In the world of celluloid, there exist two Chicagos.
The sleek Magnificent Mile office towers, the tony high rises of the Gold Coast and the city`s cultural institutions present the city at its most appealing. ”Class” (1982), for instance, set a particularly steamy scene in the glass-walled elevators at Water Tower Place; the Field Museum served as a meeting spot in ”She`s Having a Baby” (1986).
Then there is the other Chicago of gritty streets, nondescript neighborhood storefronts and neat middle-class bungalows-all connected by the ubiquitous roar of the ”L.” ”Running Scared” (1985) mixed all these elements together for a memorable chase-that literally ended with a bang on the tracks.
As residents well know and Hollywood directors have only recently discovered, Chicago is not Los Angeles nor is it New York. It has its own look, its own mood, its own feel.
The following, then, is a guide to some other memorable scenes shot in Chicago in recent years that have appeared-or will soon-on your local neighborhood movie (or home video) screen:
”Betrayed” (1988)
The Mid-City National Bank of Chicago, 801 W. Madison St., was where Tom Berenger and his band of white supremists staged a hold up. McCormick Place`s underground garage was where the radio announcer (played by Richard Libertini) was shot. The climax takes place on the roof of the Leo Burnett building, 35 W. Wacker Dr., when undercover FBI investigator Debra Winger kills Berenger.
”The Big Town” (1987)
J.C. Cullen (Matt Dillon) is a brash hustler from rural Indiana who comes to the ”big town” in the late 1950s to make his mark. Shot on Van Buren Street between State and Dearborn Streets, the set designers recreated a Chicago night life scene as it might have appeared in 1957, with period storefronts, antique cars and old movie marquees (”The Bridge on the River Kwai” at the now demolished Woods Theater)-all heightened by moody shots of Dillon walking under the ”L.” The Dillon character lived at the
appropriately seedy Roosevelt Hotel, 1152 S. Wabash Ave.
”The Color of Money”
(1986)
Plenty of offbeat locales-primarily pool halls and bars-in this Martin Scorsese movie starring Paul Newman and Tom Cruise. Among the more
”colorful”: the North Center Pool Hall, 4017 N. Lincoln Ave. (where Forest Whitaker pulls a fast one over Newman`s Eddie Felson); St. Paul Billiards at 1415 W. Fullerton Ave.; Chris` Billiards, 4637 N. Milwaukee Ave., across from Wilson Park; and the Ginger Man at 3740 N. Clark St. Other locations were O`Brien`s Sirloin Inn at 1528 N. Wells St. in Old Town;
FitzGerald`s, 6615 W. Roosevelt Rd. in Berwyn; and the Blackstone Hotel, 636 S. Michigan Ave. Parts of the Atlantic City sequences were shot at Navy Pier, the Gaslight Club in the Palmer House and the backroom of Zum Deutschen Eck, 2924 N. Southport Ave.
”Light of Day” (1987)
Set in Cleveland but shot mostly in Chicago, ”Light of Day” explores the turbulent relationship between a brother-and-sister rock `n` roll act
(Michael J. Fox and Joan Jett) and their parents (Gena Rowlands and Jason Miller). Several private homes were used in the movie, ranging from the sibling`s working-class house on South Third Avenue in Maywood, to their parents handsome ranch in the 7200 block of North Kedvale Avenue in Lincolnwood to a middle-class bungalow in the 6300 block of North Schreiber Avenue. Several smoky bars were put to good use too-Cabaret Metro, 3730 N. Clark St. (called the Akron Agora in the movie); the Get Me High Lounge, 1758 N. Honore St., where Joan Jett auditioned for a heavy metal band; and the A&J Lounge, 6336 S. Harlem Ave. in Summit. The crucial reconciliation scene between mother and daughter was filmed at MacNeal Hospital, 3249 Oak Park Ave. in Berwyn; the Auditorium Theater doubled as a Cleveland concert hall; Fox buys a guitar at Pick Stop Guitar Center, 108 Burlington Ave. in La Grange;
and the Deluxe Budget Motel at 12340 S. Cicero Ave. in Alsip was where Fox, Jett and the band spend the night. Shoppers may recognize the mall in the movie as the Yorktown Mall in Lombard.
