Since big film productions may return to Chicago to join an already fertile independent movie scene, RedEye wore out the DVD players and VCRs compiling our top 25 Chicago movies of all time. You’ll be pleased to know that these rankings had nothing to do with computer formulas and everything to do with stories that capture the essence of our city and show off the town.
Top 25 Chicago movies of all time
1. “High Fidelity”
The local music scene (Lounge Ax, above) was highlighted in this 2000 movie, especially in the final scene shot at the Double Door. You may have gone looking for “Championship Vinyl” at Milwaukee and Honore, but the all-too-real Chicago music store never existed.
2. “Blues Brothers” (1980): In a buffet of delicious Chicago scenes, the top moment is when Dan Aykroyd stays ahead of the law by gunning his way through downtown and coolly announcing, “This is definitely lower Wacker Drive.”
3. “About Last Night” (1986): Rob Lowe and Demi Moore have a nice Chicago moment with a summer softball game at Hutchinson Field, lined by a cityscape and the lake. And, of course, there’s beer at Mother’s near Rush and Division.
4. “The Untouchables” (1987): Is there a better downtown shootout scene than the one at Union Station where Kevin Costner and Andy Garcia wait for Al Capone’s accountant, help a lady with a baby and plug bad guys without getting hit?
5. “Backdraft” (1991): The firehouse at 200 W. Cermak is the site of the on-top-of-the-truck love scene, but watch the end when firetrucks race down Chicago toward a skyline shot looking east.
6. “Barbershop” (2002):
The exterior shot of a business in the 2900 block of East 79th (a busy street also used in “Ali”). It totally captures the comings and goings of customers, particularly one who has his car smashed.
7. “Call Northside 777” (1948): Before reporter Jimmy Stewart takes on a story, the screen reads “This film was photographed in the State of Illinois using whenever possible, the actual locales associated with the story” with an overhead of Michigan.
8. “Return to Me” (2000): Yes, Twin Anchors restaurant on Sedgwick is the Irish-Italian restaurant, and yes, that’s the Marigold Bowl on Grace. But this David Duchovny romantic comedy showcases Lincoln Park Zoo.
9. “The Fugitive” (1993): When Harrison Ford gets shot at by U.S. Marshall Tommy Lee Jones at what is really City Hall, it throws the entire manhunt into high gear and into the St. Patrick’s Day Parade.
10. “While You Were
Sleeping” (1995): The CTA and Sandra Bullock co-star in this story complete with those quaint subway tokens. Check out Bill Pullman in the snow near Bullock’s vintage Logan Square courtyard building on Logan.
11. “Running Scared” (1986): Starring the crime-fighting duo of Gregory Hines and Billy Crystal. Crystal (in a Blackhawks jersey and Cubs hat) is in a thrilling chase between a taxi and a limo riding the CTA tracks.
12. “My Bodyguard” (1980): When the school bully Matt Dillon dumps the motorbike of bodyguard Adam Baldwin into the Lincoln Park lagoon near Cafe Brauer, you know the bully will pay, and pay dearly.
13. “Only the Lonely” (1991): Chicago cop John Candy takes funeral parlor makeup artist Ally Sheedy on what he thinks would be a romantic date: old Comiskey Park’s outfield. It’s nice to see the old place.
14. “Primal Fear” (1996): A creepy courtroom thriller with opposing lawyers Richard Gere and Laura Linney duking it out. One confrontation comes at, of course, a bar: the John Barleycorn at Lincoln and Belden.
15. “My Best Friend’s Wedding” (1997): Comiskey’s easy to spot, so is the Fourth Presbyterian Church. So ride the First Lady of Chicago on the river and dance just like Julia Roberts and Dermot Mulroney.
16. “Soul Food” (1997): Family troubles fire up when the married Michael Beach meets his wife’s cousin at the Green Mill Lounge, a bar seen in “High Fidelity” and “A Family Thing.”
