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Travel back to Chicago's silent era to learn how makeup and men's hairpieces functioned both on and offscreen Join Chicago Movie Tours for a quick history of movie makeup and a peek into the life of Chicago’s expert toupee-maker during Hollywood's silent era. While you look (virtually) at the State St. building that once held his thriving business, you'll learn how this Chicago-based wigmaker responded to trends in the movies and on the streets. On this virtual tour, you'll also see several historic advertisements and photos from 1920s fan magazines and newspapers showcasing Hollywood’s standards of male and female beauty. Watch an Excerpt This is the intro of Makeup and Toupees in Chicago's Silent Movies, our virtual program that ushers you back to Chicago's silent era to learn how makeup and men's hairpieces functioned both on and offscreen. As you'll see in the clip below, the program has three goals: Explore movie makeup and its significance in early cinema Visit a building at 220 S. State St. in Chicago Learn about a renowned toupee-maker from the 1920s and his response to trends on and off-screen Watch Full Virtual Tour (40 min.) Join our movie club to reveal below the full virtual tour Makeup and Toupees in Chicago's Silent Movies (1080p HD, approx. 40 min.) Browse upcoming virtual events .

Reconsider Chicago amusement parks through the lens of 5 home movies and a dunking booth game The popularity of the Midway Plaisance at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair spurred on the development of the American amusement park. Indeed, shortly after the Fair closed, amusement parks began to appear across the country, many located in and around Chicago . This virtual tour offers you a brief history of select amusement parks in Chicago through the lens of home movies. It also details the racism behind a popular game adults and children played at these parks. Finally, with the help of our HD video camera, you'll walk to the current location of the sign that welcomed families to an amusement park in Melrose Park, IL, called Kiddieland. NOTE: This virtual event includes historical material involving the use of offensive racial epithets. Watch an Excerpt This an excerpt of Roller Coasters, Racism, and Chicago Home Movies, our virtual program that asks you to rethink Chicago amusement parks through the lens of home movies and a dunking booth game. Watch Full Virtual Tour (38 min.) Join our movie club to reveal below the full virtual tour Roller Coasters, Racism, and Chicago Home Movies (1080p HD, approx. 40 min.) Browse upcoming virtual events .

Walk with us through Uptown and hear why some Chicagoans claimed small movie houses lured you into a life of sin Walk with us through Chicago's Uptown neighborhood to the former Lakeside Theater. Along the way, you'll learn about nickelodeons (aka. ”cheap" movie houses) and the presumed debauchery taking place within them! On this 30-minute virtual walking tour with Chicago Movie Tours, you’ll also stop by the glamorous Uptown Theater to reminisce about the movie Backdraft . Finally, you'll head over to the Bridgeview Bank Building, which you can see in the TV series Fargo and the gangster film Public Enemies . This virtual event was streamed live on YouTube. Watch an Excerpt This an excerpt of The Sins of Chicago Nickelodeons, our virtual tour that explores Chicago's Uptown neighborhood with a focus on the former Lakeside theater and three pitstops along the way. Watch Full Virtual Tour (29 min.) Join our movie club to reveal below the full virtual tour (1080p HD, 29 min.). Browse upcoming virtual events .

Tour Altenheim, originally built to care for German elderly and later, a setting for Chicago movies Situated about 10 miles outside downtown Chicago in Forest Park, IL, the Altenheim was established in 1885 as a home to care for German elderly. Much later, it became a setting for the movies Harry and Tonto (1974), The Package (1989), and The Babe (1992). Join Chicago Movie Tours on this virtual walking tour as you roam the exterior of The Altenheim and discover how the property is used onscreen in three very different ways. Watch an Excerpt This is an excerpt of Altenheim Goes to the Movies, our virtual program that invites you to tour a property originally built to care for German elderly but later used as a setting for three Chicago movies. In the clip below, you'll learn about: The property's original and current acreage A 1974 road movie that showcases the exterior of Altenheim Watch Full Virtual Tour (25 min.) Join our movie club to reveal below the full virtual tour Altenheim Goes to the Movies (1080p HD, approx. 25 min.) Browse upcoming virtual events .

Learn about the S.S. Eastland tragedy via a suburban Chicago speakeasy and film In the virtual tour below, ride Chicago's commuter train with us to the unique house of a cigar maker and "blind pig" owner who lost family in the S.S. Eastland disaster , a shipwreck that killed 800 passengers before it ever left the Chicago River . Along the way, you'll also learn about Hawthorne Works, a factory complex of the Western Electric Company in Cicero, Illinois. Finally, you'll see recently unearthed and painstakingly restored films that depict the aftermath of the Eastland tragedy. This virtual tour was streamed live on Facebook in July 2023. Watch Full Virtual Tour (25 min.) Join our movie club to reveal below the full virtual tour Chicago's Shipwreck, Liquor, and Movies (1080p HD, approx. 25 min.) Browse upcoming virtual events .

