San Francisco has always had a love affair with the movies. It began when they were silent.

A land of celluloid dreams, some of the most famous names in cinema history made films in the Golden Gate .... Charlie Chaplin... Mary Pickford... Rudolph Valentino... Cecil B. DeMille...

Janet Gaynor once an usherette at the city's famed Castro Theater became the first woman to win the Oscar as Best Actress.

Actor George 'The Chest' O'Brien, the son of San Francisco's police chief appeared in over 80 films.

Publishing tycoon William Randolph Hearst who was born and raised in the city was also in the movie business with cosmopolitan productions featuring Marion Davies, his young mistress.

Though San Francisco was rocked by earthquake... And scandal... The often painful and unpredictable search for movie magic never vanished. It was a place full of promise, entrepreneurs, and cinematic achievement.

According to one film historian... 'By all that is logical, San Francisco should have become the capitol of the motion picture world.'