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Silent film titles suggest Hollywood took note of the bungalow explosion in America An Auto-Bungalow Fracas (1913)⁣⁣ The bungalow — a low house, with a wide front porch, having either no upper floor or upper rooms set in the roof — exploded in America around the turn of the 20th century. And Hollywood took note. Look at the titles of these silent films—two of which were made by Chicago’s American Picture Company:⁣⁣ The Bungalow Craze (1911)⁣⁣ Bounding Bertie’s Bungalow (1913)⁣⁣ An Auto-Bungalow Fracas (1913)⁣⁣ Ambrose’s Bungled Bungalow (1920)⁣⁣ Bungalow Troubles (1920)⁣⁣ Bungalow Love (1920)⁣⁣ Bungalow Boobs (1924)⁣⁣ For Sale, a Bungalow (1927)⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ Like 75-80% of films made during the silent era, most of these works have been lost to history. But as you can learn below, the bungalow is still very much alive in Chicago and its surrounding suburbs! More on Chicago bungalows

Take a quick look at cats across movie history—from early film reels to Chicago’s own feline film stars. Cats auditioning for the title role in The Black Cat . LIFE magazine, Dec. 1961. Cats, like their canine counterparts , have always graced the silver screen. Perhaps the earliest example—that still exists—is the 20-second film Boxing Cats  from 1894. (A similar silent short, Trick Dog Teddy and other Dog and Trick Cats , was filmed at roughly the same time in the same place . But as far as I can tell, it is lost.) Boxing Cats depicts a boxing match between two cats who are wearing boxing gloves. In the background, "Professor" Henry Welton  referees the tussle as part of his (clearly not humane) road show called Cat Circus. Fun fact : Boxing Cats  is often considered the first " cat video , " despite the misnomer (it's not a video). Ad for Welton's Cat Circus, featuring 40 cats—with human brains! Boston Globe , 1891. Cats in Hollywood (and Online) EW.com ranks fantastic film felines. Screenshot. Thousands of feline actors have appeared onscreen since Boxing Cats  debuted in 1894.   Sometimes, cats are main characters  that move the narrative forward, as in Homeward Bound  or Puss in Boots . Other times, they are incidental to the plot , like a stray cat on a street or one in a window sill.   Cats appear in live-action , animated , and documentary  film. They also show up in virtually all of Hollywood's traditional genres :   comedy (the Austin Powers  series) science-fiction ( Alien ) crime ( The Godfather ) horror ( Pet Sematary ) western ( The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly ) rom-com ( Breakfast at Tiffany's ) action ( Keanu )   What's more, these days, online outlets frequently rank movie cats , choosing the most iconic , most adorable , coolest , and ones with the best cameos .   Finally, blogs like Cinema Cats  and Cats on Film  (now defunct but also a book ) take on the tasks of watching, analyzing, screenshotting, and categorizing decades of onscreen cat performances. In short, if you want information about cats in movies, there's no shortage. Chicago and the Clark Gable of Cats What about the presence of cats in Chicago-based (or -related) movies ? Sure, those exist too. Here are a few: Harry and Tonto  (1974) She's Having a Baby (1988) Next of Kin (1989) National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation  (1989) Uncle Buck  (1989) Excessive Force  (1993) While You Were Sleeping  (1995) What Women Want  (2000) Cat City  (2003) Garfield: The Movie  (2004), voiced by Chicagoan Bill Murray Christmas with the Kranks  (2004)   Additionally, Chicago Film Archives —a non-profit that collects, preserves, and provides access to films representing Chicago and the Midwest—includes several home videos featuring cats and kittens in its collection. And let's not forget Morris , "the world's most finicky cat."   In 1968, Morris was discovered just outside Chicago, at a Humane Society in Hinsdale, IL . After auditioning for the role of spokescat for 9Lives cat food and getting the job, the art director reportedly said, “He’s the Clark Gable of cats!” The Black Cat Auditions (1961) But perhaps my favorite cat-movie connection is illustrated in the photos below of hundreds of people lined up outside a Los Angeles movie studio with their (mostly) black cats.   These are photographs from LIFE  magazine , taken by Ralph Crane in 1961. They show 152 black cats (and their owners) standing in line to audition for the film adaptation of Edgar Allen Poe's short story The Black Cat , starring Vincent Price and Peter Lorre. According to an LA Times reporter , all manner of black cats were present: "...big black cats, little black cats, black black cats, gray black cats, black kittens, black and white cats, white and black cats, nervous black cats, gentle black cats. There was even a white cat. It was there to keep a pal, a black cat, company."   LIFE 's Picture of the Week, screenshot, Dec. 15, 1961. The film's title role called for "a cat who gets plastered up in a wall [...] and reveals the crime with its ghostly mewing." As a result, cats were judged based on which had the most " sagacious " and "meanest" face. But all of this—including the audition process—was a lie. Unbeknownst to the crowd, the studio had already given the role to a professional cat actor. The heartening news: seven cats in line that day were chosen for understudies and studio publicity. So for a handful of participants, this visually striking audition was not necessarily "the biggest invitation to bad luck ever seen in one place," as LIFE magazine originally reported .

