City Spotlight: Chicago
Hello and welcome to Cinema Wellman. I am your host David, and today you’ll be traveling with us as we go on our 5th City Spotlight Cinematic Field Trip.
We’ve already taken you to San Francisco, New York, Paris, and London, and this season we’ll travel to the Midwest.
Today we’re headed to the Windy City, Second City, City of the Big Shoulders, Chi-Town itself; Chicago, Illinois.
The city famous for Deep Dish pizza, Chicago dogs, gangsters, a big fire, and The Bean has also played host to a pretty deep dish of cinematic treats; ten of which we’ll serve up today.
Speaking of The Bean, did you see that hundreds of people gathered last week to try to move it?
Internet folklore suggests there’s a man trapped inside, and organizers said they wanted to set him free.
The Bean weighs about 110 tons, so it didn’t budge.
Weed is legal in Illinois, yes?
I’ve been fortunate enough to visit Chicago three times so far, looking forward to the next time, and have seen many of the locations featured in these films with my own eyes.
But it doesn’t matter if you’re a Chicago native or have only been to the airport on a layover (does NOT count as visiting the city or the state on its own, by the way!) chances are you’ll find something to like about these 10 Windy City classics.
Two of these films were first time viewings for me, and we’ll begin with both of them.
Adventures in Babysitting (1987)
PG-13/102 m/IMDb: 7.0/directed by Chris Columbus
IMDb: “A babysitter must battle her way through the big city after being stranded there with the kids she’s looking after.”
*N. LaSalle Street
*Dan Ryan Expressway
*Train station
*Wacker Drive
*plenty of Toronto!
I actually enjoyed this family friendly adventure that had babysitter Elisabeth Shue navigating her way through an almost After Hours like evening during which she and her charges encounter dangerous situations and odd characters.
The little girl Shue is babysitting is obsessed with Thor, and one of the odd characters they meet up with is a Thor-like mechanic played by Vincent D’Onofrio of all people!
He looks different in EVERY movie he’s in!
This is a family style adventure in Chicago (and a bit of Toronto!)
One of the things director Chris Columbus added to Toronto streets to make it look more “Chicago” is trash.
The problem is that Toronto’s sanitation system was so good it kept trying to pick up the trash, so members of the crew were instructed to “guard” the trash to keep it from being collected.
Adventures in Babysitting was all good fun, the next Chicago film isn’t that fun at all.
Candyman (1992)
R/99 m/IMDb: 6.8/directed by Bernard Rose
IMDb: “The Candyman, a murderous soul with a hook for a hand, is accidentally summoned to reality by a skeptic grad student researching the monster’s myth.”
The poster reads, "We Dare You to Say His Name Five Times"
*Cabrini-Green Housing Project
*Penn Central Freight Yards
*Sandburg Terrace
*West Side
Candyman is based on a book by Clive Barker, so you know you’re in store for some nasty business, and Phillip Glass did the music, which is always magical in some way or another.
Shooting in the Cabrini-Green Housing Project proved difficult as the producers had to negotiate with gang members in order for shooting to take place there.
In exchange for providing “safety” for the production during filming, the gang members appeared in the film as extras.
Horror icon Tony Todd is the title character, and I enjoyed watching Candyman for the first time and seeing him work at pretty much the start of his career.
Much of the film is dark, so we don’t get to see Chicago that much in the light of day, but we know it’s there.
We also know that that guy with a hook for a hand is there as well.
Wait, how many times did I say “Candyman” in that segment?
Dammit!
High Fidelity (2000)
R/113 m/IMDb: 7.4/directed by Stephen Frears
IMDb: “Rob, a record store owner and compulsive list maker, recounts his top five breakups, including the one in progress.”
*Lincoln Square AND Lincoln Park
*Forest Glen
*Green Mill
*Uptown locations
*West Town locations
“I will now sell five copies of ‘The Three E.P.’s’ by The Beta Band.”
Andrew would point out that of course I love this movie because the protagonist is, as the IMDb synopsis reads “a compulsive list maker,” and I am guilty as charged.
The source material for this film took place in London, and the switch to Chicago just meant a switch in music since the story is about love in the first place.
Most of the fliers in Rob’s record store and stickers on the store’s cash register are bands from Chicago including Urge Overkill, Veruca Salt, and Liz Phair.
High Fidelity highlights some of the funkier and artsy sides of Chicago and also features a kick ass soundtrack.
Including “Dry the Rain” by The Beta Band!
Sweet bass riff.
