Ferris Bueller’s Chicago

Wednesday, 24th October 2012 by

In 1986, Matthew Broderick starred as Ferris Bueller in the now classic Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and inspired a whole generation of kids to aim so much higher when taking an "unscheduled day-off". Today we're going on a tour of the some of the key locations from the movie.

Directed by the late, great John Hughes the movie is set mainly in Chicago, on a day in which Ferris Bueller decides to take the day off from school. The day starts at Ferris's family home, which is not actually to be found in his hometown of Winnetka, Illinois, but rather over 2,000 miles away near Long Beach, California.

In the movie, Ferris convinces his friend Cameron (is is also having a day off) to borrow his father's prized 1961 Ferrari GT California from his home to take them on a trip to Chicago. The house (including garage) was actually up for sale last year for just $1.65 million.

Once they have the Ferrari on the road, they stop off to collect Ferris's girlfriend Sloane from Glenbrook North High School.

Whilst in Chicago, the trio visit Sears Tower (which is so tall it was hard to get a good Google Street View shot of it), watch stocks being traded at the Chicago Board of Trade, and watch a baseball game at Wrigley Field.

A trip to the Art Institute of Chicago follows, where Cameron is fixated by Seurat's Un dimanche après-midi à l'Île de la Grande Jatte, which we can see up close on Street View thanks to the Google Art Project.

Finishing off the day is an American-German parade on Dearborn Street, where Alexander Calder's Flamingo can be seen in the background of this scene.

If you haven't actually seen Ferris Bueller's Day Off (where have you been for the last quarter century?) then you should definitely watch it - and make sure to keep an eye out for these locations!

Thanks to movie-locations.com and the IMDB for helping me find the places featured in this article.