In Old Chicago (1938)

Henry King's In Old Chicago is usually thought of as 20th Century Fox's attempt to emulate and outdo MGM's San Francisco, but its origins go back much further than that. The movie actually owes a great deal more, in story and structure, to The Bowery (1931), the first movie that Darryl F. Zanuck's 20th Century Pictures ever released. Both movies build colorful fiction around historical characters and celebrate a boisterous if sometimes dangerous past in ways that pushed the envelope of good taste, even in their own time. In lieu of Wallace Beery and George Raft, we have Tyrone Power and Brian Donlevy as the primary antagonists who, in this case, battle to the near-death of their city. The movie benefits considerably from opulent production values and a solid supporting performance from Alice Faye as a woman who is convincingly vivacious enough to turn the heads of several key male characters; and Alice Brady adding a memorable turn as the well-intended but ill-fated Mrs. O'Leary, mother of two of the protagonists. Don Ameche also gives a rich, rounded performance as Power's straightarrow brother, and Andy Devine adds some comic grace notes while Rondo Hatton -- with some lines of dialogue, no less -- is hanging about in the background adding menace to the proceedings. And even seven decades later, it seems as though no expense was spared on the climactic fire or the depiction of its aftermath, which is as impressive a screen spectacle as anything seen before Gone With the Wind's burning of Atlanta. Little of what we see is, strictly speaking, accurate or real -- certainly in the drama -- but watching this movie even 70 years later, it sort of makes you wish the reality of life leading up to the Great Chicago Fire had been this much fun. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide