The Alfred Hitchcock movie Vertigo was filmed at two of my favorite locations in California: 
San Francisco and Mission San Juan Bautista, in the pretty small town of the same name. 




Unfortunately, Vertigo itself--which recently replaced Citizen Kane at the top of the British
Film Institute's list of the greatest films of all time--is not one of my favorite movies, as it consists
of a series of endless shots of Jimmy Stewart following Kim Novak around in a taxi.  I admit,
following Kim Novak around in any kind of conveyance would probably be fairly enjoyable, but
there are forms of pewter that are more lively than that movie. 

Also, the climactic scene takes place in the bell tower at Mission San Juan Bautista, which
Jimmy Stewart's character must ascend, despite his vertigo.  You can see from the photos
here that it's not exactly the same as dangling from the 100th floor of the Empire State Building. 
But I guess calling a movie A Short Flight of Stairs didn't have commercial appeal.