In the United States, movies and religion have virtually always been at odds. One early point of contention between the motion picture industry and religious people, mostly Protestants, comes in the form of blue laws. Moving Picture Weekly shows exhibitors how their "town will look on Sunday morning after the passing of Blue Laws." What Are Blue Laws? Blue laws prohibit certain activities, such as going to the movies, on Sundays. Their purpose? To promote the observance of a day of worship or rest. ​ ​While presumably outdated in the 21st century (and arguably unconstitutional), blue laws are still in effect in states like these that prohibit selling alcohol on Sundays before noon. How Did Blue Laws Affect Movies? ​As you might imagine, in cinema’s early days, theatre owners and other prominent industry members were NOT fans of blue laws. The same goes for many theatre patrons, whose grueling work schedules allowed them to enjoy movies and other recreational activities only on Sundays. As a result, citizens in and outside the industry protested and petitioned for the laws to be abolished. ​Even the 1921 movie Blue Sunday, produced by Carl Laemmle (whom we celebrate in our virtual tour on Chicago’s Jewish pioneers ), tackles the subject. This silent film comedy led exhibitors to market the movie, rather hilariously, with “exploitation ideas” like putting public stocks outside their theatres to match those in the film (picture above) and creating silencer masks for patrons (below). How Did the Movie Industry Fight Back? In the early 1920s, the Chicago-based theatre chain Fitzpatrick & McElroy repeatedly called on producers, distributors, and exhibitors to protest blue laws because they “threaten[ed] the stability of the entire motion picture industry.” ​Fitzpatrick & McElroy was reportedly the first to start an organized national campaign to kill this legislation. ​In 1921, the company’s 16,000,000 Club—named for the number of petitions it intended to send to Congress—was positioned to be renamed the 50,000,000 Club. Evidently, people were supportive of this cause! The protests were perhaps also gaining traction because participants were not only against the closing of the theatres on Sunday, but they were also against any blue Sunday legislation "intended to curb the happiness, pleasure, and innocent pursuits of the American people.” Did Protests Work in Chicago? ​In 1923, a headline in Exhibitors Herald reads: “Public Protest Brings Early Demise for Blue Law Measure in Illinois.” Senator James E. MacMurray of Chicago—rather oddly—both introduced and killed the bill. ​An Illinois newspaper clarifies: Senator MacMurray “was opposed to the bill and introduced it only at the request of Rev. W. S. Fleming.” Wait, Is that the End of Blue Laws? Blue law regulations arose in the U.S. movie industry until roughly the 1940s. As you might expect, many more protests and petitions followed suit. ​As professor Gary Rhodes points out in The Perils of Moviegoing in America: 1896-1950 , "Changes in state laws did not necessarily prohibit individual towns or cities from enforcing their own Blue Laws" (193). ​It took nearly four decades of disagreements and demonstrations, but after WWII, in most states, movies would play every day of the week.

