In Old Chicago [VHS]
by Henry King
![In Old Chicago [VHS]](/images/In-Old-Chicago-VHS-6303039707-L.jpg)
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VHS Tape Cover Information
Actor: Alice Brady, Alice Faye, Andy Devine, Don Ameche, Tyrone PowerDirector: Henry King
Cinematographer: J. Peverell Marley
Editor: Barbara McLean
Producer: Darryl F. Zanuck
Producer: Kenneth Macgowan
Writer: Lamar Trotti
Writer: Niven Busch
Writer: Sonya Levien
Edition: VHS Tape
Audio: English (Unknown)
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, HiFi Sound, NTSC
Running Time: 95 minutes
Release Date: 1994-05-04
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Publisher: 20th Century Fox
Studio: 20th Century Fox
VHS Movie Reviews of In Old Chicago [VHS]
Movie Review: A classic old-fashioned take on history
Summary: 4 Stars
Historical films were very popular in the 1930's, as were historical novels, and this may be one of the best of the type. It follows, in fictionalized fashion, the career of Mrs. O'Leary (Alice Brady)--she of the famous cow--and her three sons, Jack (Don Ameche), a lawyer and would-be reformer; Dion (Tyrone Power), a hustler on the make; and baby Bob (Tom Brown), who drives his mother's laundry-delivery wagon and is the first of the trio to marry (his wife, Gretchen (June Storey), is his mother's milkmaid and assistant) and present her with a grandchild. Having lost her husband to a wagon accident as the family made its way to Chicago in 1854, by the late '60's Mother O'Leary has made a decent living out of laundry, and her sons are positioned to better themselves. Much of the conflict in the story comes out of the different ways they choose to do so. Jack gets himself elected Mayor--with the secret backing of his brother Dion, who has become a power in The Patch, the local anything-goes district--and sets out to Clean Up the Town. Dion, of course, opposes this program, and he also has rival Gil Warren (Brian Donleavy) to contend with.
Like San Francisco, which came from the same studio two years earlier, the movie focuses less on the climactic disaster than on the events preceding it and particularly the people moving among them, which helps the viewer to relate to the tragedy when it finally comes. (These two movies could, in fact, be said to be the daddies of the great boom of disaster flicks of the '70's--the best of which, like the original Airport (Widescreen Edition), also focus on the people.) Power, as the central character, is an unprincipled rogue who lets nothing--not even family loyalty--stand in his way, but he has a breezy charm that makes it hard not to like him. And perhaps because it wasn't filmed in a wide-screen process, when the Great Fire finally does break out, you actually get something of the feel of what it must really have been like in the teeming streets--people running, crowding, screaming, shouting, bells clanging, horses whinnying, fire engines thundering to and fro with whistles shrieking, and behind it all that hungry crackling of devouring flame. The special effects are of course primitive, yet I thought them very well done for their day. This would be a great family film and may serve to interest youngsters in the history of the real fire (of course nowadays we know that Mrs. O'Leary's cow was almost certainly innocent) and of the many immigrants from Ireland who helped make the U.S. what it is today.
Summary of In Old Chicago [VHS]
In Old Chicago was 20th Century Fox's grandest production of 1938, and it's still worthy of classic status. Along with MGM's 1936 earthquake drama San Fracisco, it ranks among the finest of the early disaster films, and the climactic depiction of the great Chicago fire of 1871 is still impressive, with some shots that are just as amazing as the digitally rendered disaster effects of present-day Hollywood. It's a highly fictionalized account of the O'Leary family, whose legendary milk-cow kicked over the lamp that set Chicago ablaze, and the teaming of Tyrone Power, Don Ameche, and Alice Faye (as O'Leary brothers Dion and Jack, and Jack's showgirl wife Belle) proved so popular that they were reunited, along with director Henry King, in Darryl F. Zanuck's follow-up production of Alexander's Ragtime Band. They lead a lively cast (including Andy Devine and Brian Donlevy) that delivers all the entertainment value that Zanuck could muster, focusing on the rivalry between Jack and Dion as they clash over their political ambitions and future plans for "The Patch," the beloved Chicago slum district in which they were raised. Their mother (played by Alice Brady in an Oscar?-winning performance) struggles to hold her brood together, and the sibling rivalry reaches a fever pitch just as the city's about to go up in flames. Along the way we're treated to Faye's silky-smooth performances of vintage show tunes (like the title song), and movie buffs will appreciate the early appearance of Rondo Hatton, a bit player who suffered from acromegaly, a deforming pituitary condition (similar to gigantism) that caused him to have one of the most unique faces in the history of movies. --Jeff ShannonDrama VHS Video
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