Case file San Francisco · 1957
Subject: Madeleine · Tailed by: Scottie
Follow her, and find what is real. Half of what Scottie follows around this city was never there.
IFollow her
Stop 1 of 10 · Gone
Jackson Square
Hitchcock chose Ernie’s for its atmosphere, but nothing was filmed there: Paramount rebuilt its exterior and red-walled interior on a stage.
Ernie’s closed in 1995.
The restaurant closed in 1995; the building stands, seen from the street.
IIThe plunge
Under the Golden Gate Bridge, beside the fort, Madeleine throws herself into the bay.
A fence put up after 2001 now stops visitors walking behind the fort, where the jump was filmed.
Free. The fort is open Thursday to Monday, 10am–5pm; the strip behind it where the jump was filmed is fenced off.
The Presidio · Thu–Mon, 10am–5pm · free
The fort under the bridge where Madeleine fell into the bay. Free entry.
Plan a visitIIICarlotta
Madeleine walks through the chapel into the cemetery to Carlotta Valdes’s grave.
Scottie follows Madeleine to the museum, where she sits before the “Portrait of Carlotta”.
Lincoln Park · Tue–Sun · adults $20
The museum where Madeleine sat before Carlotta’s portrait.
Book ticketsMission District · Daily from 10am
The Old Mission chapel and cemetery, self-guided and free, no booking needed.
Plan a visit
IVThe redwoods
The redwood scene is often placed in Muir Woods, but it was shot at Big Basin; the close-up of the cut trunk was filmed in the studio.
The 2020 CZU fire burned through 97% of the park; the flat Redwood Loop passes its biggest and oldest trees. Most of the ancient redwoods appear to have survived the fire.
Day use 8am to sunset; book parking ahead, or take the summer weekend shuttle. The Redwood Loop is open.
Santa Cruz Mountains · Parking $6 + $2 booked · $10 on the day
The redwoods of the film. Parking is limited, so book ahead, or take the summer weekend shuttle.
Plan a visitVJudy
Judy’s hotel at 940 Sutter Street still stands; the green neon sign outside her window is gone.
It was the Empire when Vertigo was filmed, later the York, then Hotel Vertigo.
Since 2023 it is Hotel Julian, with a wine bar called Carlotta’s, named after the film.
The sign here is drawn for this page, not the film’s.
Kim Novak, 1956
James Stewart, 1959
Barbara Bel Geddes, 1955
Alfred Hitchcock, 1956
Lower Nob Hill
940 Sutter Street was the Empire in the film. It still takes guests, and its wine bar, Carlotta’s, is named after the film. Pictured: Kim Novak, who played Judy, in 1956.
Check roomsNob Hill
The hotel on Nob Hill where, according to the BFI, Hitchcock stayed while he made Vertigo; a few blocks from Madeleine’s Brocklebank.
Check rooms
VIThe tower
The real mission has no bell tower: the film’s was painted on glass over footage of the mission, and its interior built as a set.
The tower cannot be climbed, because it was laid optically over the real mission.
The dashed outline is schematic, drawn for this page.
The state park is open daily 10am–4.30pm ($3); the mission church is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. The film’s tower was never real.
San Juan Bautista · Daily, 10am–4.30pm · $3
The plaza and museums around the mission of the finale.
Plan a visit10 places you can visit. Scottie’s house on Lombard Street and Madeleine’s Brocklebank are private homes: see them from the street.
Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. The restaurant closed in 1995; the building stands, seen from the street.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Ordinary shops now: see the front from Grant Avenue and the alley beside it.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Open daily, 10am–4pm weekdays and 10am–5pm at weekends; self-guided visits are free. Visit the cemetery as a burial ground.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Tuesday to Sunday, 9.30am–5.15pm; adults $20, youth free.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: area · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Nothing survives: the corner is a school sports field, seen from the street.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Free. The fort is open Thursday to Monday, 10am–5pm; the strip behind it where the jump was filmed is fenced off.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A free overlook above Fort Point, with paid parking off Lincoln Boulevard and Muni 28 and 43 nearby.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A working hotel; its bar, Carlotta’s, is named after the film. The green neon is gone.
Jackson Square
Hitchcock chose Ernie’s for its atmosphere, but nothing was filmed there: Paramount rebuilt its exterior and red-walled interior on a stage.
The restaurant closed in 1995; the building stands, seen from the street.
Union Square
The florist scene was shot in the real shop, which Hitchcock liked for its tiled floor; Madeleine comes in from the alley beside it.
Ordinary shops now: see the front from Grant Avenue and the alley beside it.
Mission District
Madeleine walks through the chapel into the cemetery to Carlotta Valdes’s grave.
