Footsteps in the Fog: Alfred Hitchcock's San Francisco [Paperback]

Jeff Kraft (Author), Aaron Leventhal (Author), Patricia Hitchcock O'Connell (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2002

A celebration of the San Francisco films of Alfred Hitchcock, this book examines the master director's familiarity with Northern California and how it greatly influenced his decision to use the Bay Area location in several of his landmark motion pictures. More importantly, this book shows how San Francisco was often the source of inspiration for many of these same cinema classics. The masterpieces that are examined are Shadow of a Doubt, Vertigo, The Birds, Suspicion, Psycho, and Family Plot. Hitchcock fans are taken on a journey around the Bay Area, experiencing cinemagraphic intrigue and learning about Bay Area history, lore, and the timeless elegance of San Francisco and its picturesque surroundings. Hundreds of historical and contemporary photos are included, with an emphasis on those buildings and businesses that no longer exist.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Hitchcock fans Jeff Kraft and Aaron Leventhal have assembled a meticulously researched work describing the trail the suspense master blazed through the greater San Francisco Bay area in many of his films. Footsteps in the Fog: Alfred Hitchcock's San Francisco is packed with pictures from both the filming time and now, and takes readers on a detailed journey through each step of filming for movies staged in San Francisco or elsewhere in Northern California (The Birds, for example, was filmed in Bodega Bay). The authors present the sites as they were for each scene and then describe those sites as they are today, if they still stand. For instance, the historic Mission Dolores Church, where a detective follows a troubled wife to a graveside in Vertigo, still lies at the heart of the city's Mission District. This book is an essential part of any Hitchcock fan's collection, and it would be a valuable read for Northern California residents who may not know the pop culture history behind many of their hometown's fixtures.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"A fun ride through Hitchcock-land. See the thriller, visit the site!" -- Jan Wahl, KRON TV/KCBS Radio

"A particular gem that not only makes Hitchcock alive with . . . San Francisco--but makes San Francisco alive with the . . . Hitchcock movies." -- Mick LaSalle, author of Dangerous Men and Complicated Women: Sex and Power in Pre-Code Hollywood

"A well-documented and illustrated feast of cinematic trivia that will please Hitchcock fans the world over." -- Santa Cruz Sentinel

"As haunting as its evocative title . . . shows us exactly what locations the great director used." -- Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times

"I can't think of a better subject for such a pursuit than Hitchcock and San Francisco." -- Leonard Maltin, film critic and historian

"I recommend Footsteps in the Fog to Hitchcock fans, local history buffs and beginning filmmakers." -- Santa Rosa Press Democrat

"Jeff Kraft and Aaron Leventhal make it great fun to play lost-and-found in Hitchcock's San Francisco. . . . unique, haunting, and indispensable." -- Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

"Kraft and Leventhal let their love of the director's movies break through the mist." -- Premiere Magazine

"Richly illustrated . . . remarkable . . . Excellently laid-out and subtly designed." -- The MacGuffin

"See how the mind of a great director stitches together locations . . . There's not a dull page in the book." -- Palm Beach Post

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Santa Monica Press (October 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1891661272
• ISBN-13: 978-1891661273
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 10.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #107,306 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must for any Hitchcock fan or Bay Area cognoscente, November 14, 2002

By 

James A. Edison (Alameda, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Footsteps in the Fog: Alfred Hitchcock's San Francisco (Paperback)

This book provides the intricate details of the filming of a number of Hitchcock classics in the SF Bay Area. The book covers the locations and filming of Shadow of a Doubt, Vertigo, The Birds, Suspicion, Psycho, and Family Plot, and explores the ways in which the Bay Area provided an inspiration for the movies as well as a wide variety of settings. It served as a reminder to me of the wonderful diversity of the Bay Area and the keen eye Hitchcock had for what could make a movie.

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hitchcock & San Fransisco - a pairing made in heaven, November 21, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Footsteps in the Fog: Alfred Hitchcock's San Francisco (Paperback)

This book is awesome! I purchased it for my mom who is a huge Hitchcock fan and loves San Francisco. She read it from cover to cover and enjoyed every minute of it...The book is written in a way that conveys the brilliance of Hitchcock and how he used the city to enhance his plots and characters...I recommend this to anyone who is a film buff or just loves a good read on a dark stormy night..

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Nice Place to Visit, October 8, 2005

By 

John P Bernat (Kingsport, TN USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Footsteps in the Fog: Alfred Hitchcock's San Francisco (Paperback)

Hitchcock loved northern California. He shot some of his most memorable films there, and this book assembles the trail he walked through the greater San Francisco Bay area in many of his films.

In one film documentary, Hume Cronyn, who co-starred in one of Hitch's own favorite movies - "Shadow of a Doubt" - described how Hitch enthused on filming in and near California wine country. "We'll go to the vineyards and squeeze the grapes over our mouths, until the juice runs down onto our shirts."

Here you can see pictures from both the filming time and now, and go on a detailed journey through each step of filming for movies staged in San Francisco or elsewhere in Northern California (The Birds, for example, was filmed in Bodega Bay). The authors present the sites as they were for each scene and then describe those sites as they are today, if they still stand.

Perhaps the most haunting images are of the historic Mission Dolores Church, where James Stewart followed Kim Novak to a graveside in Vertigo. This still lies at the heart of the city's Mission District. You also get views of the Golden Gate bridge approach where Kim jumped into the bay, and find out that this plot of land only existed in moviedom...

A historical curiosity: as much as the Hitchcock's were charmed by this area, they sold their second home here in the early 1960s and spent the rest of their lives in their modest Bel Air house. Like so many older people, they liked the year-round heat, I guess.