Hear about that time the prestigious series The West Wing filmed in the Chicago suburbs In this virtual tour with Chicago Movie Tours, hear about that time The West Wing travelled to three locations in the Chicago suburbs to film an episode. With the help of our HD video camera, you'll walk where the cast and crew did. And along the path, you'll learn about a former mobster hangout and Chicago's role in the Underground Railroad. This virtual tour was held on Zoom. Check out more virtual tours . Watch Excerpt This is an excerpt from our virtual tour The West Wing in Chicago. In the clip, Kelli takes you behind the Graue Mill and Museum , where The West Wing filmed part of its episode "The Long Goodbye" (4.13). Watch Full Virtual Tour Join our movie club to access the full virtual tour The West Wing in Chicago (33 min.) Browse upcoming virtual events .

Get a bite-sized history of Hollywood censorship and Chicago's role in the matter Almost since film began, church and community leaders, Chicagoans included, have been leery of its existence—not to mention its blatant depictions of sex and violence. In this 30-minute virtual program with Chicago Movie Tours, you'll get a bite-sized history of Hollywood censorship and Chicago's early role in the matter. This program was streamed live on our Facebook Page . Watch Excerpt This is an excerpt from our virtual program Chicago, Movies, and Censorship. In the clip, we explain why middle-class church and community leaders disliked early movie theaters (i.e., nickelodeons or "cheap theaters") and fought to have them closed down. Watch Full Video Join our movie club to access the full 30-minute video below (1080p HD) and other Chicago- and movie-based content! Browse upcoming virtual events .

Float virtually with us down a Louisiana bayou and learn why movies are filmed on these mystical bodies of water

(This Bonus Features guide accompanies our mini course Editing and Chaos in The Untouchables .) If you completed our mini course Editing and Chaos in The Untouchables and want to dig in to the 1987 gangster film even more, have a look at these two behind-the-scenes accounts.

Use the most famous sequence in a Chicago gangster film to master a disorderly editing style The staircase sequence in Brian De Palma's The Untouchables (1980) takes place on location in Chicago's Union Station. The 9-minute-long segment is filmed methodically, using Hollywood's classical editing style. It makes you, the moviegoer, feel grounded in the story. But the Soviet film to which The Untouchables is paying homage here uses a vastly different style of editing—chaotic and disorienting in nature—leaving you feeling jarred and confused. In this mini course with Chicago Movies Tours, you will walk virtually into Chicago's Union Station and learn: why Hollywood employs a continuous editing style and how to recognize it onscreen why and how filmmakers diverge from this style how The Untouchables and its Soviet predecessor tackle these two editing systems This mini course is part of Chicago Movie Tours' series Film 101, Chicago Style . Ready to Watch? Join our movie club to access the full course , Editing and Chaos in The Untouchables (approx. 21 min.) Watch a sneak peek of this course. Browse upcoming mini courses .

Go on location in Chicago to learn what what low-angle shots signify in The Dark Knight — and in Hollywood movies in general. In The Dark Knight , Heath Ledger's Joker encourages a bedridden Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) to "introduce a little anarchy" into the established order. Themes of anarchy and power are reiterated throughout The Dark Knight in Ledger's performance, yes. But we also see both in the film's low-angle shots. In this mini course with Chicago Movie Tours, you'll take to the streets of downtown Chicago , where The Dark Knight filmed in 2007, to learn: what low-angle shots are how to recognize them onscreen what they may signify in The Dark Knight — and in Hollywood movies in general Ready to "Get Low?" Join our movie club to watch the full course (approx. 20 min.), or get a sneak peek here .

I don't like The Dark Knight , but if you run a business called Chicago Movie Tours, then you must submit to the superhero movie at some point. When I saw The Dark Knight in the theater in 2008, I repeatedly looked down at my watch. “Surely, this is almost over,” I thought to myself no more than 20 minutes into the picture. “The masked guy will take down the clown-faced guy shortly, won't he, so I can go eat dinner?” But, no, the movie dragged on (for me) for another 2 hours. In short, I dislike The Dark Knight —and most superhero movies for that matter. And that’s okay. I’m guessing you might dislike movie musicals and Shakespeare film adaptations, both of which served as my bread and butter for many a year . That’s cool. We all like different genres and characters and stories for different reasons. I’ve studied this stuff long enough to know that I can come to appreciate a film like The Dark Knight without legitimately liking it. Vertigo , Dr. Strangelove , and Taxi Driver function similarly for me. I don’t care for any of these movies. However, I can appreciate what they’re doing in terms of genre-bending, cinematography, and characterization. All this to say: if you live in Chicago and run a small business named Chicago Movie Tours , as do I, then you must defer to The Dark Knight at some point, in some way. And I have with at least 5 events: Chicago and Movies Highlights (walking tour) Batman, Route 66, and The Berghoff (YouTube video) The Dark Knight : Chicago and Movies in 60 Seconds (TikTok) Low-Angle Shots and The Dark Knight (online mini course) The Dark Knight and Chicago’s Millennium Station (virtual tour) With each of the above ventures, I will admit this: I have come to respect aspects of The Dark Knight that I did not in that darkened movie theater in 2008. For example, the film’s practical effects , stuntmen, and makeup should impress any viewer—as should the way Chicago functions as the seedy but mesmerizing Gotham City. But don't get too excited: I still have my watch handy.