I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

With an intriguing subject and a talented cast (Don Ameche, Alice Faye, Alice Brady, Tyrone Power) and director (Henry King), 'In Old Chicago' immediately sparked my interest (regarding watching it) and had a lot going for it.Having seen it, 'In Old Chicago' is a little disappointing and more left me relatively lukewarm rather than properly ignited. However, there is more than enough to make it worth a view, even if urges for re-watching are slim. It has often been compared to 'San Fracisco', and often unfavourably, there are similarities between the two and while it is understandable (and agreed) that 'In Old Chicago' is the inferior film of the two there is still enough to make it watchable at least once.'In Old Chicago' looks great, with the cinematography being handsomely mounted but with enough grit to not make it over-glossy and also with elegant but atmospheric costume and set design. For the time and for now as well, the special effects in the final twenty minutes detailing the famous fire disaster are staggeringly good. The music score is energetic and vibrant enough, with luscious orchestration, while also with an atmosphere that stops it from sounding too melodramatic or too chirpy. The songs, while not classics as such, are pleasant enough, a few of them (such as the title song) sung beautifully by Alice Faye.King directs with a meticulous eye for detail, great urgency and tension in the final twenty minutes and good direction of the actors, even if he doesn't quite succeed as well with the script and overall momentum of the story. The final twenty minutes are utterly riveting, and by far 'In Old Chicago's' dramatic highlight, with boundless tension, urgency and with visuals that give the full impact of the disaster rather than being too small scale due to budget hindrances or something.The cast is a good one and perform well. Alice Brady shows a different side to her, and brings sincerity and authority to her mother figure role. Ameche is likable and charming, while Power shows that he was more than an actor with just good looks in a performance that has handsome suavity and reckless charisma. His fight with Ameche is well handled. Andy Devine and Brian Donlevy are strong in support. Faye sings beautifully and is lovely enough but doesn't have very much to do in a somewhat underwritten role.On the other hand, 'In Old Chicago' does drag and meander quite badly in spots, with the main plot-line having its fair share of leaden melodrama and there is a lot of overlong scene-setting that could have been shortened or completely cut. There are also subplots that either don't go anywhere much, or are wrapped up too quickly or neatly.The script has the odd heartfelt and thought-provoking moment, but much of it is laid on too thick with syrup and sugar in the melodramatic parts while the grittier subjects that it tries to tackle later on (which would have made for a more interesting film if handled a little better) were either handled too heavy-handedly or too safely, which did on each side diminish any conflict. Tonally, with trying to have more than one element, it does feel confused and unfocused at times. All in all, crackles in the final twenty minutes but apart from enough to keep one watching was somewhat of a lukewarm experience on the whole. Not a bad film, a long way from, just was expecting more. 6/10 Bethany Cox

Along with "San Francisco" this is one of the first Hollywood "disaster" movies, establishing the genre where we get drawn into the characters lives for the first half-to three quarters of the film, and then watch the place explode/sink/burn in the final quarter. This Fox relic is actually pretty good, because it doesn't run too long, and director Henry King handles the personal drama as well as he does the Chicago Fire of 1871. Tyrone Power and Don Ameche are unlikely as Irish brothers, but are pleasant all the same as the likable rogue of the O'Leary clan (Power) and the idealist (Ameche). Power, along with his sweetheart showgirl Alice Faye, is making a monza from his saloon in the rough area of Chicago, but mayor Ameche wants it cleaned up. Cue human drama and political conflict, as well as romantic complications, as the smooth Power is willing to use Faye to his advantage in getting a better deal for himself. Faye was made a big star by this film but I don't really understand her appeal. She's not very attractive and her singing voice sounds strange. Alice Brady won Best Supporting Actress as Ma O'Leary and she's good, but the part isn't exactly challenging. Fox costume films never looked quite as sumptuous as MGM productions did in this period, due to budget constraints, but this one does a good job in capturing the feel of the era, even if most of the story is complete fiction

Although it's not the same town,and not the same kind of disaster ,"in old Chicago" bears more than a distance resemblance with Van Dyke's "San Francisco" .Both works feature an actress/singer,Alice Faye in the former,Jeanette MacDonald in the latter and both feature songs aplenty:they are more various in Van Dyke's work,for McDonald had a higher range than Faye :she even sings Gounod's "Air des Bijoux" ."In old Chicago" has a rather interesting screenplay : Pat'O' Leary's death,before he reached the promise land ,reminds me of Mosis.The great fire makes me think of Roma and Nero;after all ,Jack wanted the Patch to be destroyed ;of course he did not start the fire(and anyway many historians think that Roma's fire was accidental too.) Both "San Francisco" and "in old Chicago" avoid all the clichés which would mar the seventies movie disasters so badly.No cardboard characters but men and women made of flesh and blood.My favorites scene is not even the spectacular one.It's the family's Irish square dance.