And a segue to the Ragtime music that experienced a resurgence due to the success of our next Chicago based film…
The Sting (1973)
PG/129 m/IMDb: 8.2/directed by George Roy Hill
IMDb: “Two grifters team up to pull off the ultimate con.”
*Union Station
*LaSalle Street Station
*Penn Central Freight Yards (West Side)
I love this film, and have spoken about it here before more than once, so I’m going to not mention how much I love Paul Newman, Robert Redford, and Robert Shaw in this film that also features some of my favorite character actors of all time.
Not going to mention that.
Director George Roy Hill wanted to film in Chicago locations that hadn’t been changed much by modern civilization at the time including Union Station and LaSalle Street Station.
It works so well that you’d think some of those scenes were filmed on sets.
After the 1959 film The Jumper, in which a Chicago police officer takes a bribe, Mayor Richard J. Daley refused to allow any filming in Chicago for his entire time in office if the city was depicted negatively, but he was so corrupt that I’ll bet all you had to do was pay him off.
The Sting doesn’t depict Chicago negatively, but it’s not that positive either and Daley let them shoot there for a few days.
Must have gotten paid.
Thief (1981)
R/122 m/IMDb: 7.4/directed by Michael Mann
IMDb: “After a long prison sentence, a top safe cracker takes over a couple of businesses that he uses as fronts for diamond heists. After his trusted fence is killed, he agrees to work with a powerful mobster resulting in dire consequences.”
*Canal Street
*Navy Pier
*Wabash Avenue
*Lincoln Avenue
*Green Mill
Thief is another film we’ve talked about previously in Cinema Wellman, and it’s so good, let’s talk about it again with Chicago in mind.
James Caan is Frank, our thief, and this film by Michael Mann with its Tangerine Dream soundtrack is a favorite of ours here.
In preparation, Caan actually hung out with a bunch of thieves from Chicago.
Not sure if he went on any jobs with them, but that’s pretty cool.
One of the cover businesses Frank owns in Thief is “The Green Mill Lounge,” which was then, and still is a real Chicago cocktail lounge and I’m going to see if Hannah can go there for a drink while she’s there next week!
Michael Mann says some of the best international thieves came out of Chicago during the 50s-70s, and Chicago was home to lots of crews like Franks doing high level industrial burglaries.
Jim Belushi co-stars in Thief, and his brother John was making a movie in Chicago at the same time (which we’ll talk about soon!), and the brothers set up a little bar in a private club where cast and crews from both films could hang out after both shootings were done for the night.
I haven’t met too many big celebrities in my life, but I did meet John Belushi at Yankee Stadium once and I still enjoy replaying that encounter in my head.
Next up is a film that would have you sweating even if you were watching it outside on the shores of Lake Michigan on a January night.
Backdraft (1991)
R/137 m/IMDb: 6.7/directed by Ron Howard
IMDb: “Two feuding siblings carrying on a heroic family tradition as Chicago firefighters are forced to set aside their differences when a puzzling series of arson attacks is reported.”
*Chinatown
*Chicago Fire Department Engine Station 8
*Chicago Fire Station Engine 65
*Chicago Fire Station 49
*Wrigley Building
*Penn Central Freight Yards
*Chicago Firehouse Restaurant
This is a harrowing look at the everyday lives of Chicago firefighters, and let’s start with a salute and huge thanks to all of the men and women out there doing this dangerous work for us no matter where we live.
I like fire.
I’m not a firebug by any means, but I enjoy a nice fire, as did my dad, and Ray always taught me to have a healthy respect for fire and what it’s capable of.
One of the reasons Ray frowned on the use of accelerants.
Backdraft is a story about brothers and family and boasts an impressive cast including Kurt Russell, William Baldwin, Robert De Niro, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Scott Glenn, and Donald Sutherland, but the real star here is the fire.
And a story set in Chicago dealing with fire is a little different than a story dealing with fire set in any other city.
The numbers of the fire companies were all “dead” numbers at the time and were out of service.
At the time, the Chicago Fire Department had 24 battalions, and Battalion 25 was created for the film.
I haven’t seen this in a while but I remember the fire sequences being absolutely unbelievable in a time when pretty much all of that fire was real.
Next up is a film about a great place to hang out if you have hair, so I’m excluded.
Barbershop (2002)
PG-13/102 m/IMDb: 6.4/directed by Tim Story
IMDb: “A day in the life of a South Side Chicago barbershop.”
*East 79th Street
*State Street
*South Side
When I was growing up, my Uncle Charlie owned and operated a barbershop in Vails Gate, New York, and I can assure you it was nothing like this Barbershop.
If it was, I wouldn’t have put up such a fight every time I was supposed to go there on a Saturday morning.
