555 California Street

555 California Street, formerly known as the Bank of America Center, is one of the most recognisable skyscrapers in San Francisco’s Financial District. Completed in 1969, the 52-storey tower was the tallest building west of the Mississippi River until it was surpassed by the Transamerica Pyramid in 1972. The building’s dark granite exterior, elevated A.P. Giannini Plaza and commanding position at California Street and Kearny Street have made it a natural choice for films needing a powerful corporate or downtown San Francisco setting.

The building has appeared in several films, ranging from crime thrillers and disaster films to monster movies. It can be seen under construction in Bullitt (1968), became one of the defining locations in the opening of Dirty Harry (1971), and was used extensively for the fictional Glass Tower in The Towering Inferno (1974). The rooftop was later used again in “An Eye for an Eye” (1981), while the building also appears in “Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit” (1993), “Godzilla” (2014) and “San Andreas” (2015).

In Bullitt (1968), the building can be seen under construction. The film was shot shortly before 555 California Street opened, making its appearance a small but interesting record of San Francisco’s Financial District during a period when the city’s skyline was changing rapidly.

In Dirty Harry (1971), 555 California Street is used in the film’s famous opening sequence. Scorpio fires from the roof of the building at a woman swimming in the rooftop pool of the Holiday Inn Chinatown, now the Hilton San Francisco Financial District, on Kearny Street. The panoramic view from the roof immediately establishes both the scale of San Francisco and Scorpio’s position as a distant, cold and unpredictable threat.

In The Towering Inferno (1974), 555 California Street was used as one of the main real-world stand-ins for the fictional Glass Tower. The outside plaza substituted for the tower’s entrance area, while parts of the ground-floor lobby were also used. The granite stairs leading from California Street up to A.P. Giannini Plaza appear in several important scenes, including the dedication ceremony, the arrival of fire trucks and the final scene on the steps with Paul Newman, Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway.

In “An Eye for an Eye” (1981), the rooftop setting previously used in “Dirty Harry” was used again. This gives the Chuck Norris action film a direct visual connection to one of San Francisco cinema’s most recognisable rooftop locations.

In “Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit” (1993), the Carnelian Room at 555 California Street was used as a filming location. The restaurant was located high in the building and was known for its panoramic views over San Francisco, but it closed on New Year’s Eve in 2009.

In “Godzilla” (2014), 555 California Street appears during the climactic battle in San Francisco. The tower is visible as part of the downtown skyline and is damaged when the female MUTO is pushed into it by Godzilla’s atomic breath.

In “San Andreas” (2015), the building appears as the fictional Riddick skyscraper during the film’s large-scale destruction of San Francisco. Like “The Towering Inferno”, the film uses the tower’s height and downtown presence as part of a disaster scenario, but with modern visual effects replacing the 1970s disaster-film approach.

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