In Old Chicago

"The Great American Motion Picture!"

1938 1h 51m EN

👍

6.7

SOLID

★6.7TMDB · 51

DramaHistory

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

The O'Leary brothers -- honest Jack and roguish Dion -- become powerful figures, and eventually rivals, in Chicago on the eve of its Great Fire.

“The Great American Motion Picture!”

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Cast

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

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Henry King
Writers: Lamar Trotti, Sonya Levien, Niven Busch
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 7

ERA

Did you know

88 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Henry King, shot by J. Peverell Marley. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Barbara McLean shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 7

CAST

Did you know

Tyrone Power and Alice Faye and Don Ameche carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 7

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "The Great American Motion Picture!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 7

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0029047 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 7

WILD

Did you know

Only 51 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Henry King directs. J. Peverell Marley behind the camera. Barbara McLean cuts. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

188 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
2Directed by Henry King, shot by J. Peverell Marley. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
3Editor Barbara McLean shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
4Tyrone Power and Alice Faye and Don Ameche carry the top of the cast.
5Marketing tagline: "The Great American Motion Picture!".
6IMDB entry: tt0029047 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
7Only 51 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.
8Classified under 8 themes, including "chicago, illinois", "fire", "musical", "conflagration".

The technical file

Cinematography: J. Peverell Marley
Editing: Barbara McLean
Costume design: Royer
Runtime: 111 min · 1h 51m
Status: Released
Budget: $10,000,000
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: In Old Chicago (1938)

Awards

Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Henry King

Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2022-04-04
★ 6/10
The two "O'Leary" brothers grow up without their father in an house where their widowed mother runs quite a successful laundry business. One son, "Jack" (Don Ameche), shows promise as a lawyer; the other "Dion" (Tyrone Power) is a more inventive sort of fella. After a few, quite entertaining wooing antics, the latter hooks up with visiting chanteuse "Belle" (Alice Faye) and together they start a business that rapidly expands so as to soon dominate the rather rundown "Patch" area of Chicago. The city government is riddled with corruption and so a group of civil libertarians nominate brother "Jack" to be mayor - a plan supported, for other reasons, by his now very wealthy sibling. It's only a matter of time before the two clash - but who will prevail? Power is charming and engaging here, he has a twinkle in his eye and there is certainly some chemistry between him and Faye. The ending, though impressive to watch with all the pyrotechnics of the Great Fire of 1871 that devoured thousands of the predominantly wooden structures of the area, is all a bit hurried and weak. The more interesting political and personal struggles between the two men, and agitator "Warren" (Brian Donlevy) should have featured more, with less emphasis on the initial character development and I could have done without the musical numbers that though ably enough performed by Faye, just sucked too much of the pace of this Cain and Abel style of story. Still, it's enjoyable to watch and gives us a hint at just how corruption and power-brokering functioned back then.

Production companies