Cop: “Can I help you?”
Frank Bigelow (Edmond O’Brien): “I want to report a murder.”
Cop: “Where was this murder committed?”
Bigelow: “San Francisco, last night.”
Cop: “Who was murdered?”
Bigelow: “I was.”

(from the quintessential, must-see San Francisco noir, D.O.A.)

One of the things that makes San Francisco especially appealing to me, as a resident, film goer and photographer, is the noir-ish mood that fills the city. Perhaps not as obvious on a sunny day, but the mood is still there if you know where to look. Our city has such a rich literary and cinematic tradition of influencing great noir, not to mention that it’s home to the Film Noir Foundation that hosts the world-class Noir City Film Festival each January — during our coldest, rainiest, fog-filled month.

You might only see a flattened ladies’ boot in this image, a lonely strange discard. I see a Weegee tableau: flash bulbs snapping, police tape fluttering.

(A funny aside, as I was looking for a Weegee link, one of the photos I saw in a NY Times essay on him pictured a man’s shoe wedged under a car’s front tire.)

Updated 11:23am: Just found a youtube link for the entire film of DOA!