San Francisco California-1957: Cable Car Behind Passing Automobiles on a City Street

Catalog date: estimated · Catalog location: estimated. Review source evidence · Request a source quality check

$149 · CommercialDirect license: commercial and editorial use. $149 flat from Stockfilm. Royalty-free worldwide license for commercial and editorial use, delivered as the restored 4K master.

Year1957
Decade1950s
LocationSan Francisco, California, United States
Duration8s
Price$149 USD
Collection1957 · San Francisco, California, United States
StatusStockfilm Exclusive

$149 · CommercialDirect license: commercial and editorial use

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

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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.

From the same film reel

1957 · San Francisco · Reel 88091729 contains 6 published Stockfilm-exclusive clips. Watch them in reel order and review the available reel documentation.

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Same year and place1957 · San Francisco, California, United StatesExplore footage →Across the archiveFilmed in 1957Explore the year →Across the yearsSan Francisco, California, United StatesExplore the place →

What is in this clip

urban transport
everyday mobility
midcentury street life
public transit
automobile design
visitor observation

Shot type: wide
Camera: handheld · pan · Street-level oblique view across the roadway
Setting: outdoor · Urban street with a cable car, passing automobiles, pedestrians and masonry buildings
Time and weather: daytime · indeterminate · clear and sunny
Lighting: Strong natural sunlight with deep shade and bright reflections on paintwork and chrome
People: 5 · Several small, partly obscured figures stand or walk beside the cable car; some wear hats and dark outerwear, and occupants are faintly visible in passing vehicles.
Vehicles: cable car · turquoise foreground automobile · pale yellow station wagon · dark sedan · light-colored convertible
Objects: chrome automobile trim · rear automobile window · arched building openings · street poles · cable car end panels · building windows
Colors: turquoise · pale yellow · dark blue · brown · gray
Master dimensions: 3840 × 2160
Audio: Silent
Date confidence: Low
Location confidence: High

Moments in the footage

Select a time to watch that moment in the preview.

A cable car is visible beyond turquoise automobile bodywork in the foreground.
A pale yellow station wagon crosses in front of the cable car.
A dark sedan passes through the middle of the view.
A light-colored convertible briefly obscures the street scene.
The clearing traffic reveals pedestrians beside the cable car.

Cable Car Behind Passing Automobiles on a City Street — Clip Details

San Francisco, California, circa 1957 home movie footage shows a cable car across a busy street, with a turquoise automobile filling the lower foreground. A pale yellow station wagon, a dark sedan and a light-colored convertible pass through the view, briefly obscuring the rail vehicle. Pedestrians stand or move beside it against a row of arched openings. The continuous street-level shot has slight handheld movement, soft detail and warm flare along the left edge.

Licensing & Technical Details

Original Format: 8mm / Super 8 Home Movie
Resolution: 4K restored master (MP4)
License: Direct license: commercial and editorial use
Delivery: Instant Digital Download
Duration: 8s
Price: $149 USD
Clip ID: 800003906

Rights & Clearance

$149 · Commercial Direct license: commercial and editorial use. $149 flat from Stockfilm. Royalty-free worldwide license for commercial and editorial use, delivered as the restored 4K master.

Editorial use is the safest path. For commercial use, a clearance review is recommended for the flags below.

People visible: Yes
Minors 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 record not linked for this clip
Date: 1957 Estimated (Catalog estimate from the footage and file metadata; not independently confirmed.)
Date evidence: Catalog estimate based on source metadata and visual or technical evidence; no reel-level note is linked.
Location: San Francisco, California, United States Estimated (Catalog estimate from the footage and file metadata; not independently confirmed.)
Location evidence: Catalog estimate based on source metadata and visual evidence such as signage, landmarks, or terrain; no reel-level note is linked.
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.

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Topics & Keywords

Archive Intelligence

Archive brief fit: This circa 1957 San Francisco street view serves documentary requests for cable cars, period automobiles and everyday urban transport.
Period detail: Rounded bodywork, a two-tone station wagon, prominent chrome and a light-colored convertible provide the clearest visible period clues.
Home-movie behavior: The visitor's camera watches ordinary traffic interrupt the view while pedestrians continue their activity beside the cable car.
What appears in frame: The view contains a cable car, turquoise foreground bodywork, a yellow station wagon, a dark sedan, a pale convertible, pedestrians and arched openings.
Film character: Soft detail, grain, saturated blue-green tones, deep shadows and reddish edge flare characterize the projected small-gauge film capture.
Edit role: Use this short continuous view as a transport cutaway, a city montage insert or a transition punctuated by vehicles crossing the frame.
Historical context: The shared view of a cable car, private automobiles and pedestrians shows several forms of everyday movement within the same San Francisco streetscape.
Research note: Copyright licensing is separate from likeness and property permissions; people and building exteriors appear, but faces and sign lettering lack clear detail.
Research search match: The clip answers searches for San Francisco cable car home movies, circa 1957 street traffic and archival color footage of midcentury automobiles.
Archive pairing path: Pair first with this reel's Chinatown, LI PO lantern, Fisherman's Wharf, crab counter and fishing fleet clips, then other San Francisco views circa 1957 and urban transport footage.

Still Frames From This Clip

San Francisco, circa 1957: a cable car is largely unobscured across the street, above turquoise automobile bodywork in the foreground. — The opening view places a cable car behind a turquoise foreground automobile.
License this still · $49

San Francisco, circa 1957: a pale yellow station wagon obscures much of a cable car, above a turquoise automobile in the foreground. — A pale yellow station wagon crosses the view and blocks much of the cable car.
License this still · $49

San Francisco, circa 1957: a dark sedan passes the cable car, with a turquoise automobile's rear window and chrome trim prominent below. — A dark sedan moves between the camera and the cable car.
License this still · $49

San Francisco, circa 1957: pedestrians beside the cable car become visible above a turquoise foreground automobile, with arched openings behind. — Clearing traffic reveals people beside the cable car and the arches behind them.
License this still · $49

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