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{{short description|1927 film by Frank John Urson}}
{{Short description|1927 film by Frank John Urson}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Infobox film
{{Infobox film
| name = Chicago
| name = Chicago
⚫
| director = [[Frank Urson]]
| image = Chicago lobby card.jpg
| image = Chicago lobby card.jpg
| caption=Lobby card
| caption = Lobby card
⚫
| director = [[Frank Urson]]<br/>[[Cecil B. DeMille]] (uncredited)
| image size =
| producer = [[Cecil B. DeMille]]
| screenplay = [[Lenore J. Coffee]]
⚫
| based_on = {{based on|''[[Chicago (play)|Chicago]]''|[[Maurine Dallas Watkins]]}}
| writer = [[Lenore J. Coffee]]
| producer = Cecil B. DeMille
⚫
| based on = {{based on|''[[Chicago (play)|Chicago]]''|[[Maurine Dallas Watkins]]}}
| starring = [[Phyllis Haver]]<br>[[Julia Faye]]<br>[[Victor Varconi]]<br>[[May Robson]]
| starring = {{plainlist|
* [[Phyllis Haver]]
* [[Julia Faye]]
* [[Victor Varconi]]
* [[May Robson]]
}}
| cinematography = [[J. Peverell Marley]]
| cinematography = [[J. Peverell Marley]]
| editing = [[Anne Bauchens]]
| editing = [[Anne Bauchens]]
| distributor = [[Pathé|Pathé Exchange]]
| distributor = [[Pathé Exchange]]
| released = {{film date|1927|12|27}}
| released = {{film date|1927|12|27}}
| runtime = 118 minutes
| runtime = 103 minutes
| country = United States
| country = United States
| language = [[Silent film|Silent]] (English [[intertitle]]s)
| language = [[Silent film|Silent]] (English [[intertitle]]s)
| budget = $303,306<ref name="Birchard">{{cite book |last=Birchard |first=Robert S. |author-link= |title=Cecil B. DeMille's Hollywood |publisher=University Press of Kentucky |year=2009 |at=Appendix A |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h8I1dEf7GqIC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false |isbn=978-0-8131-2324-0}}</ref>
| budget = $303,306<ref name="Birchard">{{cite book |last=Birchard |first=Robert S. |title=Cecil B. DeMille's Hollywood |publisher=University Press of Kentucky |year=2009 |at=Appendix A |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h8I1dEf7GqIC |isbn=978-0-8131-2324-0}}</ref>
| gross = $483,165<ref name="Birchard"/>
| gross = $483,165<ref name="Birchard"/>
}}
}}
[[File:Chicago (1927) by Frank John Urson.webm | thumb|The full film]]

'''''Chicago''''' is a 1927 American [[silent film|silent]] [[crime film|crime]] [[comedy-drama]] film produced by [[Cecil B. DeMille]] and directed by [[Frank Urson]]. The first [[film adaptation]] of [[Maurine Dallas Watkins]]' [[Chicago (play)|play of the same name]], the film stars [[Phyllis Haver]] as [[Roxie Hart]], a fame-obsessed housewife who kills her lover in cold blood and, after trying to coerce her husband into taking the blame, is put on trial for murder.<ref name="afi">{{cite web|url=https://catalog.afi.com/Film/3282-CHICAGO |title=Chicago |work=afi.com |access-date=April 6, 2024}}</ref><ref name="silentera">{{cite web |url=https://www.silentera.com/PSFL/data/C/Chicago1927.html |title=Progressive Silent Film List: ''Chicago'' |access-date=April 6, 2024 |publisher=silentera.com}}</ref>
'''''Chicago''''' is a 1927 American [[comedy-drama]] [[silent film]] produced by [[Cecil B. DeMille]] and directed by [[Frank Urson]].


