Dear Readers, it’s been awhile since you and I have had a movie date. So today I thought it would be fun to take a gander at our toddlin’ town’s very own star turns. The city of Chicago is a movie star all on its own.
So grab a bag of Garrett’s popcorn (me- I like the “Garrett Mix”) and let’s stake out the best seats in the house.
Chicago has always had a long love affair with the movies. And a storied past both on and off the screen.
In 1908, the Balaban brothers started their movie theater business by leasing the 100-seat Kedzie Nickolodeon. By 1916- joined by family friends, Sam and Morris Katz- their dreams got bigger.
They formed the Balaban and Katz Corporation and together they built opulent movies “palaces” filled them with magnificent furnishings, gorgeous antiques, fabulous murals and sumptuous artwork.
By 1925 B&K had a chain of posh theaters- they were the first ones to air-condition them, btw- from St. Louis to Minneapolis.
The names of these houses were legendary. The Belmont, the Granada, the Riviera, the Uptown, the Admiral, the Congress, the Apollo, the Garrick, the Oriental, the Roosevelt, United Artists.
And some are still proudly standing.
But the Biograph was one theater B&K didn’t own.
So let’s get this Chicago movie tribute off to a roaring start.
(The set designers altered the movie theater to look just like it did in 1934 when Dillinger went to see Manhattan Melodrama.)
When I lived in Florence, any time I mentioned that I was from Chicago, I’d get the same response from i fiorentini.
“Chee-caw-go? Bang bang!”
They thought everyone from Chi-town was a gangster.
Might as well go with the flow. So here’s another favorite. (It’s really neat to see the locales side by side.)
And what tribute to the Chicago underworld would be complete without this?
But Chicago wasn’t just rife with gangsters. It had its share of crusading newspaper reporters who used any means possible to fight corruption wherever they found it.
Let’s take a look at one of the best movies around. Watch as Jimmy Stewart, a intrepid Chicago reporter, is on the scene to get an innocent guy out of the slammer.
But here’s a pair of Chicago reporters who sound like they never set foot in our wonderful town. Even though the movie was shot on a Hollywood back lot, it was adapted from a play written by two real legendary Chicago reporters- Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur.
They knew whereof they wrote. The play- and the movie- is a great tribute colorful Chicago American editor Walter Howey, yellow journalism and the battle to expose corrupt politics. I’m using it.
(And if you don’t like it, you can’t fight City Hall.)
And here’s another guy on the lam for a crime he didn’t commit.
Okay, enough with the criminal element. In the Windy City, we know how to make love as well as (gang) wars.
Aw. And a river cruise is a great way to see our city look its architectural best, btw. Call CAF to arrange a romantic assignation of your own.
But if you’re prone to mal de mer, why not take the el?
If public transportation is just not your thing, how about a ride in a Porsche?
Or a Ferrari?
But no matter how you get there, what’s better than a day off at Wrigley Field?
But beware. Sometimes if you ditch school to go to a ball game, you will get caught and punished.
(Nitpickers will gripe that this movie was actually filmed at Maine North High School in Des Plaines. Technically not Chicago. But John Hughes loved the suburbs and they were featured in all his movies.)
Like this one. Compare for yourself.
Now here’s a movie that makes my “Top Ten” favorite Chicago movies list any time. Director Stephen Frears transplanted Nick Hornby’s London novel, but so what? I have a record store just like this in my neighborhood. It’s called Reckless Records and it rocks!
(There are some scenes of John Cusack walking around Chicago but I liked this clip better.)
Holy Deep Dish, Batman! Now look at this.
And when Tom Cruise grew up, he came back here and hooked up with a pool cue- and Paul Newman.
(For a change, Martin Scorsese used locations on West and South Sides in this gritty valentine.)
And can I mention some of the on-screen talent that our fair city has born and bred? A partial list must include Ralph Bellamy (His Girl Friday), Rock Hudson, Charlton Heston, Harrison Ford (The Fugitive) Bruce Dern, Penelope Milford, Ann-Marget, Jennifer Beals, Harold Ramis, Bill Murray, John Cusack (High Fidelity) John Belushi, Virginia Madsen, Mary Elisabeth Mastrantonio (The Color of Money) Kim Novak, John C. Reilly, Darryl Hannah, Amy Madigan.
And coming full circle, Bob Balaban.
Now lights, camera, action.
Let’s get this show on the Chicago road.
Interesting romp through Chicago movie lore, Ellen, and fascinating twist about the Balaban family–a new tidbit of trivia to file away and work into some future crossword puzzle. I never lived in the Windy City per se, although I visited it more times than I can recall during the 37 years that it was my parents’ home. Most of your clips were to movies I have already seen, several more than once, and a few bring back personal memories. For example, “The Sting” — the first time I took a young lady out on a date (I remember the film more than the young lady). “The Untouchables” — the first movie I saw in a theater (by myself, I’ll have to admit), on a hot summer day many months after my son was born (right up to the last week of her pregnancy, my wife and I went to the movies together, like clockwork, every week). But my best story, I think, refers to the occasion when I gave my wife an afternoon to herself by taking the kids to see “Home Alone” (reviewing the years, it was almost surely the first sequel). There is a scene reasonably late in the movie when one of the intruders puts his fingers into an electrical socket. First he gets a jolt, then his hair stands on edge, then electric arcs emanate from his body, and finally, the buzz is so strong that a lighted-up image of his skeleton appears, as in an x-ray picture. Michael, who must have been all of 6 years old at the time, turned to me and said, with absolute sincerity and perfect diction, “You know, Dad, this movie is not only entertaining, but it also educational!”
Thank you, Doc. Glad this brought back so many memories. And may I quote Michael and say that this comment “is not only entertaining, but it is also educational.” Out of the mouths of babes…
Equal time for my daughter Deborah. With most babies, their first word is “mama” or “dada” — but not for my girl. Her first word: “movie” …
Sweet! That’s great. I don’t know my first word but I do know my first sentence. It was “Go Go Sox!” (We’re both daddies’ girls, I guess.)
Here are a few more for your consideration some good some not:
A league of their Own
About Last Night
Return to me
Hoop Dreans
My Bodyguard
The Break Up
And finally, The Moleman of Belmont Avenue
Nice to have these local heroes, Mitch. I considered “Hoop Dreams” and “About Last Night.” Completely forgot about “The Breakup.” And what the heck is “The Mole Man of Belmont Avenue?” Thanks for schooling me, Prof.
Another chain, acquired by Balaban & Katz, had its start in Chicago, and family members went on to own some well-known theaters. http://brulelaker.blogspot.com/2012/05/movie-theaters-of-lubliner-trinz.html
Thank you, fellow historian. A very important movie theater chain in the biopic of my life. Spent many a Friday and Saturday night in those seats.