From movie set to Instagram backdrop—discover how Ferris Bueller’s Day Off may have inspired changes inside the Art Institute of Chicago. Art Institute of Chicago, Gallery 240, with screenshots from Ferris Bueller's Day Off . The artworks highlighted above reside inside the Art Institute of Chicago . You might know them from the 1986 movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off .   At left, Auguste Rodin's sculpture Portrait of Balzac  stands confidently on its chunky pedestal. At right, Georges Seurat's painting A Sunday on La Grande Jatte  brightens a gray wall.   Currently, the pieces are positioned across from each other in Gallery 240 . But that was not always the case. As the Art Institute of Chicago has renovated and expanded over the years, Rodin's sculpture and Seurat's painting, like many artworks in the collection (including those shown in Ferris Bueller's Day Off ), have moved around.   For example, in 2004, the Seurat hung in a tighter space  than it does now, and it was surrounded by stanchions and a bench .   Likewise, in 2010, the Rodin did not stand across from the Seurat. Rather, the sculpture welcomed visitors  as they walked into the Impressionism wing. In 2025, Rodin's sculpture stands confidently in the foreground; Seurat's painting hangs in the background. I am unsure when Portrait of Balzac  and A Sunday on La Grande Jatte  were configured in their current location in Gallery 240. But by 2015 , the two were already arranged similarly in Gallery 201. It seems likely, then, the artworks were brought together in the early 2010s—coinciding with the rise of social media and the growing influence of user-generated content . I often call attention to this shift on my guided walking tour inside the museum, The Art of Ferris Bueller . With both the Rodin and the Seurat in our sight, I ask guests, In an age of social media, why might the Art Institute so closely pair these two pieces—that (the still-popular) Ferris Bueller's Day Off prominently highlights? Then, as my guests mimic the positions of Ferris and friends, and ask me to photograph them for their own Facebook and Instagram accounts, potential answers to my question become clear. As does the realization that museums, like most long-running institutions, must adapt to survive .   Grab your spot on my next Ferris Bueller walking tour  at the Art Institute—so you can dive into the movie and the artwork yourself !

A van named "Candy Man" sparked a dive into Chicago’s past, where 1920s candy jobbers mixed sales with racketeering and violence. Van with a plan: selling candy. One evening, while driving through Chicago's western suburbs, I pulled up behind a white van named "Candy Man." After doing a double take, two thoughts came to mind:   Does this company realize it shares a name with the 1992 horror movie Candyman , filmed on location in Chicago? Did this business purposely name itself after said horror film? Honestly, every possible answer here is amusing. But I'd like to think this distributor knowingly named his Chicago-based business after the horror movie Candyman . That would be dark comedy marketing at its finest! Regardless, the van's name also brings to mind Chicago's deep-routed candy history , which, as you'll see below, turned surprisingly dangerous for some so-called "candy men" in the late 1920s. We'll use the Maywood Candy Co. as an example. Maywood Candy Co. (since 1920). Maywood, IL. Google Maps. Chicago's 1920s Candy Jobbers The small brick building pictured above was once home to the Maywood Candy Co., a wholesale candy distribution business founded around 1920 at the height of Chicago's candy boom . From what I can tell, the business , located in Maywood, IL, ceased operations around the early 2000s. By all accounts, the Maywood Candy Co. lived a quiet existence. However, the years spanning roughly 1927 to 1930 must've been nerve-racking ones for its owner and select colleagues. In the late 1920s, the founder of Maywood Candy Co.