==Plot==
==Plot==
The plot of the film is drawn from the play ''[[Chicago (play)|Chicago]]'' by [[Maurine Dallas Watkins]] which was in turn based on the true story of [[Beulah Annan]], fictionalized as [[Roxie Hart]] ([[Phyllis Haver]]), and her spectacular murder of her boyfriend.
The plot of the film is drawn from the 1926 play ''[[Chicago (play)|Chicago]]'' by [[Maurine Dallas Watkins]] which was in turn based on the true story of [[Beulah Annan]], fictionalized as [[Roxie Hart]] ([[Phyllis Haver]]), and her spectacular murder of her boyfriend.


The silent film adds considerably to the material in Watkins' play, some additions based on the original murder, and some for Hollywood considerations. The murder, which occurs in a very brief vignette before the play begins, is fleshed out considerably. Also, Roxie's husband Amos Hart (played by Victor Varconi) has a much more sympathetic and active role in the film than he does either in the play or in the subsequent musical. The ending is crueler to Roxie, in keeping with Hollywood values of not allowing criminals to profit too much from their crimes (although she ''does'' get away with murder).
The silent film adds considerably to the material in Watkins' play, some additions based on the original murder, and some for Hollywood considerations. The murder, which occurs in a very brief vignette before the play begins, is fleshed out considerably. Also, Roxie's husband Amos Hart has a much more sympathetic and active role in the film than he does either in the play or in the subsequent musical. The original ending is altered to have Roxie punished for her crime.


==Cast==
==Cast==
Line 32: Line 37:
* [[Victor Varconi]] as Amos Hart
* [[Victor Varconi]] as Amos Hart
* [[Virginia Bradford]] as Katie
* [[Virginia Bradford]] as Katie
* [[Robert Edeson]] as [[Billy Flynn (Chicago)|Billy Flynn]]
* [[Robert Edeson]] as [[Billy Flynn (Chicago)|William Flynn]]
* [[Eugene Pallette]] as Fred Casely
* [[Eugene Pallette]] as Rodney Casley
* [[Warner Richmond]] as Asst. District Attorney
* [[Warner Richmond]] as Asst. District Attorney
* [[T. Roy Barnes]] as Reporter
* [[T. Roy Barnes]] as Reporter
* [[Clarence Burton]] as Police sergeant
* [[Clarence Burton]] as Police sergeant
* [[Julia Faye]] as [[Velma Kelly]]
* [[Julia Faye]] as [[Velma Kelly|Velma]]
* [[May Robson]] as Matron Mama Morton
* [[May Robson]] as Matron Mrs. Morton
* Viola Louie as Two Gun Rosie
* Viola Louie as Two Gun Rosie


==Preservation status==
==Preservation and availability==
Complete prints of ''Chicago'' are held by:
The film was long difficult to see, but a recent print was made available from the [[UCLA Film and Television Archive]], enabling the film to play at festivals and historic theaters around the country. This has greatly improved the reputation of the film.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.silentera.com/PSFL/data/C/Chicago1927.html|title=Progressive Silent Film List: ''Chicago''|work=silentera.com}}</ref>


* [[Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée|Archives du Film du CNC]]
A print of ''Chicago'' also survives at Gosfilmofond Russian State Archives.
* [[CINEMATEK|Cinematheque Royale de Belgique]]
* Filmoteka Narodowa in [[Warsaw]]
* [[Museum Of Modern Art]] (on [[35 mm movie film|35 mm]] and [[16 mm film|16 mm]])
* [[Gosfilmofond]]
* [[Arhiva Națională de Filme]]
* [[George Eastman Museum]]
* [[UCLA Film and Television Archive]] (on 35&nbsp;mm)
* [[Cinémathèque française]]<ref name="American Silent Feature Film Database">{{cite web |url=https://memory.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.mbrs.sfdb.132/ |title=American Silent Feature Film Database: ''Chicago'' |access-date=April 6, 2024 |publisher=Library of Congress}}</ref>

