Ferris Bueller’s Chicago
Wednesday, 24th October 2012 by Noel Ballantyne
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.
About the author
Noel is from Sligo, NW Ireland. He is a very active member of the GE BBS forums, and likes to travel, especially to concerts when band’s tours do not visit Ireland. I can contacted on twitter @noelballantyne
Wow, memories… It blows my mind that you can zoom into the little girl’s face in the painting at the Art Institute just like Cameron did in the actual movie.
The fact that Ferris’ house isn’t even in Chicago lends credence to the theory that he’s just a figment of Cameron’s troubled mind, kind of like Tyler Durden in Fight Club. http://www.cracked.com/article/18367_6-insane-fan-theories-that-actually-make-great-movies-better
Without wishing to sound pedantic, but more to celebrate a little bit of the UK in Chicago, Sears Tower was renamed Willis Tower in July 2009. The company was founded by Henry Willis in London in 1828 and is the world’s third-largest insurance broker. Willis secured the naming rights as part of its agreement to lease 140,000 square feet of the tower’s floor space.
FWIW, there isn’t a single Chicagoan who refers to it by any name other than “Sears Tower.” Even my one coworker whose last name is “Willis.” As a transplant, I, of course, always call it the Willis Tower, just to annoy everyone else.