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In Old Chicago (1937)
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Overview
User Rating:
Release Date:
15 April 1938 (USA) moreTagline:
The great American motion picture!Plot:
The O'Leary brothers -- honest Jack and roguish Dion -- become powerful figures, and eventually rivals, in Chicago on the eve of its Great Fire. full summary | add synopsisAwards:
Won 2 Oscars. Another 4 nominations moreUser Comments:
"We O'Learys Are A Strange Tribe." moreCast
(Cast overview, first billed only)| Tyrone Power | ... | Dion O'Leary | |
| Alice Faye | ... | Belle Fawcett | |
| Don Ameche | ... | Jack O'Leary | |
| Alice Brady | ... | Molly O'Leary | |
| Andy Devine | ... | Pickle Bixby | |
| Brian Donlevy | ... | Gil Warren | |
| Phyllis Brooks | ... | Ann Colby | |
| Tom Brown | ... | Bob O'Leary | |
| Sidney Blackmer | ... | General Phil Sheridan | |
| Berton Churchill | ... | Senator Colby | |
| June Storey | ... | Gretchen | |
| Paul Hurst | ... | Mitch | |
| Tyler Brooke | ... | Specialty Singer | |
| J. Anthony Hughes | ... | Patrick O'Leary | |
| Gene Reynolds | ... | Dion O'Leary as a Boy |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Add content advisory for parentsRuntime:
95 min | 111 min (roadshow version)Country:
USALanguage:
EnglishColor:
Black and WhiteAspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 moreSound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)Certification:
USA:Approved (PCA #3639) | USA:TV-G (TV rating) | UK:A (original rating) (1938) | UK:U (re-rating) (1994) | Finland:K-16Fun Stuff
Trivia:
A lantern manufacturer wrote to the studio insisting that the fire must have been started by a lamp, not a lantern. They claimed a lantern would extinguish itself if tipped over, but that claim was found to be false by an actual experiment performed by two assistants at Twentieth Century-Fox. Soon after the fire started, the barn where the fire was supposed to have originated was thoroughly investigated, and no evidence of a lamp or lantern was found. moreSoundtrack:
When Johnny Comes Marching Home moreFAQ
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Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for In Old Chicago (1937)| Recent Posts (updated daily) | User |
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| Ludicrous film... | LarrupinLou |
| The other great fire disaster on that same day... | virgiltx |
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This was the first of three films that teamed Tyrone Power and Alice Faye, the others being Alexander's Ragtime Band and Rose of Washington Square. In Old Chicago and Alexander's Ragtime Band also had Don Ameche in it. And it set a pattern, no way was Ameche going to get Faye when Power was on the scene.
Ty Power's roles in his Fox days fell in two Categories. He was either the total romantic hero or he was a hero/heel. In In Old Chicago he's the latter although Power usually has the heroic side win out in these parts, he's not above a little scheming. Power's Dion O"Leary both double crosses Brian Donlevy and marries Alice Faye not just because he loves her, but so she can't testify against him. But Ty's always a charming likable cuss and Ameche is always the straight arrow, but slightly dull rival and in this case, brother.
However the film is known for two things. It gave Alice Faye her first real notice as actress. Up to this point, she'd been a Jean Harlow wannabe right down to the platinum blonde hair. Here Faye gets those period costumes that she wore so well. It was the first of many successes in that genre.
The second thing is the grand special effects showing the burning of Chicago. Even almost 70 years later it's a spectacular sight.