My mother was a beautician with a shop in the house! Why was I being farmed out to Uncle Charlie?!
Was I a difficult customer?!
In any event, this South Side Chicago barbershop is full of storylines on one day of business in and out of the shop.
Ice Cube, Cedric the Entertainer, Anthony Anderson, and Eve lead the cast in this workplace comedy-drama filmed on 79th St. and Exchange Avenue.
That location was a storefront in the South Chicago community area, but it was NOT a barbershop.
It was a former laundromat that got remade as a barbershop.
Movie magic!
Three movies to go, and the next one almost made our recent “Back to School with Cinema Wellman” episode!
Cooley High (1975)
PG/107 m/IMDb: 7.1/directed by Michael Schultz
IMDb: “In 1964 on Chicago’s Near-North Side, the lives of four carefree high school seniors and best friends, including an aspiring playwright and an all-city basketball champion, take a tragic turn.”
*Navy Pier
*Lincoln Park Zoo
*Cabrini-Green Public Housing Projects
*North Side
Cooley High follows the story of two friends played by Glynn Turman and Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs as they attend their senior year at Cooley Vocational High School.
Here’s another film on today’s list that has a phenomenal soundtrack, this one packed with Motown hits.
Shot in the Cabrini-Green Housing Projects without the use of gang members as extras from what I understand.
The interior school sequences were shot at Chicago’s Providence St. Mel High School.
There’s a St. Mel?
Cooley High is an excellent film that I feel is underrated and worth a look if you haven’t seen it.
Next up is a film we just talked about two months ago, so I’ll make it quick.
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)
PG-13/103 m/IMDb: 7.8/directed by John Hughes
IMDb: “A brash, cocky high school senior, tired of skipping school to spend a boring day at home, is determined to enjoy an epic day roaring around his favorite Chicago sites, enlisting his best friend and girlfriend to join him on the adventure.”
*Art Institute of Chicago
*Sears Tower
*Wrigley Field
*Chicago Board of Trade AND the Chicago Mercantile Exchange
*Lake Shore Drive
*The Loop
Ferris Bueller is named after the Ferris Wheel which debuted in 1893 at the Chicago World’s Fair.
Coincidence? I think not.
The iconic parade sequence was shot over multiple days, and one of those days it involved an actual parade that was taking place that day anyway; the Von Steuben Day Parade if you must know.
The sequence shot at the Art Institute of Chicago was included because director John Hughes used to hang out there all the time and took inspiration from the art he saw there.
This film has so much of Chicago in it, there’s only one movie I can think of that out-Chicagos it, and that’s…
The Blues Brothers (1980)
R/133 m/IMDb: 7.9/directed by John Landis
IMDb: “Jake Blues rejoins his brother Elwood after being released from prison, but the duo has just days to reunite their old R&B band and save the Catholic home where the two were raised, outrunning the police as they tear through Chicago.”
"The'll never get caught. They're on a mission from God."
*Maxwell St. (John Lee Hooker sings “Boom Boom” on the street)
*Calumet River
*West Van Buren Street
*Joliet Prison
*Daley Plaza
*Rush Street
*Wacker Drive
*City Hall
*Hyde Park
*The Loop
This movie is two hours and thirteen minutes long?!!? I guess I never fully realized that.
I could possibly have been distracted by all the wanton destruction.
The Blues Brothers is pretty much the Chicago movie for me, and yet another Chicago film that boasts a killer soundtrack showing, in a way, how important music has always been to the city.
The iconic, and admittedly extremely silly, pileup of State Trooper vehicles took place on a closed section of Illinois State Highway 53 in nearby Palatine, Illinois.
Permission to film in downtown Chicago was granted after John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd offered to donate $50,000 to charity after filming.
Maybe that’s because they also dropped a Ford Pinto 1,400 feet in downtown Chicago, which is marvelous.
Well worth that cost.
The address on Jake and Elwood Blues receipt from the county assessor is 1060 W. Addison, the address of Wrigley Field.
We just love attention to detail like that in movies.
It’s little, and yet, it’s also huge.
Well, that is a wrap from here at Cinema Wellman and our 5th City Spotlight episode shining that cinematic spotlight on Chicago, Illinois.
Here’s to you, Chicago!
We love you and your people, your music, your films, and your cuisine!
We hope you’re with us next time when we salute one of our favorite directors and give him the Cinema Wellman Director’s Corner treatment.
Our focus will be on the great Sidney Lumet, and we’ll be talking about 14 of our favorite films of his because we just couldn’t shorten that list.
Until then, take care.
