FILM · 1990 · USA
Pacific Heights
21 archived facts 5 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (21)
- #001
Screenwriter Daniel Pyne based the screenplay on the personal experiences of a tenant in a rental property in San Francisco. This person stayed in the apartment for several months without paying rent, while Daniel Pyne immediately encountered legal obstacles that prevented eviction.
- #002
Law professors use the film in law curricula to illustrate property law, particularly the complexities of constructive eviction and tenant protections. The narrative accurately depicts provisions of the California Civil Code that prohibit landlords from terminating utility services or changing the locks to remove a tenant without a court order.
- #003
Beverly D'Angelo is not listed in the credits for her performance as Ann Miller, the romantic partner of Carter Hayes (Michael Keaton). She shot her scenes over several days but requested that her name be removed from the billing.
- #004
The Orkin Exterminating Company paid $20,000 for a product placement agreement, stating that the film portrayed its services in a disparaging and demeaning manner. The company sued Twentieth Century Fox, Morgan Creek Productions and director John Schlesinger for defamation and breach of contract after the exterminator character played by Tracey Walter appeared incompetent or unwilling to perform authorized services. Public records show the parties reached an out-of-court settlement and dismissed the case on February 11, 1991.
- #005
Christopher Reeve personally lobbied director John Schlesinger for the role of Carter Hayes. Schlesinger ultimately cast Michael Keaton in the role.
- #006
The Victorian house shown as 170 Pacific Street in the Pacific Heights neighborhood was filmed at 1243 19th Street, located at the corner of Texas Street in San Francisco's Potrero Hill district, several miles from the actual Pacific Heights area. The production chose the Potrero Hill location because filming costs were lower than in the Pacific Heights neighborhood, taking advantage of the property's panoramic city views. The three-story Queen Anne-style residence was built in 1895. While exterior scenes used the real location, interior scenes were shot on sets built at Culver Studios in Culver City, California. The production team applied sound-blasting frisket and chemical treatments to the exterior to create a weathered look for the early scenes, and the materials were removed after two days of filming.
- #007
Screenwriter Daniel Pyne's original draft portrayed Carter Hayes (Michael Keaton) as a bisexual man who sexually threatened both Drake Goodman (Matthew Modine) and Patty Palmer (Melanie Griffith); the final film reveals this ambiguity only through Carter's undefined relationship with his male roommate and his simultaneous relationships with a girlfriend and an older woman he manipulates for money.
- #008
Tippi Hedren (Florence Peters) and Melanie Griffith (Patty Palmer) are mother and daughter in real life. This production marks one of two feature-film collaborations between the two performers; the other is Roar (1981).
- #009
The character's name appears inconsistently between the dialogue and the credits. Carter Hayes addresses Patty as "Miss Palmer" and a detective also refers to her as "Miss Palmer," but at the end of the title sequence the character is listed as "Patty Parker."
- #010
The television shows the music video for the song "Hands All Over" during the sequence near the end of the film in which Hayes attacks Drake (around 1 hour 31 minutes). The track appeared on the rock band Soundgarden's 1989 album "Louder Than Love." Director John Schlesinger chose the footage to provide a rhythmic and aggressive backdrop to the physical confrontation.
- #011
Bravo placed the production at No. 94 on its 2004 "100 Scariest Movie Moments" list. The segment highlights the scene in which Patty Palmer returns to the property and encounters Carter Hayes hiding behind a bathroom door.
- #012
The cast includes four Oscar nominees: Melanie Griffith earned a Best Actress nomination for Working Girl (1988); Michael Keaton earned a Best Actor nomination for Birdman (2014); Mako earned a Best Supporting Actor nomination for The Sand Pebbles (1966); and Laurie Metcalf earned a Best Supporting Actress nomination for Lady Bird (2017).
- #013
The 1880s polychrome house used for exterior filming is located at the corner of 19th Street and Texas Street in San Francisco's Potrero Hill district. Production designers chose the location for its unobstructed view of the city skyline, even though the film's title refers to the Pacific Heights neighborhood.
- #014
Pacific Heights (1990) belongs to a cycle of thrillers from the early 1990s that focused on married couples. Films in this cycle include Malice (1993), Deceived (1991), Shattered (1991), Mortal Thoughts (1991), Consenting Adults (1992), Unlawful Entry (1992), Presumed Innocent (1990), Guilty as Sin (1993), Sleeping with the Enemy (1991) and A Kiss Before Dying (1991).
- #015
Carter Hayes drives a 1977 Porsche 911 Carrera Targa. The production used a 1977 model-year vehicle, identified by the distinctive headlight rings and whale-tail spoiler characteristic of that period, even though the character displays considerable wealth.
- #016
Principal photography began on January 23, 1990 and ended on March 21, 1990.
- #017
Drake Goodman (Matthew Modine) and Patty Palmer (Melanie Griffith) buy their Victorian-era house at 19th and Texas Streets in the Potrero Hill neighborhood for $749,000. Real estate records for the actual location, 1247 19th Street, show the property sold for significantly less in the years before production, while the written price reflected contemporary 1990 market valuations for the gentrifying area.
- #018
Pacific Heights marks only the second time Melanie Griffith and her mother Tippi Hedren appeared together on screen in their careers. They had previously shared the lead in Roar (1981), directed by Hedren's then-husband Noel Marshall and featuring more than 100 untamed lions and tigers. In Pacific Heights, Griffith plays the protagonist Patty Palmer, while Hedren appears in a supporting role as Florence Peters. Hedren and Griffith were also both listed uncredited in the title extras of The Harrad Experiment (1973), though they did not share any scenes in that production.
- #019
Principal photography took place primarily in San Francisco's Potrero Hill neighborhood, at the intersection of 19th and Texas Streets. Production designer Neil Spisak used a Victorian-era residence at 1243 19th Street to represent the 170 Pacific Street location depicted in the narrative.
- #020
Michael Keaton took on the role of Carter Hayes immediately after playing the title character in Batman (1989). He later reprised the superhero role in Batman Returns (1992). Matthew Modine played Deputy Commissioner Peter Foley in the Batman series entry The Dark Knight Rises (2012).
- #021
Tracey Walter, who appears as the exterminator, had previously acted alongside Michael Keaton in Batman (1989), released the year before. Walter played Bob the Goon, the chief henchman of Keaton's Batman nemesis the Joker. Tracey Walter appeared as Tyrone Otley in The Two Jakes (1990), which premiered on August 10, 1990, exactly seven weeks before Pacific Heights opened on September 28, 1990. The Two Jakes (1990) pairs Walter with Jack Nicholson, who played the Joker in Batman (1989).
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