rickdumesnil-55203 I'm sick and tired of hearing about Tyrone Power being just a pretty boy image. there were bandits pirates crooks who must have been good looking you know. Power was a looker but above all a dam good actor. he could play any role with ease and they were always well rendered. his work in IN OLF CHICAGO is impeccable and he Alice Brady and Andy Divine give good performances. know the history might be far fetched...but this is entertainment guys. Alice Faye i found fair in this one her role was not important enough but her singing brought diversity in the film. don ameche was good too. I'm sorry but TYRONE POWER was not just a pretty face......look at the good job he did in NIGHTMARE ALLEY WITNESS TO PROSECUTION AND ABANDON SHIP....what did you want him to do set his face on fire so he could be ugly.

wes-connors 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

Bill Slocum People talk about the strengths of Golden Age cinema, and I believe in them, too, but watching "In Old Chicago" is to be reminded of the weaknesses:Thin characterizations. Overtly posed close-ups. Clichéd dialogue. Strained humor. Implausible romances. Improbable coincidences.It's all there in this early disaster movie, which depending on the version you see is either 100 minutes or 70 minutes of windy exposition followed by 25 minutes of fiery, building-crushing spectacle when the Great Fire of 1871 roars through Chi-town, courtesy of Mrs. O'Leary's cow.Alice Brady won an Oscar playing the legendary Mrs. O'Leary, though her solid performance only looks stellar compared to the rest of the cast. History tells us it wasn't her cow that caused the fire, yet this cinematic retelling has Mrs. O at the heart of everything having to do with old Chicago, with one son (Don Ameche) an earnest reformer and another (Tyrone Power) the corrupt power behind the throne. Their father died foreseeing a time when the O'Learys would "put their mark" on the city, and this they do, even before they burn it to cinders.The two O'Leary boys have this habit of coming to blows often but then reuniting very earnestly, facing the camera with happy smiles and declarations of sudden unity.As they often say in this movie: "We O'Learys are a strange tribe." "Strange" doesn't cover it.Power's character, Dion O'Leary, falls hard for saloon singer Belle Fawcett, whose job gives Alice Faye plenty of excuses for dressing up and delivering a series of hokey musical numbers. Dion pleads his case with Belle by wrestling her to the floor and ignoring her pleas to let him go until she returns his kisses passionately. Being he's Tyrone Power, this might even work. But could anyone get away with lines like his "We've fought, and maybe we'll go on fighting, but we'll do it – together!"Power does get credited for shedding his pretty-boy persona later in his career with harrowing war service and some tougher parts, but here he's all dimple-cheeked smiles and goo-goo eyes. Even when the script has him backstabbing nominal villain Brian Donlevy (really not that bad a guy compared to Dion through most of the film, though presented here as someone to root against only because he's played by Donlevy), Power can't muster up enough gas to make his skullduggery convincing.There's a tonal problem with the film. Director Henry King seems split between whether to make "In Old Chicago" a drama, a comedy, or a musical, so he tries for a bit of each, sometimes in tandem. The result is odd bits of pathos like Father O'Leary's death crammed up next to a scene where a fat woman is dropped in a mud puddle. Only in the last 20 minutes, when it becomes a full-fledged disaster film, does it find focus, and then only as spectacle with powerful scenics, like people walking on rooftops dwarfed by the fires raging behind them, or buildings raining masonry on the heads of fleeing victims.The focus on the O'Learys remains, however, as tired and improbable as ever, with Brady and Power left to deliver some final lines to the camera about Chicago emerging stronger and better from this disaster. It's all such hooey you almost wish for a lingering piece of masonry to tumble down upon them. But then someone would have to make still another speech about how they didn't die in vain, and then "In Old Chicago" would never end.

Spikeopath This is the fictional story of the O'Leary family and the birth of the Great Fire of Chicago.Big budget, big stars and a completely big production, In Old Chicago may be deemed as a Zanuck cash in on the previous years MGM eye opener, San Francisco, it is however a wonderful picture that features two differing halves of worth. Casting aside historical accuracy (lets really not go down that road in cinema history), this Henry King directed piece firstly engages us as a jaunty family character piece, only to then pull the rug from underneath us to let in political intrigue, deception, down right ugliness and a near $2 million fire besieged Chicago!Tyrone Power, Don Ameche, Alice Faye, Alice Brady (Best Supporting Actress Academy Award) and Brian Donlevy all line up to entertain the viewers, all possibly aware that they are merely the starter course for the extravagant main course that will be the 20 minute final reel of panic and burning disaster. Yet to focus merely on the fire itself, and the effects that some 70 years later still impact smartly, is to do the first half a disservice, characters are formed and the story is fully fleshed to make the wait for the fire completely worth our time. It's no history lesson for sure but the devilment of some characters, and the ineptitude of some others, more than make this an essential watch for fans of 30s cinema. 7.5/10