 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|||||
Alfred Hitchcock was infatuated with San Francisco, calling it the “Paris of America.” No one ever captured the city’s majesty and vulnerability as Hitch did in his haunting, hypnotic 1958 cinematic masterpiece of obsession, Vertigo. Bay area photographer Bradford Noble reincarnates TV goddess Brini Maxwell as the doomed Madeline in our photo homage to this queerest of all cities. Object of Obsession “There is someone within me, and she says I must die.” Vertigo was Hitchcock’s sad valentine to San Francisco, full of in-the-know references to the Bay Area, a place he called his part-time home. Martin Scorsese (one of Vertigo’s biggest fans) describes the picture as having “such great personal heart to it.” Early in the movie Madeline (played by Kim Novak) is mystically and fatally drawn to the grave of Carlotta Valdes at the Mission Dolores at Dolores and 16th streets. The mission adjoins America’s gayest neighborhood, the Castro, and it’s the oldest building in San Francisco, dating back to 1776. You can explore the tranquil cemetery, where Carlotta’s prop gravestone was only recently taken down. The Brocklebank apartments, at 1000 Mason St., Madeline’s abode atop swanky Nob Hill, is nearly exactly the same now as when Hitch shot it in 1957. The nearby Fairmont and Mark Hopkins hotels are two of the top places to stay in San Francisco. The Woods, Darkly "Somewhere in here I was born…and there I died. It was only a moment for you…" While examining the chronological rings of a fallen redwood, Madeline is sure she is the reincarnated Carlotta. Less than half an hour from the heart of San Francisco, tourist-popular Muir Woods National Monument is a rare 554-Acre preserve of redwoods. Hitchcock actually filmed at Big Basin Redwoods State Park north of his country home in Scott’s Valley, near Santa Cruz. The Engulfing City Like so many gay travelers, Madeline is intoxicated by San Francisco’s other-worldly atmosphere. Built in 1933, the 210-foot Coit Tower, atop Telegraph Hill, is another landmark from the film where visitors can view New Deal-era murals and great panoramas of the downtown area. Hitchcock said he included the tower in the film as a phallic symbol! The Palace of the Legion of Honor in Lincoln Park, entrance at 34th avenue and Clement Street, is where Hitchcock spent a week filming this brief scene just to get the lighting right. Portals of the Past Another San Francisco monument from Vertigo is the Palace of Fine Arts, at 3301 Lyon St, a remnant of the 1915 Pan Pacific International Exposition and now home to a 1,000-seat performing arts theater. Future renovations will reinstate the dome’s original burnt orange hues. "Ms. Novak’s shoes were big ones to fill," says Brini
Maxwell, star of our Vertigo homage. "Still, it was wonderful
to step into them for a while." Maxwell who has been described
as part Donna Reed and part Mary Tyler Moore, spent her off hours
in San Francisco buying vintage clothing for the second season of
The Brini Maxwell Show her kitsch-meets-class home design show now
airing on Style Network and E! Entertainment. "The inspiration
for the shoot was always Hitchcock’s genius. His ability to
create a mood is unparalleled. The mood was our constant companion,
playing its part while shooting and retreating to the back of our
minds when we were between shots."
|
Back
To Press Index
