Blackie Norton, a saloon owner in San Francisco, loves a singer who wants a respectable life — and their story ends in the great earthquake of 1906.
In San Francisco (1936), Clark Gable plays Blackie Norton, who runs the Paradise, a Barbary Coast saloon. He is in love with Mary Blake, played by Jeanette MacDonald, a singer who leaves the saloon to sing in a church choir and then in opera. Blackie, who is also involved in local politics, tries to win her back, but their different worlds keep them apart.
The film builds to its famous climax, the San Francisco earthquake of 1906, recreated with elaborate effects for its time. Gable plays Blackie with warmth and swagger, a man who is used to getting his way and who must learn humility when the city he loves is destroyed.
San Francisco was a major popular success, and Gable’s Blackie Norton is one of his most appealing 1930s roles: a tough man with a soft centre, in a story that mixes romance, music and disaster.