From horrors to comedies, there have been so many popular movies based and filmed in the city of Chicago. Here are the top 5 most popular!
The Breakfast Club
This iconic ’80s movie starring Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald, Ally Sheedy, Anthony Michael Hall, and Emilio Estevez is known in most households. Director John Hughes set the scene in his fictitious Chicago Suburb of Shermer. While ‘Shermer’ remains a figment of Hughes’ imagination, The Breakfast Club was filmed in Des Plaines, a suburb located just 20 miles northwest of Chicago. The gymnasium where the film’s five high school students met in Saturday detention was actually Maine North High School, located at 9511 Harrison Street in Des Plaines. Oddly enough, the set of the troublemakers now acts as a district headquarters for the Illinois State Police.
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
Once again, director John Hughes brings us back to the infamous Shermer, Illinois, to live vicariously through Matthew Broderick as Ferris, a highschool teen who decides to fake being sick to have a day in the city. Inspired by the very real Shermer Road in Northbrook Illinois, Hughes draws from even more personal experience, having Ferris attend Glenbrook North High School, where John Hughes attended years before. More noteworthy landscape and architectural cameos include Ferris’s dad’s office on West Wacker Drive overlooking the Chicago River, the Tribune Towers, the Willis Tower, the Chicago Board of Trade, Wrigley Field, and the Art Institute of Chicago. A true teenage tourist!
Home Alone & Home Alone 2
A comedy of mischief, starring Kevin (Macaulay Culkin), who seems to get left behind on every family vacation. Kevin finds himself in trouble when two bandits, Marv and Harry (Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern), decide to rob the Mcallister’s home. The home that is actually located north of Chicago, at 671 Lincoln Avenue in Winnetka. As Kevin’s plan to get these criminals out of his neighborhood, he makes a quick stop to see Santa, which was filmed at Station Park. Other notable landmarks include the filming of the interior of Grace Episcopal Church in Oak Park, the exterior of Trinity United Methodist Church in Wilmette, and O’Hare International Airport (the airport from which the family departed….and arrived…in “Paris”). Tricky!
The Blues Brothers
In 1980, the iconic comedy-musical directed by the Chicago-born John Landis was released. The Chicago native John Belushi aka “Jake Blues,” spent some time in the Joliet Correctional Center, more commonly known as “Statesville.” After brothers Jake Blues and Elwood (Dan Aykroyd) are reunited, they decide to get their old band back together. The notorious “Bluesmobile” was picked up by Elwood at a Mount Prospect City police auction. Cruising around in the famous “Bluesmobile” passing several Chicago Landmarks along the way. With the giant horn roped to the roof, the slick ride passes North Main Street, Wauconda which is now home to Slyce Pizza Company. Next time you’re heading over the East 95th Street Bridge over the Calumet River, know you are passing over the exact bridge the Blues Brothers went over!
The Dark Knight
Batman has returned after disappearing into the night! Several landmarks in Gotham City were notorious Chicago buildings. The opening robbery of the Gotham National Bank was actually a Chicago Post Office on 404 West Harrison Street. The Joker makes his getaway into the city on West Van Buren Street. The many meetups between Bruce Wayne and Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman) take place in the Convention Hall of the West Building, McCormick Place. You know you have hit the city when you see the popular Chicago McCormick Place!
Featured Image Credit: The Breakfast Club