News from the Bancroft Library

You Know How to Whistle, Don't You?

Hollywood Celebrities in the San Francisco News-Call Bulletin Photograph Archive

Mary W. Elings, Archivist for Pictorial Collection, The Bancroft Library

Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall reading script for Dark Passage in the Mark Hopkins Hotel, October 31, 1946. Photographer: J. Marron; Reporter: F. Johnson.

Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall at window in the Mark Hopkins Hotel, October 31, 1946. Photographer: J. Marron; Reporter: F. Johnson.

Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio at San Francisco City Hall, January 14, 1954. "The presiding Judge Charles Peery diplomatically looks aside as Joe DiMaggio kisses bride Marilyn Monroe after their ceremony at City Hall today. Joe told reporters that his honeymoon may be short because he may have to go to New York." -- Call Bulletin Photographer: Sid Tate.

The Bancroft Library has recently completed a two-year project funded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission to make the finding aids of the photograph archive of the San Francisco News-Call Bulletin newspaper available online. The archive, which consists of over 400,000 negatives documenting San Francisco and the Bay Area dating from approximately 1915 to 1965, includes many images of noted celebrities and dignitaries who visited San Francisco during these years. To a movie aficionado, among the most memorable of these are two of Hollywood's legendary couples, "Bogart and Bacall," and "Joe and Marilyn."

The images of Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, taken at the Mark Hopkins Hotel on October 31, 1946, during the filming of Dark Passage, show the couple with scripts for that movie open across their laps. They had been married for one year at that time, having fallen in love two years before on the set of To Have and Have Not. Few can forget the on-screen sparks that flew between them when Bacall delivered her famous line in that movie: "You know how to whistle don't you, Steve?" That same chemistry is evident as she stands closely behind Bogie as he gazes through the hotel window.

Even more poignant are the images of Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe on their wedding day and leaving for their honeymoon. Married on January 14, 1954, in San Francisco City Hall, the rising young starlet and America's retired baseball hero were constantly in the camera's eye. Marilyn seems to revel in the attention, while the tall, quiet Joe cheerfully abides the intrusion. Though the couple was to divorce less than a year later, the two remained close friends until Marilyn's untimely death in 1962. Joe kept the details of their relationship to himself, taking those private memories to his grave when he died at age 84 earlier this year.

These images of American icons and two of Hollywood's most celebrated couples are just a few examples of the rich and varied holdings in The San Francisco News-Call Bulletin newspaper photograph archive. These subjects as well as many other topics may be searched in the archive finding aid located in the Online Archive of California under UC Berkeley-Bancroft Library Finding Aids at http://www.oac.cdlib.org/. Digital images are not available, but negatives from the archive may be viewed by appointment in the Heller Reading Room of Bancroft.

Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio boarding Pan American Airlines plane, accompanied by Francis "Lefty" O'Doul and family, February 24, 1954. Photographer: Ken Adams.

Marilyn Monroe at San Francisco International Airport leaving for honeymoon in Japan, February 24, 1954. Photographer: Ken Adams.