San Francisco California-1939: Scene Of A Town With Large Bridge And Busy Waterfront

$149 · Editorial onlyDirect license: editorial use only. $149 flat from Stockfilm for documentary, news and educational use, plus internal and organic social use. Not permitted in advertising, sponsored or branded content, broadcast promotion or any paid commercial placement.

Year1939
Decade1930s
LocationSan Francisco, California, United States
Duration6s
Price$149 USD
Collection1939 California

$149 · Editorial onlyDirect license: editorial use only

$149 USD flat · royalty-free worldwide · 4K restored master (MP4)

Before you add to cart: Editorial use only: documentary, news, educational, internal and organic social use. Not permitted in advertising, sponsored or branded content, broadcast promotion or any paid commercial placement. Checkout will only offer editorial, educational, internal and social/web scopes.

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Stockfilm licenses the rights identified in the applicable agreement. Additional use-specific review may be required. See the Licensing Guide and Archive Integrity.

Scene Of A Town With Large Bridge And Busy Waterfront — Clip Details

Shot on 8mm film in 1939, this vintage home movie captures a hazy, atmospheric view of San Francisco, California. The footage opens on a long, low-lying building near the waterfront with a large ship visible in the distance. The camera then pans to reveal the iconic Bay Bridge, its towering structure rising against a foggy sky. The final frames return to the waterfront, showing a row of arched buildings and parked cars, with another ship on the horizon. The grainy, monochrome quality and soft focus evoke a nostalgic, historical mood, offering a rare glimpse of mid-20th century urban life and transportation.

Licensing & Technical Details

Original Format: 8mm / Super 8 Home Movie
Shot details: Black & white
Resolution: 4K restored master (MP4)
License: Direct license: editorial use only Editorial use only: documentary, news, educational, internal and organic social use. Not permitted in advertising, sponsored or branded content, broadcast promotion or any paid commercial placement.
Delivery: Instant Digital Download
Duration: 6s
Price: $149 USD
Clip ID: 127270222

Rights & Clearance

$149 · Editorial only Direct license: editorial use only. Editorial use only: documentary, news, educational, internal and organic social use. Not permitted in advertising, sponsored or branded content, broadcast promotion or any paid commercial placement.

No recognizable people, logos, or music are flagged. Editorial use only; commercial use is not offered for this clip.

People visible: No
Logos / trademarks: No
Audible music: No

Flags come from automated catalog metadata, not a legal opinion. The source is an original 8mm / Super 8 Home Movie reel. For high-stakes commercial use, request a full rights review.

Source & Documentation

Source reel: Reel 1166 · 8mm · 5″ reel
Original reel label: may
Reel-level year note: 1939
Reel-level location note: california
Date: 1939 Estimated (Catalog estimate from the footage and file metadata; not independently confirmed.)
Date evidence: Catalog estimate. A reel-level note shows the same year, but the clip-to-reel link is itself a catalog match, so this is not counted as independent confirmation.
Location: San Francisco, California, United States Estimated (Catalog estimate from the footage and file metadata; not independently confirmed.)
Location evidence: Catalog estimate. A reel-level location note is linked, but the clip-to-reel link is itself a catalog match, so this is not counted as independent confirmation.
Licensing route: Direct license available from Stockfilm

Confidence labels are defined on Archive Integrity. Fields without a recorded value are shown as not recorded rather than assumed.

View source reel context Open Clip Documentation Record Request source information

Topics & Keywords

Archive Intelligence

Archive brief fit: Useful for 1930s San Francisco editorial sequences needing waterfront, Bay Bridge, ferry terminal, or urban transportation atmosphere from real 8mm home-movie footage.
Period detail: The elevated bridge approach, arched waterfront buildings, parked period cars, haze, and visible ships support a late-1930s San Francisco waterfront reading.
Home-movie behavior: The footage has a visitor-shot perspective, panning between waterfront buildings, bridge structure, cars, and harbor views rather than staging a formal city record.
What appears in frame: Visible elements include the Bay Bridge, waterfront terminal buildings, arched facades, parked cars, streetlights, distant ships, haze, and dark film-frame edges.
Film character: The monochrome 8mm scan shows soft focus, visible grain, slight exposure falloff, handheld framing, and contact-print edge shadows that add physical-film texture.
Edit role: An editor could use this as a brief establishing insert, transportation cutaway, harbor transition, or memory beat for prewar San Francisco.
Historical context: The clip visually places the city through waterfront infrastructure, bridge approaches, ferry-era buildings, automobiles, and ship traffic without showing identifiable people.
Research note: No people, logos, or audible music are apparent, but users should still review copyright status, location/property context, and landmark usage for their project.
Research search match: Search matches include 1939 San Francisco 8mm waterfront, Bay Bridge home movie, ferry building harbor view, and vintage California urban transportation footage.
Archive pairing path: Pair first with adjacent shots from the same reel, then other 1939 San Francisco views, then broader waterfront, bridge, car, and transportation scenes.

Still Frames From This Clip

1939 San Francisco waterfront view with a long low building, parked cars, haze, and dark 8mm frame borders. — A hazy waterfront building and parked cars appear at the edge of the harbor.

1939 San Francisco view of the Bay Bridge approach with tower structure, roadway supports, streetlights, and haze. — The Bay Bridge approach rises above the waterfront in soft, hazy light.

San Francisco Bay Bridge approach in 1939, framed close with concrete supports, tower truss, streetlights, and soft haze. — A closer angle shows the bridge approach and tower through grainy 8mm framing.

1939 San Francisco waterfront with arched terminal buildings, parked cars, open paved area, and a ship in the hazy distance. — Arched waterfront buildings and parked cars sit below a distant ship on the bay.

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