—along with with approximately 250 other local candy distributors— is listed as a member of the Candy Jobbers Association of Chicago. These jobbers, or wholesalers, purchased candies from manufacturers and dealers in Chicago, New York, Boston, and other major U.S. cities. Then, they sold and delivered their goods, via automobile and wagon, directly to candy retailers throughout Chicagoland. At the time, the Candy Jobbers Association of Chicago's collective business was estimated at $7,000,000 annually—or about $129,000,000 today. Women shoppers at Mrs. Snyder's Candy Shop, South Michigan Ave., Chicago, 1927. Wikimedia Commons. On the whole, the Candy Jobbers Association of Chicago's goals were to twofold: to make improvements to the candy business to advance the social conditions of its members Admirable objectives, I'd say. But in April 1926, a newly elected leader named Vincent Pastor wanted to make some changes. Pastor was growing concerned that tobacco dealers who were not members of the association were "selling candy as a side line" after receiving it at a discounted cost. As a result, he proposed a strict amendment to the Chicago Candy Jobbers Association's constitution to induce "tobacco shops to abandon the candy business." Specifically, Pastor requested all members comply with these rules among a few others : Do not purchase candy from manufacturers who do not support our association. Do not purchase candy from subjobbers who do not support our association. Do not sell to any one who jobs candy and is not a member in good standing. The Candy Jobbers Association of Chicago, as reported , unanimously approved the amendment. But in hindsight, it seems as though most members, including Maywood Candy Co.'s, did not fully know what they were getting into. Chicago's "Candy Racket" Case In 1926-27, the Candy Jobbers Association's new leader, Vincent Pastor, began to carry out his rules, " actively and aggressively " forcing manufacturers and subjobbers to comply with his terms. Those who refused were allegedly subjugated to verbal threats and rough handling as well as "assaults and bombings and smashing of store fronts." All of these actions , along with attempted price fixing, were executed to "terrorize the small dealers, in order to require them to become members." You'll even find the Chicago candy jobbers listed under "racketeering" in the 1929 book Organized Crime in Chicago . Moreover, some sources like Jazz Age Chicago (2022) claim Al Capone was behind all the violence. Sheesh. As a result of the association's "terroristic methods," 45 officials and members—including the founder of Maywood Candy Co.— were initially indicted  for enacting violence against competitors and violating the Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890 , which outlaws monopolistic business practices. Ultimately, 35 members went to trial. Sixteen members, including Victor Pastor, were convicted and sentenced, liable to a year in prison and fines ranging as high as $5,000 (about $95,000 today). The 19 other men named in the indictment were acquitted  since "evidence did not show their guilt, and interstate commerce [was] not involved." Since Maywood Candy Co. only appears at the outset  of this trial, we can assume either its owner was one of the 10 men who didn't go to trial or he was of the 19 acquitted. Either way, good news for this Chicago "candy man" and his distribution company. For many, the name "Candy Man" might conjure up images of a hook-handed  horror villain. But in 1920s Chicago, the real terror came from men in business suits—candy jobbers threatening shopkeepers, smashing storefronts, and fixing prices. Candyman (1992), screenshot. IMDb.com

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Unity Temple, famed for its concrete design and lack of religious iconography, appears mostly in documentary film, including one narrated by Brad Pitt. Exterior of Frank Lloyd Wright's Unity Temple, Oak Park, IL. I recently took a guided in-depth tour  of Frank Lloyd Wright's Unity Temple in Oak Park, IL, about 9 miles west of Chicago.   Here are three tidbits I learned about it: Still used for its original purpose—the oldest Wright building to do so Constructed of concrete since funds were slim and concrete was cheap Eschews religious iconography for precise geometric proportions   Fascinating! But is Unity Temple in any movies? Eh, not so much. Is Unity Temple in Any Movies? Naturally, Unity Temple pops up in documentaries on Wright's architecture  and in PBS specials like The Most Beautiful Places in Chicago . But to date, I've not found it represented in any narrative films—like these Wright buildings: Ennis House : House on Haunted Hill (1959), Blade Runner (1982), The Rocketeer (1991) Guggenheim Museum : Bye Bye Birdie (1963), Manhattan (1979), Men In Black (1997) Marin County Civic Center : Gattaca (1997), THX 1138 (1971) Unity Temple's onscreen destiny so far, it seems, lies within the documentary form. See Wright's Guggenheim Museum in the sci-fi comedy Men in Black . Narrating Unity Temple Onscreen The most recent documentary devoted to Unity Temple is called Frank Lloyd Wright’s Modern Masterpiece: Unity Temple (2021) and is directed by Lauren Levine. The 55-minute film focuses on the painstaking—and quite expensive ($25 million)— two-year restoration process  