In Old Chicago

There is little doubt that the release of In Old Chicago had something to do with MGM’s blockbuster hit San Francisco eighteen months prior. That earlier film was highly popular in the summer of 1936, and 20th Century Fox was looking for a hit of their own. For that, inspiration came from the real-life events of Chicago in the 1800s when reportedly a cow kicked over a lantern and started the Great Chicago Fire. That tragedy would serve as the finale of the picture, much as the earthquake did in San Francisco, a way to showcase spectacle on a level most people had never seen in real life. It made for a very expensive, for the time, film and, while it wasn’t nearly as well received by audiences, it still made a profit. It also secured a nomination for Best Picture at the Academy Awards, based heavily on that spectacle. 

The film opens with an acknowledgement of assistance from the Chicago Historical Society in the preparation of the historical background for this production. This doesn’t claim that it is a true story, though many of the key players were actual historical figures in the history of the city. Much of this story is, in fact, fictional. The setting, however, is fairly accurate to the time, as is the corruption and crime that was rampant in that area. The O’Leary family, however, is almost entirely made up for this film. 

Catherine O’Leary (changed to Molly for the film) only had the one son, not three, and a daughter. She was not widowed when the kids were young but nearly forty years later than depicted here. Many such liberties were taken with the facts to make a more compelling film, and, well, it sometimes works, it also does the true history a disservice and would have probably been better off had the characters just been renamed altogether. It’s strictly there to set up the big climax. It is far more fascinating to study the real history than to watch this film knowing how many liberties were taken to bring this story to the screen.

What we have for a plot is similar to many of the gangster films from the 30s and 40s. In fact, t is such a common trope that when a parody film was made in the 1980s titled Johnny Dangerously, many plot elements seen here were mirrored in that film despite it not being a direct influence. In the mid-1800s, Mrs. Molly O’Leary (Alice Brady), her husband, and her four children are traveling by wagon to the city of Chicago to find a better life. Her husband, Patrick, is killed in an accident trying to race a steam train in his wagon, and the family buries him before finishing the journey into the city. She sets up shop, using her skills to build a successful laundry business in an area of town known as “The Patch” while her children grow up and get educated around her. 

One day, while washing a sheet, Mrs. O’Leary discovers a drawing amongst the laundry that seems to indicate that Gil Warren (Brian Donlevy), a corrupt local businessman, plans to run a tramline along a street that he and his cronies plan to buy up cheaply ahead of time. One of the names on the drawing turns out to be Belle Fawcett (Alice Faye), a saloon dancer/singer whom Dion O’Leary (Tyrone Power), one of Molly’s sons, quickly falls for. Dion, who makes money gambling, seduces her and eventually gets her to fall in love with him as well as getting her interests in the property on his side. 

The two of them use their combined money and influence to bribe officials and support Gil Warren in his political ambitions as a means to carve up business in town. But Dion is planning on turning the tables on Gil and rigging the upcoming elections so that his brother Jack (Don Ameche) wins instead. Jack, however, has plans of his own to clean up The Patch, plans that are in direct conflict with Dion and his people’s interests. 

The biggest problem with In Old Chicago is that it cannot quite escape that feeling of sameness and being compared to San Francisco, which had only released eighteen months prior. There was even word out at the time that Clark Gable was sought out for the lead in the film, but MGM wouldn’t loan him out. Had he been secured for the part, those comparisons would have been even more obvious. The plot isn’t all that compelling, either. The character of Dion is fairly cardboard, though some of his actions, especially in regard to Belle, are cringy and would not be depicted in a more modern film. His actions defy logic, too, pushing his brother’s campaign for mayor when Jack was saying the whole time that he was going to clean up The Patch, then acting surprised when Jack starts doing just that. 

The third brother, Bob (Tom Brown), gets largely forgotten in the mix, relegated to a few walk-in moments and nothing much else. He does get a romance of his own, and the little time dedicated to it is utterly disarming, but so much of this movie is focused on Jack and Dion’s relationship that there is little time for much of anything else. Even the friction between Molly and Belle gets little screen time, though the way it resolves is unexpected. Molly sees little value in Belle, who, being a dancehall girl, is looked upon by the Irish Catholic Molly as being a wicked, Godless woman. Dion tries to force the two women together, thinking he can get either to see reason with the other, but the results are futile. 

If it weren’t for the Chicago Fire spectacle, this would be a forgettable film. The drama isn’t particularly compelling, and, though Tyrone Power and Don Ameche are always a delight to watch, their characters are underwritten, lacking any real depth to make us care. A film needs to be more than just the final twenty minutes, but that is really all that is worth watching in this picture, which is a real letdown. There was greatness in this story, but the execution left me wanting. 

Academy Award Nominations:

Outstanding Production: Darryl F. Zanuck and Kenneth Macgowan

Best Actress in a Supporting Role: Alice Brady (won)

Best Writing (Original Story): Niven Busch

Best Music (Scoring): 20th Century Fox Studio Music Department

Best Sound Recording: E. H. Hansen

Best Assistant Director: Robert Webb (won)

____________________________________________________

Release Date: January 6, 1938

Running Time: 111 minutes

Not Rated

Starring: Tyrone Power, Alice Faye, Don Ameche, Alice Brady, Andy Devine, Brian Donlevy, Phyllis Brooks, Tom Brown, Sidney Blackmer, Berton Churchill, June Storey, and Paul Hurst

Directed by: Henry King