Director: Henry King
Distributor: Twentieth Century Fox
Top Billed Actors: Tyrone Power, Alice Faye, Don Ameche
Won 2 Oscars:
Best Supporting Actress - Alice Brady
Best Assistant Director - Robert Webb
Nominated for 4 more:
Outstanding Production - 20th Century-Fox
Best Original Story - Niven Busch
Best Scoring - 20th Century Fox Studio Music Department
Best Sound Recording - E. H. Hansen
Plot: A couple of brothers have disagreements about the direction of the city but since they are a strange tribe, they eventually stick together while their mom's cow burns said city down.
Distributor: Twentieth Century Fox
Top Billed Actors: Tyrone Power, Alice Faye, Don Ameche
Won 2 Oscars:
Best Supporting Actress - Alice Brady
Best Assistant Director - Robert Webb
Nominated for 4 more:
Outstanding Production - 20th Century-Fox
Best Original Story - Niven Busch
Best Scoring - 20th Century Fox Studio Music Department
Best Sound Recording - E. H. Hansen
Plot: A couple of brothers have disagreements about the direction of the city but since they are a strange tribe, they eventually stick together while their mom's cow burns said city down.
After the success of the disaster film, San Francisco (1936) by MGM, 20th Century Fox wanted to get in on the genre with the similarly constructed film, In Old Chicago (1938). Both films deal with cabaret singers, betrayals, and the city wreaking disasters that conclude the movie. The rumor was that 20th Century Fox tried to get Clark Gable to star in this, which would have further provided similarities between the two. These are also both Best Picture nominees and In Old Chicago is the final Best Picture nominee for the 10th Awards. Curiously, all accounts have this as a 1938 picture. The official theatrical release occurred just after the new year, so I am not sure why this wasn't considered for the 11th Awards. However, there was a roadshow that I can only assume played in Los Angeles and therefore qualified it for the 1937 year. Another Academy Award piece of trivia is that this is the final film to win the Best Assistant Director award. I say good riddance as that award seems impossible to judge, especially from an audience member's point of view. Alice Brady became the first supporting performer to be nominated for a Supporting Acting award in consecutive years. After failing to win the previous year, she wins her first and only Oscar here. Apparently, she wasn't at the ceremony and some random man came to the podium to accept on her behalf. The statuette nor the man was seen again.
Brady's performance is immensely commendable. She plays a confident matriarch to a trio of boys, seems like a fun time when she consumes a couple of beers, and shows her stubbornness while rejecting her son's saloon-singing girlfriend. In a span of minutes, I went from enjoying her company to despising her perspective on the girlfriend (Alice Faye), but that's all due to Brady's delightful performance. The aspect this film is most famous for - the great Chicago fire - is as good as advertised. It made this one of 20th Century Fox's most expensive films, but I say its worth it. Not only does the film capture the dangers of the flames but it also frames it within its mostly-fictionalized story to give it even more stakes. The showdown between the Patch's men and the mayor would normally be a suspenseful scene but with the flames raging on in the background, its even more heart-pounding. The fire isn't the only culprit of the chaos enveloping the city. Its mostly in the crowd of extras. A sea of people fleeing Chicago is a site to be seen and you could feel the chaos and eventually trampling.
Another comparison to the movie set in San Francisco is that the disaster occurs at the very end of the film. That means there is a hell of a lot of narrative work to even get there. In Old Chicago was nominated for Best Story but I don't think that is earned. The feud between the O'Leary brothers isn't engrossing enough to quell my anticipation for the eventual fire scenes. We spend the most time with a very smug Tyrone Power and he's not cool enough to be that despicable. His brother, played by Don Ameche, is a dandy boy scout who also comes across as annoying. Fortunately, Faye rounds out this trio to be a likeable singer who isn't easily swindled by Power (except for a very obvious ploy near the end).
Overall, both Alices hold this film together until the much anticipated fire sequence. Its a great way to see a such a pivotal time in Chicago's history, as well as the city before the Fire, but an uninteresting plot precedes the disaster.
My Score: 6/10
Brady's performance is immensely commendable. She plays a confident matriarch to a trio of boys, seems like a fun time when she consumes a couple of beers, and shows her stubbornness while rejecting her son's saloon-singing girlfriend. In a span of minutes, I went from enjoying her company to despising her perspective on the girlfriend (Alice Faye), but that's all due to Brady's delightful performance. The aspect this film is most famous for - the great Chicago fire - is as good as advertised. It made this one of 20th Century Fox's most expensive films, but I say its worth it. Not only does the film capture the dangers of the flames but it also frames it within its mostly-fictionalized story to give it even more stakes. The showdown between the Patch's men and the mayor would normally be a suspenseful scene but with the flames raging on in the background, its even more heart-pounding. The fire isn't the only culprit of the chaos enveloping the city. Its mostly in the crowd of extras. A sea of people fleeing Chicago is a site to be seen and you could feel the chaos and eventually trampling.
Another comparison to the movie set in San Francisco is that the disaster occurs at the very end of the film. That means there is a hell of a lot of narrative work to even get there. In Old Chicago was nominated for Best Story but I don't think that is earned. The feud between the O'Leary brothers isn't engrossing enough to quell my anticipation for the eventual fire scenes. We spend the most time with a very smug Tyrone Power and he's not cool enough to be that despicable. His brother, played by Don Ameche, is a dandy boy scout who also comes across as annoying. Fortunately, Faye rounds out this trio to be a likeable singer who isn't easily swindled by Power (except for a very obvious ploy near the end).
Overall, both Alices hold this film together until the much anticipated fire sequence. Its a great way to see a such a pivotal time in Chicago's history, as well as the city before the Fire, but an uninteresting plot precedes the disaster.
My Score: 6/10