17. “Adventures in Babysitting” (1987): Baby-sitter Elisabeth Shue and some resourceful suburban kids come downtown and dangle on the sloped glass roof of 150 N. Michigan Ave., giving Chicago’s skyline top billing.
18. “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” (1986): Where don’t they go? Look, any time a movie stops traffic for a rendition of “Danke Schein,” it’s gold.
19. “Road to Perdition” (2002): That sweeping shot of Tom Hanks and his son driving on LaSalle sucks the audience back in time.
20. “Mad Dog & Glory” (1993): Police photographer Robert DeNiro spends a night with a gangster/stand-up comic Bill Murray, and they really begin to bond at the White Palace Grill at 1100 S. Canal St.
21. “Risky Business” (1983): When Tom Cruise finds Rebecca DeMornay at the Drake Hotel, it’s the start of Joe Pantoliano’s chase with Cruise jetting off in his dad’s Porsche onto Lake Shore Drive.
22. “Chain Reaction” (1996): University of Chicago research lab worker Keanu Reeves gets entangled in a murder and winds up racing up the opened Michigan Avenue bridge.
23. “Planes, Trains & Automobiles” (1987): Ad executive Steve Martin says goodbye to traveling salesman John Candy on the CTA stop at 400 S. LaSalle St. Rumor has it some people choked up during the scene.
24. “Nothing in Common” (1986): Mostly downtown, the film’s closing scene where Tom Hanks wheels Jackie Gleason across the Northwestern Hospital overhead crosswalk clinches it.
25. “Michael” (1996): The reporters use the riverside University of Chicago building as offices. And when the two reporters run into each other near Damen and Milwaukee, it means angel John Travolta’s work is done.
Also receiving votes:
“Continental Divide” with John Belushi … “The Hunter” flips a car into the river … “Never Been Kissed” strolls Michigan Ave. … “Kissing A Fool” in Lincoln Park … “A League of Their Own” at luscious Wrigley Field … “The Color of Money” at The Ginger Man … “Stir of Echoes” creeps out Logan Square. … “Mercury Rising” dodges a train at Pulaski Road. … “A Family Thing” on the river … “Ocean’s Eleven” drops in on Emmitt’s. … “What Women Want” jogs on the lakefront.
A couple of common themes
With a Chicago reporter tracking the case of a murdered police officer, Jimmy Stewart’s 1948 classic “Call Northside 777” was among the first of many movies to use Chicago law enforcement and newspapers.
Other Chicago movies with newspaper roles: “Continental Divide,” “I Love Trouble,” “Message in a Bottle,” “Never Been Kissed,” “Michael” and “High Fidelity.”
Other Chicago movies with law enforcement roles: “The Fugitive,” “The Package,” “Above the Law,” “Mercury Rising,” “Backdraft,” “Blues Brothers,” “Code of Silence,” “Only The Lonely,” “Running Scared,” “U.S. Marshals,” “The Negotiator,” “Untouchables,” “Mad Dog and Glory,” “Primal Fear,” “Red Heat” and “A Family Thing.”
Local notables
Familiar faces pop up all the time. Next time look closely at:
– “Barbershop”: Current Chicago Bull Jalen Rose and former Bull Norm Van Lier.
– “The Fugitive”: Former Chicago Bear Otis Wilson, and TV reporters John Drummond, Lester Holt and Jay Levine.
– “About Last Night”: Chicago Bear Willie Gault is an extra at the Christmas party.
– “Backdraft”: TV anchor Joan Esposito is on TV.
– “The Negotiator”: A number of local TV reporters are cast, including Diann Burns, Mark Giangreco and Robert Jordan.
– “On the Line:” Sammy Sosa pops up briefly.
– “Hardball”: There’s Sosa again.
Up close
Looking to break into films shot in Illinois? The Illinois Film Office hotline for casting is 312-427-3456 or visit www.commerce.state.il.us/film.
If you’re camera shy, check out the Chicago Architecture Foundation’s “Lights, Camera, Architecture!” tours of selected film sites. Find the up-to-date times at www.architecture.org.
