial District at the foot of the Transamerica Pyramid, crosses into Chinatown and North Beach along Kearny Street and Columbus Avenue, and finishes on the far side of Telegraph Hill at the bottom of the Filbert Steps. It covers about 1.4 miles with roughly half an hour of actual walking; allow about 90 minutes to stop and look.
Every film credit on this page comes from the San Francisco Film Commission permit record, which the city publishes as open data.
Transamerica Pyramid
William Pereira’s pyramid tops out at 853 feet, and the last 212 of those are spire. The city’s film permit record lists Freebie and the Bean (1974) and San Andreas (2015) shooting here. The corner of Montgomery and Washington gives you the full height.
The Old Hall of Justice Site
The city’s Hall of Justice stood on this corner from 1912 until it was torn down in 1968. Its fan-shaped fourth-floor windows were a fixture of police dramas, from The Lineup to Raymond Burr’s Ironside, and the permit record adds The Lady from Shanghai (1947) and Woman on the Run (1950).
The hotel that replaced it, now the Hilton San Francisco Financial District, was brand new when Dirty Harry (1971) was shot. The film opens with a sniper on the Bank of America tower at 555 California Street taking aim at a woman swimming in this hotel’s rooftop pool.
House of Nanking
A tight Chinatown dining room run by a two-time Chopped champion, and the subject of the docuseries Chef Dynasty: House of Fang (2022). The permit record also shows The Matrix Resurrections (2021) filming here. Full write-up.
Vesuvio Cafe
The two-level bar across Jack Kerouac Alley from City Lights, where the Beat writers drank. On screen it turns up in So I Married an Axe Murderer (1993), High Crimes (2002) and Twisted (2004). Full write-up.
Tosca Cafe
Red booths, opera on the jukebox, and the House Cappuccino, made with chocolate and brandy and no coffee. The permit record lists Until the End of the World (1991), Basic Instinct (1992), The Assassination of Richard Nixon (2004) and Big Sur (2013). It opens in the evening, so on a daytime walk you see it from the sidewalk. Full write-up.
Washington Square
One of the city’s original public squares, with Benjamin Franklin, not Washington, on the pedestal. The permit record lists The Dead Pool (1988), The Bachelor (1999), the TV series Chance (2016) and Venom (2018) filming around the square.
Saints Peter and Paul Church
Cecil B. DeMille filmed scenes for The Ten Commandments (1923) here while the church was still under construction. It is the scene of the Scorpio killer’s sniper attack in Dirty Harry (1971), and parts of Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (1993) were filmed here.
The permit record adds Getting Even with Dad (1994), Nine Months (1995) and The Other Sister (1999). Off screen, Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe were photographed on these steps after their 1954 City Hall wedding.
Coit Tower
Climb Filbert Street up the hill, or take the 39 Coit bus from Washington Square. The tower has been on film since After the Thin Man (1936), and the hill gave its name to The House on Telegraph Hill (1951).
The permit record runs on through Pal Joey (1957), The Enforcer (1976), The Presidio (1988), Sister Act 2 (1993), The Rock (1996) and San Andreas (2015). The New Deal murals at the base are free; the elevator to the deck is paid. Full write-up.
The Malloch Building
Take the Filbert Steps down the east side of the hill. Where they meet Montgomery Street is the Malloch Building, a Streamline Moderne apartment block from 1937.
In Dark Passage (1947), Lauren Bacall’s character brings Humphrey Bogart’s escaped convict here to hide in apartment 10 on the third floor while he recovers from plastic surgery. It turns up again in Nine Months (1995). It is a private residence, so look from the steps.
Before you go.
Best time
Daylight, any day. Every stop can be seen from the street; the bars on Columbus open later in the day if you want to go in.
Getting there
Montgomery BART is just under a ten-minute walk from the Transamerica Pyramid at the start. The 39 Coit bus runs from Washington Square up to Coit Tower.
The hill
Close to flat from stop 1 to stop 7. The climb up Telegraph Hill to Coit Tower is steep, and the Filbert Steps down to stop 9 are a long flight of wooden stairs.
Private homes
Stop 9 is an apartment building people live in. Look and take photos from the steps, not the doorways.
Frequently asked.
How long is the North Beach film walking tour?+
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Keep exploring.
North Beach Walking Tour
The Beat Generation route through the same blocks.
Famous Movie Locations
Nineteen places the cameras keep coming back to.
Movies Filmed in San Francisco
Every production in the city's permit record.
North Beach guide
The full eat, drink, and see rundown.
Walk North Beach’s film history with the guide in your pocket.
The full route and the map for every stop, free on iOS and Android. Written by a local guide. No ads, no affiliate nonsense.