of the Wright church. When deciding on narration for the film, Levine wanted to avoid a traditional documentary approach, so she "searched for relevant Frank Lloyd Wright quotes that would infuse the story with a bit of insight into Wright’s process and philosophy." Those quotes—like this one—she would weave into the film's transitional moments: "The mission of the architect is to help people understand how to make life more beautiful, the world a better one for living in, and to give reason, rhyme, and meaning to life." But who would speak these words within the documentary? Enter Brad Pitt. Shifting Complications of Star Power Frank Lloyd Wright’s Modern Masterpiece: Unity Temple is narrated by Brad Pitt, an actor whose interest in architecture is well-documented. Recall his and (now ex-wife) Angelina Jolie's private tour in 2006 of Wright's Fallingwater house in Pennsylvania. The two-hour tour ended with a private birthday party for Pitt in Fallingwater's living room. In 2008, after Hurricane Katrina, Pitt’s Make It Right Foundation worked alongside an architectural firm to build environmentally friendly homes in New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward. The intent was to build 150 safe, affordable houses for families who lost everything in the hurricane. But years later, because of foundational problems and decay, the project faced several class-action lawsuits . Speaking of lawsuits, Pitt's personal life, we should note, has also recently drawn controversy , including allegations of domestic violence. As a result, cultural dialogue around the actor these days has shifted. It is more cautious, with some critics warning audiences not to be fooled by Pitt's hollow attempts at public redemption . So while the latest onscreen representation of Frank Lloyd Wright's Unity Temple adds a layer of Hollywood star power, it is, for some anyway, now a more complicated one. The documentary on Wright's Unity Temple is now streaming on Apple TV .

Sadly, the location filming in Chicago of the 1961 movie A Raisin in the Sun echoed the racism in the play. A Raisin in the Sun onstage. Wikimedia Commons. When I started teaching general literature courses in graduate school, I often assigned Lorraine Hansberry's play A Raisin in the Sun as an example of contemporary American drama. The 1959 play was the first Broadway production penned by a Black woman and the first with a Black director, Lloyd Richards . A Raisin in the Sun always went over well with my Texas students—as did clips from its 1961 film adaptation, co-starring Sidney Poitier, who died today at age 94 . At the time, I had no idea I'd one day live near this movie's locations and then dive into its poignant production history. Chicago Filming Locations In the summer of 1960, the cast and crew of A Raisin in the Sun began filming on location in four areas of Chicago: University of Chicago Michigan Ave. Kitty Kat Club (a gay nightclub on 611 E. 63rd) 4930 W. Hirsch St., featured below Screenshot, trailer A Raisin in the Sun (1961) 4930 W. Hirsch Street, Chicago, IL. Google maps. Situated northwest of Chicago's South Loop, this house on W. Hirsch St. serves as a major plot point in A Raisin in the Sun . To recap: The Younger family receives a life insurance check for $10,000 after the death of the father. The matriarch uses part of this money for a down payment on a new house. Instead of resettling her family in a Black neighborhood, she opts for an all-white one. The property there, after all, is cheaper. But, as you might imagine in 1950s America , the Younger family quickly runs into a roadblock. The neighborhood's white residents are vehemently opposed to an interracial population. The Younger house in relation to Chicago's South Loop. A "Black Movie" on Our Street? According to the Black newspaper The Chicago Defender and contemporary industry reports, the Chicago location filming of A Raisin in the Sun eerily echoed the play's narrative. During an exterior shoot at a West Side Chicago home, "neighbors in the block began registering objections to the jam of sepians [Black people] on scene, while others protested because they thought the neighborhood was being invaded by sepians" (Oct. 15, 1960). More specifically, one neighbor contacted  the homeowner, scared "they were selling their house to 'Negroes.'” The house in question—4930 W. Hirsch Street (see above)—belonged to Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Casaccio, a middle-class Italian family with two sons. The Casaccio's neighbors, as the book Chicago Whispers describes , clearly did not want "a 'Black' movie on their street." As a result, cast and crew were reportedly "forced out of the neighborhood"—an ordeal that imitated the real-life Chicago experiences that inspired Hansberry's play. Production also apparently faced bigotry when the University of Chicago stipulated the movie could shoot on school grounds only "if the institution’s name was not used." Kitty Kat Club: Hollywood's Choice On a more positive note... Ad in the 'The Chicago Defender' from Feb. 21, 1961. A Raisin in the Sun  also filmed scenes at Chicago's Kitty Kat Club , a gay nightclub located at 611 E. 63rd. No longer in existence, the club was once known as "a haven for gay South Siders and its on-the-pulse music programs." Hoping its ties to the 1961 movie might increase business, the Kitty Kat Club owners promoted their establishment alongside the film . The gay nightclub took out ads in The Chicago Defender reading: "Hollywood's Choice, Make It Yours" "Where Scenes from A Raisin in the Sun Were Filmed" (I haven't looked at data, but I'm guessing attendance went up at the Kitty Kat Club in the early 1960s?!) RIP, Sidney Poitier, and thank you for your stellar body of work, even amidst seemingly insurmountable odds. Correction : an earlier version of this post inadvertently cited the Casaccio family as participants in the neighborhood protests when, in fact, they owned the house that is shown in the film. Poitier onstage with co-stars Ruby Dee and Louis Gossett, Jr. Wikimedia Commons

The movie studio didn't want it, but Harrison Ford had other plans for his beard. Warner Bros. was not happy Harrison Ford insisted on donning a beard to play Dr. Richard Kimble in The Fugitive , the action-thriller partially filmed in Chicago. Says Ford, the studio "paid for the face they wanted to see, so they were very concerned about that."⁣ ⁣ But according to an interview from Los Angeles Daily News (29 Aug. 1993), Ford had two reasons for keeping the beard: ⁣ First, Kimble had "little time between the escape and the end of the movie to meet the obligation of disguise." Shaving off a beard would easily change his appearance, Ford believed.⁣ Second, the beard sets up Kimble as "slightly idiosyncratic, a character a bit outside the medical establishment, which comes to play later on in the story."⁣ Does Ford's beard here work for you?

Celebrate six Chicago actors and the Hollywood musical for which they are most remembered Singin' in the Rain often ranks as the best film musical ever made—and, indeed, one of the best movies ever made. Set in 1927, the film tells the story of silent film stars as they navigate Hollywood's transition from the silent era to "talkies." No, Singin' in the Rain was not filmed in Chicago, nor does it take place here. But at least six of the movie's cast members are from or have strong connections to the Windy City. So on this virtual tour, which begins at a rain-inspired sculpture in Chicago, we will celebrate these six actors and the delightfully entertaining Hollywood musical for which they are remembered. Watch Excerpt This is an excerpt from Singin' in the Rain and Chicago . In the clip, Kelli introduces the talk, which runs about an hour.

Learn more about the "dirty blonde" and Broadway mom who worked alongside the Marx Brothers. In my talk Comedy in Chicago: The Marx Brothers and Bob Newhart , I briefly cite two women who worked alongside the Marx Brothers comedy team: Mae West was an actress who made movies at the same time as the Marx Brothers. Minnie Marx was a harpist and the matriarch of the Marx family; she served as the Marx Brothers' manager until her death in 1929. Learn more about these women through a 2020 documentary and a (failed) Broadway production. Mae West: Dirty Blonde The 2020 documentary Mae West: Dirty Blonde (PBS) dives into the life and career of American actress, playwright, screenwriter, and sex symbol Mae West. West was active in the entertainment industry from the 1910s until the 1970s. Like the Marx Brothers, she began her career as a vaudeville performer before transitioning to the stage and eventually to the movies. Mae West, Wikimedia Commons As you learn in my talk, Mae West was known for her wit, double entendres, and suggestive dialogue. Some of her most famous films include She Done Him Wrong (1933), I'm No Angel (1933), and My Little Chickadee (1940), which she co-wrote and starred in. West's dialogue, we should note, often got the actress into trouble with censors . In addition to her work in entertainment, West was an outspoken advocate for women's rights and sexual freedom , and she challenged traditional gender roles and societal norms through her work. Mae West died November 22, 1980, in Los Angeles, at the age of 87. The film runs