Saints Peter and Paul Church

Saints Peter and Paul Church is one of the most recognisable landmarks in San Francisco’s North Beach neighbourhood. Located at 666 Filbert Street, directly across from Washington Square, the Roman Catholic church was completed in 1924 and is closely associated with the city’s Italian-American community. With its twin spires, broad steps and prominent position facing the park, the church has become one of the most frequently filmed religious landmarks in San Francisco.

The church has appeared in a wide range of films, from early Hollywood spectacle to crime thrillers, comedies and disaster films. Parts of Cecil B. DeMille’s “The Ten Commandments” (1923) were filmed here while the church was still under construction. It later became a memorable location in Dirty Harry (1971), appeared during the chaotic chase in “What’s Up, Doc?” (1972), returned to the Dirty Harry series in “The Dead Pool” (1988), and was used in “Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit” (1993), “Getting Even with Dad” (1994) and “San Andreas” (2015).

In “The Ten Commandments” (1923), scenes were filmed at Saints Peter and Paul Church while the building was still under construction. This makes the church’s screen history unusually early, as the film captured the site before the completed building became one of North Beach’s best-known landmarks.

In Dirty Harry (1971), Saints Peter and Paul Church is used in one of the film’s most famous sequences. Scorpio threatens to shoot a Catholic priest, and Harry Callahan sets up a stakeout nearby. The twin-spired church, Washington Square and the surrounding rooftops give the scene a strong North Beach identity, while the church itself becomes part of the film’s tense cat-and-mouse structure.

In “What’s Up, Doc?” (1972), the church appears during the film’s famous San Francisco chase. Howard Bannister and Judy Maxwell steal a blue Volkswagen Beetle marked “Just Married” from outside Saints Peter and Paul Church, just as a wedding party is leaving the building. The scene turns the steps and street outside the church into part of the film’s escalating comic chaos.

In “The Dead Pool” (1988), Saints Peter and Paul Church brings the Dirty Harry series back to one of its familiar San Francisco landmarks. The church appears in scenes connected to the film’s citywide thriller plot, linking the final Dirty Harry film visually to the North Beach setting used so memorably in the first film.

In “Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit” (1993), Saints Peter and Paul Church was used as one of the San Francisco filming locations. The film uses several real city locations to build its Catholic school and church setting, and the North Beach church adds another recognisable San Francisco landmark to the sequel’s location work.

In “Getting Even with Dad” (1994), both the exterior and interior of Saints Peter and Paul Church are featured prominently. The church’s large interior, formal architecture and recognisable façade make it one of the film’s key San Francisco locations.

In “San Andreas” (2015), Saints Peter and Paul Church and Washington Square appear during the large-scale destruction of San Francisco. The church is seen as the tsunami reaches North Beach, using one of the neighbourhood’s most recognisable landmarks as part of the film’s disaster imagery.

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