'' San Francisco '' is a 1936 musical-drama disaster film directed by Woody Van Dyke , based on the April 18 , 1906 San Francisco earthquake . The film , which was the top-grossing movie of that year , stars Clark Gable , Jeanette MacDonald , and Spencer Tracy . The then very popular singing of MacDonald helped make this film a hit , coming on the heels of her other 1936 blockbuster , '' Rose Marie '' . Famous silent film directors D. W. Griffith and Erich von Stroheim worked on the film without credit . Griffith directed some of the mob scenes while von Stroheim contributed to the screenplay
1906 San Francisco earthquake
1906 San Francisco earthquake
San Francisco (1936 film)