Open daily, 10am–4pm weekdays and 10am–5pm at weekends; self-guided visits are free. Visit the cemetery as a burial ground.
Lincoln Park
Scottie follows Madeleine to the museum, where she sits before the “Portrait of Carlotta”.
Tuesday to Sunday, 9.30am–5.15pm; adults $20, youth free.
Western Addition
There was never a McKittrick Hotel: the scene was filmed at a Victorian mansion at Gough and Eddy, torn down in 1959.
Nothing survives: the corner is a school sports field, seen from the street.
The Presidio
Under the Golden Gate Bridge, beside the fort, Madeleine throws herself into the bay.
Free. The fort is open Thursday to Monday, 10am–5pm; the strip behind it where the jump was filmed is fenced off.
The Presidio
One of the best unobstructed views of the Golden Gate Bridge in the Presidio, above Fort Point.
A free overlook above Fort Point, with paid parking off Lincoln Boulevard and Muni 28 and 43 nearby.
940 Sutter Street
Judy’s hotel at 940 Sutter Street still stands; the green neon sign outside her window is gone.
A working hotel; its bar, Carlotta’s, is named after the film. The green neon is gone.
Stay
The Empire is Hotel Julian now, with a bar named after Carlotta; the Fairmont stands on Nob Hill.
Lower Nob Hill
940 Sutter Street was the Empire in the film. It still takes guests, and its wine bar, Carlotta’s, is named after the film. Pictured: Kim Novak, who played Judy, in 1956.
Check roomsNob Hill
The hotel on Nob Hill where, according to the BFI, Hitchcock stayed while he made Vertigo; a few blocks from Madeleine’s Brocklebank.
Check roomsGo there
A free Hitchcock walk, the museum, the fort, the mission, the redwoods and the plaza at San Juan Bautista.
Nob Hill to Union Square · Free · about 1.5–2 hours
A free walking tour of the landmarks Hitchcock filmed, including those from Vertigo, from Huntington Park to Union Square.
See datesLincoln Park · Tue–Sun · adults $20
The museum where Madeleine sat before Carlotta’s portrait.
Book ticketsThe Presidio · Thu–Mon, 10am–5pm · free
The fort under the bridge where Madeleine fell into the bay. Free entry.
Plan a visitMission District · Daily from 10am
The Old Mission chapel and cemetery, self-guided and free, no booking needed.
Plan a visitSanta Cruz Mountains · Parking $6 + $2 booked · $10 on the day
The redwoods of the film. Parking is limited, so book ahead, or take the summer weekend shuttle.
Plan a visitSan Juan Bautista · Daily, 10am–4.30pm · $3
The plaza and museums around the mission of the finale.
Plan a visitSan Francisco
Live marketplace results for movie and Hitchcock tours in San Francisco. Check each itinerary for Vertigo stops.
Live marketplace results · itineraries change
Compare toursWhat’s on
Classic-film festivals; no Vertigo screening is announced for the months ahead.
Checking current event dates…
Take it home
Original Saul Bass one-sheets from our store, the making-of books and Herrmann’s score.
An original 1958 US one-sheet with Saul Bass’s artwork, linen-backed, near mint.
In stock
View posterAn original 1958 30 × 40 in poster.
In stock
View posterAn original 1958 US one-sheet with Saul Bass’s artwork, linen-backed.
Check availability on the store
View posterDan Auiler
The production, day by day.
Find the bookCharles Barr
A close reading of the film.
Find the bookBoileau-Narcejac
The French novel the film was made from, in English.
Find the bookFrançois Truffaut
The long conversation between two directors.
Find the bookBernard Herrmann · LP, Mercury, 1958
Herrmann’s score, the original release.
Live marketplace search · listings and condition change
Find a copyDates, prices, rooms and stock change: confirm with the provider before you travel or buy. A stay or tour is described as a filming location only where the card says so.
Every place and moment behind this page, with sources.
12 of 12 places · 9 of 9 Moments
Jackson Square
Scottie first sees Madeleine at Ernie’s, rebuilt on a Paramount stage.
Nob Hill
Union Square
Madeleine buys flowers at Podesta Baldocchi while Scottie watches.
Mission District
Madeleine walks through the chapel at Mission Dolores to Carlotta Valdes’s grave.
Lincoln Park
Madeleine sits before the Portrait of Carlotta at the Legion of Honor.
Western Addition
The hotel where Madeleine seems to vanish was a mansion at Gough and Eddy.
The Presidio
Madeleine throws herself into the bay beside Fort Point.
The Presidio
Russian Hill
940 Sutter Street
Judy lives at the Empire Hotel on Sutter Street.
Santa Cruz Mountains
The redwood scene was shot at Big Basin.
San Juan Bautista
The bell tower at San Juan Bautista was painted on glass over the real mission.
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