Who payed the critics

Really Surprised!

It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

In 1854, the patriarch Patrick O'Leary (J. Anthony Hughes) of the O 'Leary family dies in an accident nearby Chicago while traveling amid-western prairie. His wife Molly O'Leary (Alice Brady) raises her three sons alone working as laundress. Her son Jack (Don Ameche) becomes an idealistic lawyer; Dion (Tyrone Power) is a gambler; and Bob (Tom Brown) helps his mother in the laundry business and marries local Gretchen (June Storey) in the old area known as The Patch. Dion meets the singer Belle Fawcett (Alice Faye) in the cabaret owned by Gil Warren (Brian Donlevy) and they fall in love with each other and become lovers. They also open a business of their own to compete with Gil that becomes their enemy. However Gil invites Dion to join the politics with him but Dion plots a scheme with tragic consequences."In Old Chicago" is a film with the fictional dramatization of the Great Chicago Fire in 1871. The melodramatic and romantic screenplay follows basically the fictional lives of the Irish brothers Jack and Dion. However it seems that the origin of the fire is precise with the O'Leary cow starting the fire in the barn. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "Na Velha Chicago" ("In Old Chicago")

As I watched this movie, the comparison to the movie Johnny Dangerously started when the two brothers get to mom's home and she is doing the laundry, a fine Irish woman, just like Johnny's mom...and when Dion ask mom to quit doing laundry, well there ya have the first thought... meanwhile his brother the lawyer is trying to make a name for himself while his brother is the gangster. Dion meets his girl (just like Lil in JD) and at first she fights him, then falls in love, Later his brother the lawyer will have to face his brother in court....Then there is the obvious similarities in the way both Michael Keaton and Dion carry themselves, even their eyebrows are sculptured similarly. Keaton must have watched this movie to get tips on how to pull it off.... Coincidence?....Maybe. Still it made me wonder. Rick in Indy.

Irish-American prairie traveler Alice Brady (as Molly O'Leary) suffers tragically before arriving to settle in the somewhat hellish city of Chicago. Starting a successful laundry business, Ms. Brady raises three handsome sons to adulthood. In 1867, they are: rascally star Tyrone Power (as Dion), politically-minded Don Ameche (as jack) and boyish Tom Brown (as Bob). Gambling and dallying with pretty saloon singer Alice Faye (as Belle Fawcett), Mr. Power tests his mother's nerves..."In Old Chicago", Power sets out to put business rival Brian Donlevy (as Gil Warren) out of business, with help from high-pitched pal Andy Devine (as Pickle Bixby). The legendary cow owned by "Mrs. O'Leary" puts her kick into this dramatization. The silliness sets in after some pleasant opening scenes, with the romance and rivalry becoming increasingly tiresome. But do stay tuned for the Twentieth Century-Fox production team to fire up the screen during the apocalyptic ending.******* In Old Chicago (12/31/37) Henry King ~ Tyrone Power, Alice Faye, Alice Brady, Don Ameche

In Old Chicago (1937) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Over-dramatic, overpolitical and overproduced poor man's version of San Francisco picked up several Oscars but I was left really disappointed in the final result. Miss O'Leary (Alice Brady) moves her three sons to Chicago where, when adults, one becomes a crooked businessman (Tyrone Power) and another an attorney (Don Ameche) who butt heads over how the city should be run. All of this leads to the O'Leary cow knocking over a lantern that starts the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. I was really expecting a lot from this film but found it pretty damn dull and lifeless up to the final fifteen minutes when the fire finally breaks out. I'm a fan of Power and Ameche but found both pretty stale here and I wasn't overly impressed with Oscar winner Brady. Alice Faye steals the show as Power's girlfriend and it was fun seeing future horror star Rondo Hutton in a small role. The special effects at the end still look very nice but there's not much else going for this film.