Chicago and the Movies: A Longtime Partnership

Chicago, Illinois is major city in the U.S. As such, it has enjoyed a very long partnership with Hollywood. There are movies about Chicago, filmed in Chicago, and movies that have in one way or another involved Chicagoans.

It seems that the first movies filmed in Chicago may have been as early as 1915 with, among others, The House of a Thousand Candles and The Whirl of Life. Over the past 93 years at least 230 films have been shot in the Windy City. Among them are such classics as When Harry Met Sally, Uncle Buck, the Home Alone series, Sleepless in Seattle, Mission Impossible, the Breakfast Club, Flatliners, the Blues Brothers, Backdraft, and A League of their Own. Check out the website "Stumped" for an incomplete listing at http://www.stumpedmagazine.com/reviews/set-in-chicago.shtml. You may be surprised at what you find there. The latest film to enjoy the distinction of being set in this particular city: the Dark Knight.

Such a huge (and growing) list of movies that show off the Windy City also mean that several locations in the city have become rather prominent in some of these movies or because of them. The University of Chicago is highly featured in Proof starring Gwyneth Paltrow. Ocean's Eleven boosted the popularity of already famous Emmit's Irish Pub & Eatery, at one time a fabled depository of gangster cash. The Chicago Board of Trade is one of the city's most filmed buildings. It can be seen in Batman Begins, among many other Hollywood creations. Website "Citysearch" lists several other such places at http://chicago.citysearch.com/roundup/42197.

Then there are the plethora of movies that have, in some way, involved someone from Chicago. Michael Clarke Duncan acted a supporting role in Armageddon.Animal House had both a writer and an actor from the city: Harold Ramis and John Belushi respectively. Chris O'Donnell, who has starred in several blockbusters including the Three Musketeers and Batman Forever, is a Chicagoan. So was Charlton Heston and is Oprah Winfrey, Gary Sinise (Forrest Gump), and Robin Williams. There is William Goldman who wrote screenplays, Michael Crichton who was the brain behind Jurassic Park, and movie critic Roger Ebert. There is a longer list at "Stumped" at http://www.stumpedmagazine.com/reviews/featuring-chicagoans.shtml, if you're interested.

There is much more that could be said about the history of Hollywood's partnership with the Windy City. Hopefully, this brief overview roused your curiosity. What is your favorite movie about, filmed in, or involving someone from Chicago?

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