david james/twentieth century fox film corporation
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes included scenes that were filmed in the Bay Area.
HOLLYWOOD HAS HEADED north many times. Whether it’s a trip through the Waldo Tunnel to show travel to S.F. or a futuristic ape colony in the forests of Mount Tamalpais, Marin has always been more than ready for its close-up. Queue this lineup of movies that were filmed right here.
DARK PASSAGE (1947) Bogart and Bacall’s third film was this Bay Area–based thriller with scenes shot in Fort Baker’s Waldo Tunnel and San Quentin State Prison.
EXPERIMENT IN TERROR (1962) Director Blake Edwards’ film noir thriller features Bay Area locations like the Marin Town and Country Club’s swimming pool in Fairfax and San Francisco’s soon-to-be extinct Candlestick Park.
THE BIRDS (1963) Alfred Hitchcock’s last great movie would be a postcard-pretty visual love letter to Sonoma County’s Bodega Bay, were it not for the flock of murderous crows. The schoolhouse, scene of a particularly tense sequence, is still intact and sells Birds memorabilia in the gift shop.
DIRTY HARRY (1971) Clint Eastwood’s Dirty Harry was a San Francisco cop, but much of the action occurred in the North Bay, with memorable scenes shot in the Waldo Tunnel, a rock quarry in Larkspur, some military bunkers in the Marin Headlands and picturesque Mill Valley.
FOUL PLAY (1978) Chevy Chase and Goldie Hawn shared a charming chemistry in this film. There’s an opening credits drive along Conzelman Road (set to Barry Manilow’s “Ready to Take a Chance Again”), and Chase’s bachelor pad is a houseboat in Sausalito.
THE FOG (1980) Cult director John Carpenter created one of the most successful horror films ever made. The film is a virtual travelogue of coastal North Bay locations, with Point Reyes and its fog-engulfed lighthouse being the spookiest.
INDIANA JONES Trilogy (1981–1989) Indiana Jones was known for globe-trotting, but the hero of director Steven Spielberg’s adventure films has plenty of ties to Marin. In Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indy’s house was in San Anselmo, near Drake High School. The sequel, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, used Novato’s Hamilton Air Force Base as a Shanghai airport.
RETURN OF THE JEDI (1983) That awesome speedy bike chase through the forests of Endor? A redwood grove near Skywalker Ranch.
BLUE JASMINE (2013) Cate Blanchett won an Oscar for her performance, but scenes shot along Britton Avenue in Belvedere, as well as locations in Larkspur and Tiburon, could have been nominated for Best Supporting Background.
DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES (2014) In this summer’s smash sequel, a tribe of quickly evolving primates have turned Mount Tamalpais into an eco-friendly communal living compound.
