A Peek Behind the Scenes of Chicago Film

The Backstage Chicago crew began the week celebrating John Belushi who was born, worked, and filmed in Chicago.  While Belushi spent the first six years of his life in Chicago before moving to Wheaton, he eventually returned and participated in comic performances with Second City.

Later Belushi would become a writer for National Lampoon and a star with Saturday Night Live in New York. He is well known for a variety of movies such as The Blue Brothers, which was filmed in Chicago.  Famous blues musicians and actors complete the movie cast such as Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Carrrie Fisher,  James Brown, Aretha Franklin,  and  Ray Charles (to name a few). (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080455/fullcredits/).

After watching the Blues Brothers, the students traveled to  the Billy Goat Tavern, a popular underground hamburger joint for Chicago Tribune writers. The Billy Goat Tavern became famous with the help of John Belushi's Saturday Night Live skit that pokes fun at the service.

Later we walked through the city and enjoyed the spring weather.  We crossed Wacker Drive and took in the view of city skyscrapers along the Chicago River.

The students explored the Chicago Theater which first open on October 26, 1921.  The theater hosts an ornate atmosphere that transports theater participants into the times of Louis XIV of Versailles.

The theater entrance opens to a staircase that was modeled after the Opera House in Paris.   In the 1920s, two women dressed in the baroque style would stand: one at the bottom and the other at the top of the stairs to point silently in the direction that movie goers needed to travel to find their seats.

As movie goers proceeded to the second floor, they would find mirrors and would be able to view the intricate details of the theater.

The Chicago Theater initially showed silent films and an organist would play the sound track.  Actors relied on telling the story with their facial expressions and actions.  This is the original organ that may be found at the foot of the stage of the Chicago Theater.

After our tour, the students traveled to the Chicago History Museum to learn about some of the early film technology, studio productions, and actors. William Selig, a magician and theater manager, decided to open up the first movie studio in Chicago.

The Selig Polyscope Studio, located on Irving and Western (a few feet from St. Benedict Preparatory School),  opened in 1897 and covered three acres. The studio served several purposes: writing movies, building sets, hiring actors, and filming productions.