The film was long difficult to see, but in 2006 the UCLA Film and Television Archive restored a 35&nbsp;mm print, which was screened at Kansas Silent Film Festival in 2007.<ref name="afi"/> Flicker Alley released the film on [[DVD]] in 2010<ref name="silentera-HV">{{cite web |url=https://www.silentera.com/video/chicagoHV.html |title=Silent Era Films on Home Video: ''Chicago'' |access-date=April 6, 2024 |publisher=silentera.com}}</ref> and later on [[Blu-ray]] on October 6, 2020.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Chicago-Blu-ray/277731/|title=Chicago Blu-ray}}</ref>

==Adaptations==
The plot was [[Chicago (musical)|adapted into a stage musical in 1975]] with music and lyrics by [[John Kander]] and [[Fred Ebb]] and received mixed reviews. A 1996 [[New York City Center|City Center]] [[Encores!]] production received critical acclaim and later transferred to Broadway, ultimately becoming the [[List_of_the_longest-running_Broadway_shows|longest-running musical revival on Broadway]].<ref>Leve, James. [https://books.google.com/books?id=IvJZVyrt-nUC&q=%22James+Leve%22+%22Chicago%22+Kander ''Kander and Ebb''] ''Kander and Ebb'', Yale University Press, 2009, {{ISBN|0-300-11487-7}}, p. 6</ref> The stage musical was made into a [[Chicago (2002 film)|musical film in 2002]], starring [[Renée Zellweger]] as Roxie, [[Catherine Zeta-Jones]] as fellow murderess [[Velma Kelly]], [[Richard Gere]] as [[Billy Flynn (Chicago)|Billy Flynn]], [[Queen Latifah]] as Mama Morton, and [[John C. Reilly]] as Amos. The film was also a hit and won the [[75th_Academy_Awards|Academy Award for Best Picture]] in 2003.


==See also==
==See also==
Line 52: Line 70:


==References==
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*Zsófia Anna Tóth. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20160305084939/http://doktoriiskola.biforium.hu/tezisek/toth_zsofia_anna.pdf The Merry Murderers”: The Farcical (Re)Figuration of the Femme Fatale in Maurine Dallas Watkins’ Chicago (1927) and its various adaptations]. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Szeged, 2010.
*"[http://americanaejournal.hu/vol4no1/toth The Representation of Aggressive Women in Various Adaptations of Maurine Dallas Watkins's Chicago]," Americana: Ejournal of American Studies in Hungary, 4 (1), Spring 2008.


==External links==
==External links==
* {{commons category-inline}}
* {{wikisource-inline|single=yes|Chicago (film)}}
*{{IMDb title|0017750|Chicago}}
*{{IMDb title|0017750|Chicago}}
*{{allmovie|87105|Synopsis}}
*{{allMovie title|87105|Synopsis}}
*[http://moviessilently.com/2014/03/30/chicago-1927-a-silent-film-review/ Stills] at moviessilently.com
*[http://moviessilently.com/2014/03/30/chicago-1927-a-silent-film-review/ Stills] at moviessilently.com
*Chicago (good print of entire film) on [https://classicfreemovies.com/movies/chicago/ Classic Free Movies]


{{Chicago (play/musical)}}
{{Chicago (play/musical)}}
{{Authority control}}


[[Category:1927 films]]
[[Category:1927 films]]
[[Category:1920s comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:1927 comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:1920s crime films]]
[[Category:1927 crime films]]
[[Category:American films]]
[[Category:1920s American films]]
⚫
[[Category:1920s crime comedy-drama films]]
⚫
[[Category:1920s English-language films]]
⚫
[[Category:1920s rediscovered films]]
[[Category:American black-and-white films]]
[[Category:American black-and-white films]]
[[Category:American comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:American crime comedy-drama films]]
⚫
[[Category:American crime films]]
⚫
[[Category:American silent feature films]]
⚫
[[Category:English-language films]]
[[Category:American films based on plays]]
[[Category:American films based on plays]]
[[Category:Films set in Chicago]]
[[Category:American silent feature films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Frank Urson]]
[[Category:Films directed by Frank Urson]]
[[Category:Films set in Chicago]]
[[Category:Pathé Exchange films]]
[[Category:Pathé Exchange films]]
[[Category:Rediscovered American films]]