for about 90 minutes. Check out the trailer below: Minnie Marx on Broadway Minnie's Boys is a Broadway musical comedy that tells the story of the Marx Brothers. Written by Arthur Marx , the son of Groucho Marx, the musical focuses on the early years of the Marx Brothers and their journey to becoming one of the most popular and influential comedy teams in American history. The story begins with the arrival of the Marx family in New York City from Germany in the late 19th century. The family would also live in Chicago for about a decade. Minnie Marx , the mother of the Marx Brothers, is determined to turn her sons into successful performers. She enlists the help of a famous theatrical agent, who sees potential in the young boys and helps them launch their career in vaudeville. Shelley Winters played Minnie Marx. Minnie's Boys, Imperial Theatre, NY, 1970. Playbill.com Minnie's Boys ran for only 80 performances. During its brief run, Groucho appeared on the Dick Cavett Show with Shelley Winters and the five actors who portrayed the Marx boys in the show. Here they are: Chicago Connections You'll find one of Mae West's cars in Chicago's Klairmont Kollections Automotive Museum . Minnie Marx was the one who decided to move the entire Marx family from New York to Chicago. After all, Chicago was a major vaudeville center, home to newly emerging film companies, and a hub for railway travel. Mae West's 1938 V16 Sedan

I’ve never loved gangster movies—but I couldn’t say no to NBC Chicago when they asked me to revisit one of the most iconic shootout scenes in cinema, right inside Union Station. NBC's Lexi Sutter and I talk about The Untouchables inside Chicago's Union Station. Occasionally, tour guests ask me, "What's your favorite Chicago movie?" My go-to answer is usually The Untouchables —an admittedly odd response for someone who doesn't like gangster movies. (Yes, as someone averse to mob and gangster flicks, I realize I'm working in the wrong city!) So why do I give The Untouchables a pass? The way the movie represents Chicago and its historic architecture—part of which you can see in the gallery below—is, for lack of a better phrase, [chef's kiss]. For that reason alone (and maybe Kevin Costner), I truly enjoy watching The Untouchables . All of these locations, by the way, show up in the movie: Chicago Board of Trade Building Rookery Building Our Lady of Sorrows Basilica Michigan Ave. Bridge (now DuSable Bridge) Chicago Union Station One of The Untouchables ' most memorable sequences takes place inside Chicago’s Union Station . You know the scene : a runaway baby carriage gets caught on a staircase amidst a slew of gangster gunfire. A mother fears for her child's life while Eliot Ness (Costner) continues the task at hand: bringing down Al Capone's accountant. Needless to say, when NBC 5 Chicago invited me  to stand on those stairs and talk about the only gangster movie I truly embrace, I had to say yes. Watch the Interview Below, watch the full interview with NBC 5 Chicago, and learn about other movies and TV shows that have used Chicago as a backdrop. NBC 5 Chicago: "Only in Chicago: Famous Scenes in Shows and Films" Go Further Discover the iconic staircase shootout from The Untouchables  on my guided walking tour in Chicago’s Union Station —where Hollywood meets local history!

Ever stumble upon a hidden gem in an antique mall? This Blues Brothers find might spark your curiosity about Hollywood publicity stills. Framed film still promoting the 1980 movie The Blues Brothers. While browsing an antique mall in Chicago's western suburbs , the above picture frame caught my eye.   For the movie The Blues Brothers , Elwood and "Joliet" Jake Blues (Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi) pose for the camera, complete with their trademark sunglasses, hats, and suits. Below the image, the seller paraphrases the duo's catchphrase, "We're on a mission from God."   For the unenlightened, The Blues Brothers   filmed all over Chicago in 1979 , with some scenes shot in Los Angeles.   The photo in the antique mall frame appears to be a publicity still  (or production still) from Universal Studios, likely from 1979.   Publicity stills are photographs taken either on or off the set during movie or TV production. As the name implies, the publicity still's main purpose is to help studios promote their films and stars. As a result, they are often circulated widely.   For instance, here's the same Blues Brothers still on eBay signed by Dan Ackroyd for $150.00. Here's another , not signed, for $25.00.   Do you have any publicity stills from Hollywood? If so, did you happen to find them in an antique or thrift store?