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Category:    Home > Reviews > Drama > In Old Chicago

In Old Chicago

 

Picture: C+     Sound: C+     Extras: B-     Film: B+

 

 

Somehow over the years this little gem slipped through the viewing cracks, but it’s a real pleasure to get to finally see the film in what would appear to be a stellar edition.  In Old Chicago is the fictional story of the O’Leary Family that started the Great Fire of Chicago by mishap of a cow, I am sure most remember the song. 

 

The film stars some really great talents like Tyrone Power, Alicia Faye, and one of my favorites Don Ameche.  The film is also directed by Henry King, who managed to be a successful silent film director, carried over his talents to the ‘talkies’ and became a solid director onward who worked on many Fox productions, including The Song of Bernadette and Love is A Many-Splendored Thing.  It’s apparent that most of his films became Academy nominated, but seldom people talk about Henry King today. 

 

Given the age of the film, it can be expected to have some wear and tear, but Fox comes through once again by delivering the goods.  The film actually is on both sides of the disc with the theatrical version on one side and the ‘roadshow’ version on the other.  Even though it’s from 1937 you can still see some of the money that spent into making the production of the 1871 fire in Chicago.  In fact, this was one of the most expensive films of its time costing nearly 2 million. 

 

The high point of this release is without a doubt the two presentations and some of the extras, while the low point will be the still problematic picture quality.  While Fox’s efforts are certainly appreciated to restore this film, there is still unfortunately a lot of softness and grain that will distract some viewers.  The print is virtually free from major dirt and debris distractions, but the softness is quite abundant.  It would take a major restoration to fix these problems and that would depend predominately on the sources that are available and whether or not the original negative exists or if it was lost in a fire in Chicago as well, just kidding.  The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono is expectably just mediocre and also shows age, but is acceptable.

 

The road show edition runs about an hour and 50 minutes as opposed to the shortened theatrical version that runs about an hour and 35 minutes.  I prefer the shorter version in this case as it gets all of the main details together in a much more cohesive and quick way.  In my humble opinion if you can tell the same story just as effectively without losing any major plot or story development than make the film as short as possible.  The only time I prefer directors or extended cuts is when it actually helps the film, but both versions here are acceptable for sure. 

 

The only two extras aside from having both versions, is the A&E Biography on Don Ameche that is fascinating the Movietone news that has become a fixture on these Fox Studio Classics.  Overall a good film with a decent enough DVD edition to pick up if the price is right.

 

 

-   Nate Goss


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