Entertainment Industry

Articles about the entertainment industry in San Francisco, including movies and Television shows made and set in the Bay Area.

San Francisco In Film Noir

August 28, 2026

Film Noir as a genre was really born in San Francisco, in 1922, when a series of short stories by a writer called Dashiell Hammett appeared in literary magazine The Smart Set. That’s right, it started as a literary genre, but it wasn’t called ‘Noir’ at first, the stories were looked down on as being,…

Fatty Arbuckle Affair: Celebrity Sex Scandal

May 25, 2025

Location: St Francis Hotel Long before anyone had ever heard of the Fatty Arbuckle Affair (or there was any such thing as a “celebrity sex scandal”) the St Francis Hotel opened in 1904 on Union Square. At that time the film industry was only just blowing up, from being seen as little more than a…

Alcatraz: SF’s Prison Island

May 5, 2025

Originally named after the Pelicans that used to be inhabit the island, Alcatraz, has since become a symbol of San Francisco, as much as the Golden Gate Bridge and our cable cars. Most first-time visitors to the city by the bay will have it on their list of things to see and do here, along…