{{silent-comedy-drama-film-stub}}
[[Category:Silent American comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:Silent crime comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:Surviving American silent films]]
[[Category:English-language crime comedy-drama films]]

Latest revision as of 01:57, 13 November 2024

Chicago
Lobby card
Directed byFrank Urson
Cecil B. DeMille (uncredited)
Screenplay byLenore J. Coffee
Based onChicago
by Maurine Dallas Watkins
Produced byCecil B. DeMille
Starring
CinematographyJ. Peverell Marley
Edited byAnne Bauchens
Distributed byPathé Exchange
Release date
  • December 27, 1927 (1927-12-27)
Running time
103 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageSilent (English intertitles)
Budget$303,306[1]
Box office$483,165[1]
The full film

Chicago is a 1927 American silent crime comedy-drama film produced by Cecil B. DeMille and directed by Frank Urson. The first film adaptation of Maurine Dallas Watkins' play of the same name, the film stars Phyllis Haver as Roxie Hart, a fame-obsessed housewife who kills her lover in cold blood and, after trying to coerce her husband into taking the blame, is put on trial for murder.[2][3]

Plot

[edit]

The plot of the film is drawn from the 1926 play Chicago by Maurine Dallas Watkins which was in turn based on the true story of Beulah Annan, fictionalized as Roxie Hart (Phyllis Haver), and her spectacular murder of her boyfriend.

The silent film adds considerably to the material in Watkins' play, some additions based on the original murder, and some for Hollywood considerations. The murder, which occurs in a very brief vignette before the play begins, is fleshed out considerably. Also, Roxie's husband Amos Hart has a much more sympathetic and active role in the film than he does either in the play or in the subsequent musical. The original ending is altered to have Roxie punished for her crime.

Cast

[edit]

Preservation and availability

[edit]

Complete prints of Chicago are held by:

The film was long difficult to see, but in 2006 the UCLA Film and Television Archive restored a 35 mm print, which was screened at Kansas Silent Film Festival in 2007.[2] Flicker Alley released the film on DVD in 2010[5] and later on Blu-ray on October 6, 2020.[6]

Adaptations

[edit]

The plot was adapted into a stage musical in 1975 with music and lyrics by John Kander and Fred Ebb and received mixed reviews. A 1996 City Center Encores! production received critical acclaim and later transferred to Broadway, ultimately becoming the longest-running musical revival on Broadway.[7] The stage musical was made into a musical film in 2002, starring Renée Zellweger as Roxie, Catherine Zeta-Jones as fellow murderess Velma Kelly, Richard Gere as Billy Flynn, Queen Latifah as Mama Morton, and John C. Reilly as Amos. The film was also a hit and won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 2003.

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Birchard, Robert S. (2009). Cecil B. DeMille's Hollywood. University Press of Kentucky. Appendix A. ISBN 978-0-8131-2324-0.
  2. ^ a b "Chicago". afi.com. Retrieved April 6, 2024.
  3. ^ "Progressive Silent Film List: Chicago". silentera.com. Retrieved April 6, 2024.
  4. ^ "American Silent Feature Film Database: Chicago". Library of Congress. Retrieved April 6, 2024.
  5. ^ "Silent Era Films on Home Video: Chicago". silentera.com. Retrieved April 6, 2024.
  6. ^ "Chicago Blu-ray".
  7. ^ Leve, James. Kander and Ebb Kander and Ebb, Yale University Press, 2009, ISBN 0-300-11487-7, p. 6
[edit]
  • Media related to Chicago (1927 film) at Wikimedia Commons
  • The full text of Chicago (film) at Wikisource
  • Chicago at IMDb
  • ‹The template AllMovie title is being considered for deletion.› Synopsis at AllMovie
  • Stills at moviessilently.com
  • Chicago (good print of entire film) on Classic Free Movies
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