”Men Don`t Leave”
(scheduled for spring 1990
release)
Jessica Lange plays a happily married woman who is devastated by the accidental death of her husband and is forced to give up her small-town existence to make a living in the big city (in this case, Baltimore, but shot in Chicago). A key scene takes place at Wozniak`s Casino, a huge polka hall and restaurant at 2530 S. Blue Island Ave. Lange moves into an apartment at 222 E. Pearson St. while one of her sons attends classes at the Ravenswood School, 4332 N. Paulina Ave.
”Music Box”
(opening later this year)
Another Jessica Lange movie. In this one Lange portrays a lawyer defending her father who is charged with committing Nazi war crimes. Her father lives at 22d Place and Hoyne Avenue (the same vicinity as the Eliot Ness house in ”The Untouchables”).
”Next of Kin”
(opening later this year)
Patrick Swayze is a tough cop from the South who seeks to avenge the death of his brother who perished at the hands of the Chicago mob. Moviegoers should keep a look out for a pivotal chase scene at the South Water Market and various street scenes of the North Wilson Avenue and Broadway night life. The Swayze character lives on the 1500 block of West Jackson Boulevard and works at the police station at 39th Street and California Avenue. Another brother, played by Irish actor Liam Neeson, stays at a rundown Uptown hotel, the Wooden Nickel, 1140 W. Wilson Ave. Jimmy Wong`s Cantonese Restaurant, 426 S. Wabash Ave., was the scene of a big fight, while the elegant Francis J. Dewes mansion, at 503 W. Wrightwood Ave., functioned as the dining room of a mafia don`s house. That grand old speakeasy, the Green Mill Cocktail Lounge, 4802 N. Broadway, was transformed into an Italian restaurant in the movie while two other clubs-the bluesy Checkerboard Lounge, 423 E. 43d St., and the country & western Double Door Lounge, 1572 N. Milwaukee Ave.-are also featured.
”The Package” (1989)
Movie magic works its wonders in this glasnost thriller starring Gene Hackman and Joanna Cassidy. Here Chicago becomes Berlin, the Palos Forest Preserve in Willow Springs was the Black Forest, the Field Museum was government headquarters and Lake Forest Academy was a German chateau.
”Red Heat” (1988)
Another adventure with East Bloc overtures. This time Moscow cop Arnold Schwarzenegger comes to Chicago to bring a Soviet drug dealer to justice. Helping him along the way is a loud-mouthed Chicago detective played by Jim Belushi. The opening sequence was shot on Maxwell Street, near Halsted Street; an unassuming office building near Illinois and Franklin Streets was transformed into a sleazy hotel. The Flat Iron Building, at the intersection of North, Damen and Milwaukee Avenues, posed as the dance studio where Belushi and Schwarzenegger conducted a stakeout.
”The Untouchables” (1986)
Veteran director Brian DePalma (”Carrie,” ”Blow Up,” ”Scarface”)
tackles Al Capone in this stylish gangster epic with marvelous location sites. Portions of the Chicago Theater doubled as the Lexington Hotel, Capone`s headquarters. The old State of Illinois building, 160 N. LaSalle St., functioned as the office of Eliot Ness (played by Kevin Costner). Exterior shots of the landmark Rookery building, now undergoing renovation, doubled as the police station. The roof of the Chicago Public Library Cultural Center was where Frank Nitti met his movie death at the hands of Ness. Bento Japanese Restaurant, 3369 N. Clark St., was the speakeasy that is blown up in the opening scene of the movie. Ness` typical Chicago bungalow is located on West 22d Place in the old Italian neighborhood of Little Tuscany, while at 46th Street and Calumet Avenue is the apartment of Jimmy Malone (played by Scotsman Sean Connery in his Academy Award-winning role), a fictional Irish cop and Ness` mentor. Ness and Malone met at Our Lady of the Sorrows Church, 3121 W. Jackson Blvd.; the brawl between Connery and another Irish cop (played by Richard Bradford) took place in an alley behind 326 S. Wells St. Not to be forgotten is the breathtaking sequence down the LaSalle Street canyon and, of course, the bloody shootout on the steps of Union Station.
”Vice Versa” (1988)
Judge Reinhold played a buyer for a department store in yet another young-boy-stuck-in-an-older-man`s-body movie. Sites include two Marshall Field`s outlets (called Vigar & Avery in the movie): State Street for the exterior and Water Tower Place for the interior shots. The Reinhold character lived at the Marlborough Condominiums, 400 W. Deming Pl.
