Does anyone know or have any opinions on why this charming film was set in San Francisco and not New York like so many other Allen films?
I didn't even realise it *wasn't* New York until the second half of the film when I saw a taxi cab with the words 'Desoto' on the top, the trolley cars (or 'trams' as we Aussies call them) and the steep hills.
I thought it was a great location, though.
Originally to be shot in Manhattan and Long Island but moved to San Francisco when New York film workers went on strike in the summer of 1971.
shareI saw that thing about the strike in the Trivia section but I've never heard it verified anywhere else. Were there any other movies from that time that were supposed to be shot in New York?
In any case, it was for the better, because the movie plays much better in SF, I think. It gives it a lighter feel and makes Woody Allen's neuroses seem more innocent, as opposed to a somewhat reasonable adaptation to his environment.
"Under strengths... You just put 'Accounts.' That's just your job." ~David Brent, The Office
"After having Woody rewrite some scenes we were ready to shoot on location in New York. But within two weeks of our start there was a film workers' strike. It meant cancelling the shoot. I refused to make the film in Los Angeles because LA was the wrong atmosphere for the film. So I suggested San Francisco."
---Herbert Ross from a 1977 interview.
Other films moved from New York:
FUZZ moved to Boston
LAST OF THE RED HOT LOVERS moved to Philadelphia