Filmmakers have always been drawn to San Francisco; our architecture and topography make the city incredibly cinematic, and it's a location that's become familiar to movie audiences. In most cases, films set in SF take place near postcard-friendly locations like the Painted Ladies or Golden Gate Bridge, but from time to time, the Inner Sunset appears as a supporting character.

Dirty Harry (1971), Kezar Stadium

In Clint Eastwood's first outing as SFPD Inspector Harry Callahan, he tracks Scorpio, a serial killer who leaves a trail of bodies across the city. Following up on a lead from a doctor at Park Emergency Hospital on Stanyan, Harry heads into Kezar Stadium, which was then a 60,000-seat arena that was the home of the 49ers.

In one of the franchise's most iconic images, he shoots the fleeing villain somewhere near the 50-yard line; an ascending helicopter shot shows him tormenting the killer as he writhes on the field in agony. Eastwood went on to make four more Dirty Harry films, but Kezar wasn't so prolific: in 1989, it was scaled back to a 10,000-seat stadium.

High Anxiety (1977), Golden Gate Park

(20th Century Fox)

Mel Brooks' homage to Albert Hitchcock features several well-known San Francisco locations, but his parody of "The Birds" was shot in Golden Gate Park. Fortunately, San Francisco's pigeon population isn't as mean-spirited as is depicted in the movie.

So I Married An Axe Murderer (1993), 305 Hugo St.

305 Hugo Street today. (Google)

This '90s romantic comedy is extremely San Francisco: as anyone who lived here at the time can attest, coffee bars offering slam poetry readings were all the rage. In the film, Mike Meyers becomes enamored of a butcher (Nancy Travis), despite his concerns that she might be a psychotic killer.

305 Hugo Street in 1988. (via filminamerica.com)

The exterior of 305 Hugo appears in an establishing shot of his family home, before he brings the audience inside to meet his eccentric Scottish parents and younger brother.

The Dead Pool (1988), Carl & Cole

In the final Dirty Harry movie, Callahan and his latest partner are involved in a car chase that takes them through the heart of Cole Valley. In the clip below, the cops are being chased by a remote-controlled car containing plastic explosives.

Fast-forward to the 1:50 mark to see Harry nearly broadside an N-Judah heading into the Sunset Tunnel, before turning south on Cole Street and speeding toward Ashbury Heights.

The Lineup (1958), Steinhart Aquarium

Before directing Dirty Harry, Don Siegel made The Lineup, a movie based on a procedural police TV drama. In the film, two smugglers follow two travelers who've unknowingly carried heroin into the country.

Steinhart Aquarium was demolished in 2005. (via californiaherps.com)

As one of the tourists visits the former Steinhart Aquarium at the Academy of Sciences, the heavies follow, pausing briefly in front of a tank of sea turtles.

The Wedding Planner (2001), Japanese Tea Garden

(Columbia Pictures)

In The Wedding Planner, Jennifer Lopez falls for Matthew McConaughey, even though he's due to get married to one of her clients. Golden Gate Park is featured prominently in the film, which includes scenes shot in the Music Concourse and Japanese Tea Garden.

The film's stars take in the Music Concourse. (via filminamerica.com)

Astute film fans will note that this list omits Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, in which a time-traveling Kirk and his crew stash a camouflaged Klingon warship in Golden Gate Park. In reality, those scenes were shot in Will Rogers State Park in Los Angeles.