San Francisco in Cinema: Nora Prentiss

The Ferry Building in 1998 as seen from the Embarcadero Skydeck
Ann Sheridan revitalized her career with Nora Prentiss in 1947. Heavily influenced by Joan Crawford's success as Mildred Pierce two years earlier, nightclub singer Nora is Sheridan's femme fatale - sort of. Though movie guides are apt to summarize the plot of this film noir classic by saying the nightclub singer is responsible for the destruction of a respectable San Francisco doctor, a closer look at the film reveals the good doc has only himself to blame for his downfall. How was our heroine supposed to know he'd faked his death to escape his marriage? Directed by Vincent Sherman, with Kent Smith as Dr. Talbot and Rosemary DeCamp as his wife, Lucy. Bruce Bennett, who played Mildred Pierce's husband, Frank, is Dr. Talbot's partner, Dr. Merriam. The doctors' office is located at 795 Sutter Street, the Belgravia apartment building. Their office was #201. Like many San Francisco films of this era, an arrival at the Ferry Building is a required sequence. DeCamp went on to become a very recognizable character actress on television in the 1960s and '70s. She was the mother of That Girl, grandmother of the Partridge Family, and an aunt of the girls from Petticoat Junction.

Cliff House
Palace of Fine Arts
Marina
Buena Vista Avenue East hospital
Old Hall of Justice

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