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61 years ago this September 30, newly-minted movie star James Dean, with an ace Porsche racing mechanic riding in the passenger seat, wrecked his brand-new Porsche Spyder on a remote northern California highway, bringing to an end his own turbulent 24-year-old life. The gone-too-soon Hollywood rebel read more

61 years ago this September 30, newly-minted movie star James Dean, with an ace Porsche racing mechanic riding in the passenger seat, wrecked his brand-new Porsche Spyder on a remote northern California highway, bringing to an end his own turbulent 24-year-old life. The gone-too-soon Hollywood rebel read more

61 years ago this September 30, newly-minted movie star James Dean, with an ace Porsche racing mechanic riding in the passenger seat, wrecked his brand-new Porsche Spyder on a remote northern California highway, bringing to an end his own turbulent 24-year-old life. The gone-too-soon Hollywood rebel read more

Chicago Film Club field trip: “On the Waterfront” April 24 at ShowPlace ICON at Roosevelt Road Where: ShowPlace ICON, 150 W Roosevelt Road, Chicago, IL 60605 When: April 24 Time: 2:00 p.m.  Hosted by Stephen Reginald Run Time: 2 hours (approximate) Ticketing: Tickets are read more

Chicago Film Club field trip: “The Maltese Falcon” February 21 at ShowPlace ICON at Roosevelt Road Where: ShowPlace ICON, 150W Roosevelt Road, Chicago, IL 60605 When: February 21, 2015 Time: 2:00 p.m. Hosted by Stephen Reginald Run Time: 2 hours (approximate) Ticketing: Tickets a read more

Chicago Film Club Field Trip: "Miracle on 34th Street" December 20 at AMC East Where: AMC East 21, 322 East Illinois, Chicago, IL When: December 20, 2015 Time: 2:00 p.m. Hosted by Stephen Reginald Run Time: 1 hour 50 minutes (approximate) Special Fathom Feature: Enjoy a specially produced i read more

Chicago Film Club Holiday Movie: “The Bishop’s Wife” December 5, 2015 at The Daystar Center What: Screening of The Bishop's Wife Where: The Venue 1550 at the Daystar Center, 1550 S. State Street, Chicago, IL When: December 5, 2015 Time: 6:30 p.m. Hosted by Stephen Reginald Jo read more

Chicago Film Club field trip: “Roman Holiday” November 29 at The AMC East Where: AMC East 21, 322 East Illinois, Chicago, IL When: November 29, 2015 Time: 2:00 p.m. Hosted by Stephen Reginald Special Fathom Feature: Enjoy a specially produced introduction from Turner Classic Movies read more

Before Hollywood, there was Chicago… As a Chicago native, I’ve always been fascinated by my town’s place in early cinema. After all, this was the place for moviemaking. The filmmaking industry had not yet been localized to sunny California just yet. As the manager at my internship with Essanay read more

Mrs. O'Leary and her troublesome cow make their obligatory appearance in this 20th Century Fox tale of urban disaster, which lets the viewer know up front that In Old Chicago (1937) is more a fable than a history lesson. Like the earlier San Francisco (1936), this picture sets a very personal story read more

Mrs. O'Leary and her troublesome cow make their obligatory appearance in this 20th Century Fox tale of urban disaster, which lets the viewer know up front that In Old Chicago (1937) is more a fable than a history lesson. Like the earlier San Francisco (1936), this picture sets a very personal story read more

Mrs. O'Leary and her troublesome cow make their obligatory appearance in this 20th Century Fox tale of urban disaster, which lets the viewer know up front that In Old Chicago (1937) is more a fable than a history lesson. Like the earlier San Francisco (1936), this picture sets a very personal story read more

  Murder in the Windy City: The Story Behind “Chicago” The story of Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly has been told time and time again in the form of musicals, Broadway shows and films, but it began as a play written by a Chicago Tribune writer who spent part of her career chronicling the cases of read more

  The Diamond from the Sky: American’s Crown Jewel The serial film was nothing new when the American Film Manufacturing Company released “The Diamond from the Sky” in 1915. In fact, just months before, the Thanhouser Film Corporation had wrapped up their hugely successful 23-part serial read more

  Flying High With Flying A in the Windy City: The American Film Manufacturing Company Formed by Samuel Hutchinson and Charles Hite, the American Film Manufacturing Company was incorporated in 1910 and held the distinction of being the only independent film company in Chicago. Hite had years of read more

  The Little Colonel Meets Poe: Henry B. Walthall at Essanay Henry B. Walthall is widely remembered today for his performance as The Little Colonel in D.W. Griffith’s controversial “The Birth of a Nation,” and for his work under Griffith at the Biograph company. What often gets overlooked read more

  S & A and the Windy City Though not the first film studio to be built and based in Chicago, Essanay grew to be one of the largest and most popular of the Chicago-based studios. The sheer number of photoplayers, directors and screenwriters that it discovered, nurtured and propelled to star read more

  Lions and Tigers and Colonel Selig In the early days of silent cinema, Chicago was responsible for 20% of the total output of the US film industry. One of the biggest contributors to this staggering statistic was Chicago’s own Selig Polyscope Company. What was the reason for the company’s read more

The Selig Polyscope Company and the Birth of Film in the Windy City “Colonel” William Selig By the time William N. Selig died in 1948, he had produced thousands of films via the Selig Polyscope Company, discovered a number of silent film stars, and had been recognized as a true pioneer i read more

  Before there was Hollywood, there was Chicago Dancing Annabelle Whitford The city of Chicago and the film industry have shared a connection since the days of Thomas Edison. Chicago-based dancer Annabelle Whitford was chosen as one of Edison’s first film subjects, Gloria Swanson and Colleen read more