IN OLD CHICAGO (20th Century-Fox, 1937/38), directed by Henry King, is a prestigious production inspired by MGM's SAN FRANCISCO (1936) climaxed by the earthquake that destroyed the city in 1906, thus, the birth of natural disaster films. Headed by the youthful trio of Tyrone Power, Alice Faye and Don Ameche, all with only a few years into the movie business, it is veteran actress Alice Brady, best known for her scatterbrained society matrons of numerous comedies, who stands out with her change of pace characterization. Also playing against type is musical star Alice Faye in a rare dramatic performance. With her name on the marquee, one would assumed this to be a turn-of-the-century Technicolor musical. Granted, it's a dramatic story with some doses of comedy and production numbers, but no Technicolor, which would have benefited with its lavish sets and periodic costumes. IN OLD CHICAGO can be best summed up as a fictionalized story of the O'Leary Family, a "strange tribe," and the events leading to the big Chicago fire of 1871.The story opens with a prologue as the O'Leary's traveling on wagon train bound for new beginnings. After racing alongside a passing train just for the fun of it, Patrick (J. Anthony Hughes) meets with an accident that kills him, leaving his wife, Molly (Alice Brady) to rear her three boys (Gene Reynolds, Billy & Bobs Watson) alone. After burying her husband in the plains, the O'Leary's move on, coming to Chicago where Molly earns money washing laundry and settling her family in the slum area known as "the Patch." Moving forward, Molly's boys grow into handsome young men: Jack (Don Ameche), a crusading attorney who's later elected mayor of Chicago; Bob (Tom Brown), the youngest who earns a living driving the family laundry wagon and marrying Gretchen (June Storey), one of his mother's helpers; and Dion (Tyrone Power), a gambler and saloon keeper whose ambitious ways leads him to corruption. Of Molly's three sons, Dion is her biggest concern. She disapproves of his love for Belle Fawcett (Alice Faye), a cabaret singer ("what a woman!") whose involved with Gil Warren (Brain Donlevy), a corrupt political boss who rivals Dion. Situations become complex after Jack learns how his smooth operating brother got him into office but determined to make good at his job, and Dion's methods in using Belle for his own ambitious ways.With the story of secondary importance and the Chicago fire the main event, the added attraction of musical numbers featured include: "I've Taken a Fancy to You" (sung by chorus) by Sidney Clare and Lew Pollack; "Carry Me Back to Old Virginny" (sung by Alice Faye) by James A. Bland; "In Old Chicago" (sung by Faye) by Mack Gordon and Harry Revel; "I'll Never Let You" (sung by Faye); and "Take a Dip in the Sea" (sung by Tyler Brooke).Theatrically released at close to two hours (112 minutes), IN OLD CHICAGO was a top-grossing film of the day, and it shows. It's popularity lead to a 1943 reissue cut down by twenty minutes. Since then, the 94 minute edition became the one available to commercial and later cable television markets (American Movie Classics and Fox Movie Channel), as well as video cassette in the 1990s, with the missing material believed to be lost and gone forever. Then around 2002, those missing scenes lifted from IN OLD CHICAGO were discovered and restored to now close to its original play length onto DVD in 2005. The restoration consists the O'Leary family gathered together and praying over the father's grave before continuing on their journey to Chicago; a lengthy courtroom sequence of Jack's first case as a lawyer defending a man (Paul Hurst) with a woman (Thelma Manning) on the witness stand who turns out to be his wife, thus having the judge dismissing the case on the grounds that "a wife cannot testify against her husband," followed by Dion introducing Belle to Jack as they exit the courthouse. The DVD package also features the abridged version on the flip side that had been overexposed on television for decades. In the 1950s, IN OLD CHICAGO was televised as the basis of a one hour show "City in Flames" from "20th Century Fox Hour" (1957), an episode that premiered on the Fox Movie Channel in 2002.Andy Devine, Sidney Blackmer, Phyllis Brooks and Berton Churchill take part in a long list of supporting players. Any similarity between SAN FRANCISCO and IN OLD CHICAGO is purely intentional. The disastrous climax lasts about 20 minutes; the characters of Clark Gable and Tyrone Power are ambitious and loved by singers (Jeanette MacDonald and Alice Faye); both have a third party who takes an interest in the couple (priest Spencer Tracy and brother Don Ameche); and following the natural disaster, both leading men are seen roaming around with a steak of blood down his face. Regardless of similarities, both films became blockbuster hits.Did Mrs. O'Leary's cow actually start the Chicago fire? One thing for certain, the Chicago disaster of 1871 is as part of American history as the motion picture itself, fact or fiction, being associated with cinema history. Now fully restored, IN OLD CHICAGO can be seen and appreciated in its entirety, thanks to film historians and their effort in putting the missing pieces back together again, and Turner Classic Movies for premiering the movie in its long unseen entirety May 29, 2013. (***1/2)