San Francisco gives Harrison Ford the red carpet treatment

Devin Nguyen

by Alisha Mayor

Wednesday, January 6, Academy Award winning actor Harrison Ford arrived at the San Francisco red carpet premiere for his new movie Extraordinary Measures.

Olympic gold medalist figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi, a guest at the event, summed up the occasion well: “Harrison Ford being here is huge for the Bay Area,” she said.

Extraordinary Measures tells the real-life story of father John Crowley (Brendan Fraser) who teams up with scientist Dr. Robert Stonehill (Harrison Ford) in a battle against the odds to cure his two youngest children from a rare disease.

The premiere was held at Lucasfilm’s Letterman Digital Arts Center in tandem with a benefit for Project Homeless Connect, a program initiated by Mayor Gavin Newsom in 2004 to end chronic homelessness.

“I was very honored that they chose this as a benefit for the film,” Mayor Newsom said. “I’m a big fan personally of Harrison Ford, not just as an actor, but the work he’s done, particularly on the environment, for decades.”

The Mayor applauded Ford for his leadership in advocating the green movement beginning in the 70s, before it was considered “fanciful.”

Senator Dianne Feinstein, another guest at the occasion, also revealed that she was a big fan of Ford, though she had not met him until this premiere.

“One of the great pleasures for me over time has been to be able to watch film actors grow,” Senator Feinstein said. “I’ve watched Harrison Ford do [that], so it’s a great treat.”

When asked by Winged Post reporter Alisha Mayor (10) about gaining a younger audience, Ford said, “It’s an emotional film. There are few [young adults] in it, but if you want to know something about how the world works, I think this is the kind of film that will tell you. I think it’s an entertaining film as well, so I hope that young people will see it.”

Also in attendance were Mayor Newsom’s wife Jennifer Siebel Newsom, former Mayor Willie Brown, CBS reporters Dr. Kim Mulvihill and Juliette Goodrich, Olympic ice hockey player Bret Hedican, and San Francisco 49ers’ Takeo Spikes, Patrick Willis, and Parys Haralson.

Extraordinary Measures opens in theaters January 22. Look for our review on the movie in the next Winged Post issue, out January 29, and online on the same date.