THE LAST EDITION (1925)
The Movie
The Last Edition, produced, co-written and directed by San Franciscan Emory Johnson, is a 1925 silent movie filmed mainly in San Francisco with some locations in Los Angeles masquerading as San Francisco. It was thought to have been lost until 2011 when Bay Area film preservationist Rob Byrne discovered that there was a surviving original nitrate print, the last one, in the collection of the EYE Film Instituut Dutch National Archive. The EYE Film Instituut Nederland and the San Francisco Silent Film Festival collaborated on a superb restoration of the fragile print. For a detailed account of the movie and its restoration, go here. The story centers around the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper; many scenes were filmed inside the Chronicle building showing real-life employees at their day-to-day jobs producing the paper. The movie had a special preview on Sep 15, 1925 at the St. Francis Theatre at 965 Market Street for those newspapermen followed by a general release on Nov 8, 1925. Remarkable city scenes and chases through San Francisco take today’s viewers back in time almost 100 years.
The restoration can be viewed in its entirety at the website of the San Francisco Silent Film Festival at https://silentfilm.org/screening-room/. It can also be viewed on Vimeo at https://vimeo.com/502312517.
The Story
Tom MacDonald (Ralph Lewis) has worked as a pressman on the San Francisco Chronicle presses for 20 years. He is passed over for promotion after his foreman resigns but finds some solace when his law school-grad son Ray (Ray Hallor) secures a job at the San Francisco D.A.’s office under Assistant D.A. Gerald Fuller (Cuyler Supplee). Chronicle reporter Clarence Walker (Rex Lease) who has taken a shine to Tom’s attractive daughter Polly (Frances Teague) is given an assignment to find out what a notorious bootlegger - Sam Blotz (Will Frank) - is up to. Walker follows Blotz and observes him, with his seedy henchman ‘Red’ Morgan, (David Kirby), deliver a large bribe to Assistant D.A. Fuller. Blotz and Fuller frame Ray - he is thrown in jail and Walker has no choice but to make sure the Chronicle scoops the story. When Tom sees the sensational headlines in his presses proclaiming his son is a bribe-taker he sabotages the machine, bringing it to a halt, for which he too is thrown in jail. Meanwhile ‘Red’ Morgan sabotages the steam generators in the Chronicle basement, causing a huge fire that destroys the building. The frenetic ending, with fire engines converging from all over town on the burning building, is leavened when Walker is able to exonerate both Tom and Ray, freeing them both. Tom finally gets his promotion from the grateful newspaper proprietor.
The Locations
Opening Vista View looking west to the Ferry Building from the Park Lane Condominiums, 1100 Sacramento Street, Nob Hill
The Chronicle Building ‘Old’ Building, 690 Market Street, Financial District —- ‘New’ Building, 901 Mission Street, SoMa
The Telephone Building 140 New Montgomery Street, SoMa —- Southern California Telephone Co. Exchange at 1429 N.Gower Street, Hollywood, Los Angeles
Exciting News Pacific Avenue at Gough, Pacific Heights —- 1421 N. Hudson Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles —- 1425 N. Hudson Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles
Truth, Love And Duty 901 Mission Street, SoMa
Bootlegger Sam Blotz 1629 N. Cahuenga Blvd, Hollywood, Los Angeles —- 901 Mission Street, SoMa
Tailing Sam Blotz - 1 City Hall, Civic Center, San Francisco —- Masonic Temple at 6840 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood, Los Angeles —- Hotel Regent at 6162 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood, Los Angeles —- 12th Street at Trenton, southwest Downtown Los Angeles (now Staples Center arena)
Tailing Sam Blotz - 2 E. Cahuenga Alley (AKA Chaplin-Keaton-Lloyd Alley), Hollywood, Los Angeles
Tailing Red Moran - 1 Hollywood Blvd at Wilcox Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles —- Masonic Temple at 6840 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood, Los Angeles —- Masonic Temple at 6840 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood, Los Angeles —- Mary Moll Building, 6912 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood, Los Angeles —- Market Street at 7th Street, SoMa, San Francisco —- Market Street between 7th and 8th Streets, SoMa, San Francisco
Tailing Red Moran - 2 Evening Herald building rear side, Georgia Street, lower downtown Los Angeles —- 826 Georgia Street at Pico Blvd, Los Angeles —- Native Son’s Monument at Market, Turk and Mason, San Francisco —- 401 San Pedro Street, Little Tokyo, Los Angeles —- Market Street at 6th Street, downtown San Francisco
Scandal 5911 and 5913 Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood, Los Angeles —- 1629 N. Cahuenga Blvd, Hollywood, Los Angeles —- 901 Mission Street , the Mission, San Francisco
Newsstand Powell Street at O’Farrell Street , Union Square
Call The Fire Brigade! 690 Market Street, Financial District, San Francisco —- Truck Company No. 1 firehouse, 418 Jessie Street, SoMa, San Francisco—- Engine Company 24 and Truck Company 1 firehouse, 204 South Hewitt Street, Los Angeles —- Engine Company No. 2 firehouse at 460 Bush Street, Financial District, San Francisco
(More to come … )