mark.waltz "San Francisco, the Paris of the U. S.A. Gay every night and day!" And so gay they say oooh la la I might add from the mouth of Barbary Coast headliner Vivian Blaine. She's desperately in love with the owner of the Gold Coast, the biggest night spot in town, played by George Raft. But once he befriends friendly Nob Hill socialite Joan Bennett, Blaine is furious, certain that Bennett is using Raft to get her brother elected to public office.Bennett claims to have two sides to her: the upper-crust child of Boston elitists and the granddaughter of one of the original Barbary Coast founders. Peggy Ann Garner is excellent as a little Irish waif who is sent to find her uncle, discovers that he has died, and ends up being taken in by Raft while finding mother figures in both Bennett and Blaine despite their rivalry.Much more substantial than many other period musicals, this has lots of laughs, tons of great tunes from the American songbook and touching drama, all in that glorious 20th Century Fox Technicolor. Fans of Blaine from "Guys and Dolls" won't see Adelaide in Vivian Blaine's performance. That is a testament to her talent that she could be so unrecognizable from one performance to another, only doing her Adelaide persona in one other movie, "Skirts Ahoy", made on the heel of "Guys and Dolls" on Broadway and several years before the film.Like another movie about San Francisco, this is a political drama in addition to the musical side, with corruption obvious and Raft a rough character with a conscience. His first scene has him wrestling a thieving bartender and disarming him of a knife. Bennett is lovely and simultaneously cold and calculating while loving towards Garner and filled with a zest for life. Musicals like thus stand the test of time because they strive to be something more than just an entertaining distraction.

Jay Raskin Joan Bennett was certainly correct when she said that the studio promoted Peggy Ann Garner and Vivian Blaine at the expense of George Raft and herself in this film. Peggy Ann should have been there just to introduce the Raft character of Tony Angel and show that he was a nice guy. Instead, the first fifteen minutes of the film and the last fifteen minutes are devoted to Peggy Ann adopting her new American family. It was a wise decision. She's terrific. In the main story, Wealthy Joan Bennett battles showgirl Vivian Blaine for the love of enterprising and well liked saloon owner George Raft. Blaine gets to sing and dance in four numbers. She does well, but it is a little unfair to Bennett, who only has her acting to rely on. Fortunately, she's a great actress, so she makes a good rival for Blaine. Raft apparently walked off the set at some point, because he didn't like his role. It is easy to see why. He plays it a little too dramatic for this light comedy and he takes himself too seriously. In the beginning, he beats up a cheating employee, but he does it in an unnecessarily brutal manner. It shows him to be a tough guy, but it is a little disturbing to the tone of the film. Certainly, someone with a softer comical touch like Jimmy Stewart, Joel McCrea or Cary Grant would have been a much better choice for the part. The Technicolor is beautiful and so are the sets and costumes. Director Henry Hathaway moves the camera and cuts the film in a smooth and seamless style. It is pretty much a pleasure to watch all the way through. See it for Peggy Ann Garner's wonderful performance, some good singing and dancing by Vivian Blaine and nice acting by Joan Bennett.

cervantes1547 My angel Peggy Ann Garner was, is and always will be the greatest actress who ever lived. Her immortal performance in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn will live forever, but her performance in Nob Hill ranks right along side Tree. Peggy Ann's cute little Irish accent will never be forgotten. Even George Raft knew how great Peggy Ann was when he co-starred with her in Nob Hill. This movie is very hard to find today- It is never shown on television but it can be found on Ebay if you are lucky. I love Peggy Ann Garner and she will always be my little angel! Peggy Ann is not with us anymore having died on Tuesday, October 16,1984 but she will always live in my heart through her great performances.GOD BLESS YOU,SWEETHEART!

timothymcclenaghan While not an exact remake of 1943's "Hello Frisco Hello", 1945's "Nob Hill" borrows heavily from the earlier film, and the opening street scene is film footage lifted directly from the earlier film right down to the song "San Francisco" as the soundtrack.The basic plot is the same: Barbary Coast ruffian thinks he can crash high society on Nob Hill. Well, it's not the first time that a movie script got remade, and with WW II budget constraints, you really can't fault 20th Century Fox for taking some economies. At least they made it in Technicolor.I also understand that WWII created a shortage of leading men, so the lead in this film went to George Raft, about age 50 at the time this film was made, well beyond draft age. However, considering the movie parts he played, he is suitable to portray a saloon keeper. Although Raft did some dancing in his film career, and also in a film a year prior to this (Follow The Boys), he is not given any dance performance in this film. Nor does he do any singing, although they could have dubbed him as they did for others. Well, perhaps a singing George Raft would have been too far away from his on-screen persona. All of the musical performance in this film is given to Vivian Blaine. Since she portrays the entertainer at the saloon, the musical segments make some sense. They showcase Blaine's fine singing (no dubbing needed here). As a redhead in this film, Blaine is lovely in Technicolor.Blaine is given two new ballads to introduce, composed by well-known composers Harold Adamson and Jimmy McHugh (see IMDb soundtrack listing for details). It's strange that neither of these songs became standards, for they are as good as any other songs written by the composers, and good as others from 20th Century Fox movies of the time. Blaine also has three production numbers—all using older songs: "On San Francisco Bay" (1907); the perennial "What Do You Want To Make Those Eyes At Me For" (1916); and the third, "San Francisco, The Paris of the U.S.A." (1912). Although it's not on VHS or DVD, this film comes up on Fox Movie Channel's schedule from time to time.