Chicago - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[discussimdb]

Fan of Chicago or just want to share your movie knowledge? This topic is dedicated to all trivia and questions related to Chicago

[mathew]

When Billy Flynn (Richard Gere) is passing by the cells, Hunyak (Ekaterina Chtchelkanova) starts speaking in Hungarian but the final sentence is in Russian. She says, "Help, help me, please."

[manuel]

Deidre Goodwin (June), Denise Faye (Annie), Taye Diggs (bandleader), and Sebastian La Cause (June's husband) were cast members of the "Chicago" revival.

[nora]

The original Broadway non-musical play was previously filmed twice: first as the silent film Chicago (1927) and later as Roxie Hart (1942) starring Ginger Rogers.

[stephanie]

Rob Marshall was originally considered by Miramax Films to direct the screen version of the smash Broadway play "Rent". When he arrived for his interview, he told Miramax Films he wanted to talk about "Chicago" instead and proposed the "musical in Roxie's mind" concept. Miramax Films loved the idea and put "Rent" on the back burner, finally making Rent (2005) three years later.

[ava]

In 2005, this movie was named as one of "The 20 Most Overrated Movies of All Time" by Premiere Magazine.

[jessie]

All of the musical numbers in the movie, except "Roxie", "Mister Cellophane", and "Razzle Dazzle" are introduced by the Bandleader (Taye Diggs).

[jim]

First theatrical movie directed by Rob Marshall.

[ethel]

Named by Entertainment Weekly as one of the "Best 25 Movie Musicals of All Time".

[jeffrey]

Rob Marshall wanted Keanu Reeves for the role of Amos Hart. Charlie Sheen read for the part.

[tammy]

The play "Chicago" was Maurine Dallas Watkins' retelling of two very public murder trials that occurred in Chicago in 1924, those of Beulah Sheriff-Annan and Belva Gaertner. Watkins covered these trials for the Chicago Tribune and wrote the character of Mary Sunshine as a self portrait. For Belva Gaertner (better known as Velma Kelly), she had a much less glitzy fate. She was acquitted and went on to have a few run-ins with the law, but ended up living a semi-normal life before dying of natural causes in California in 1965 at the age of eighty. Although in the case of Beulah Sheriff-Annan (a.k.a. Roxie Hart), it was more of a grisly end. It's true she was acquitted of murdering her lover, thanks to the skills of her highly paid attorney, who was bankrolled by her stunningly loyal husband. She repaid that debt by publicly divorcing him after her release. She married two more times before her death from tuberculosis four years later.

[amber]

Richard Gere took tap dancing lessons for three months. His tap dance scene was shot in half a day.

[cameron]

Queen Latifah played Matron Mama Morton in this movie. She played Charlene Morton in Bringing Down the House (2003).

[charlie]

The $5,000 fee Billy Flynn (Richard Gere) charged Roxie Hart (Renée Zellweger) is worth about $61,500 today.

[linda]

This was cited as one of the movies responsible for prompting the M.P.A.A. to include smoking in their film certification criteria in 2007, due to the numerous instances of smoking from the main characters and ensemble.

[ella]

The 1975 stage musical was an adaptation of a 1926 non-musical play. That version opened at the Music Box Theatre in New York City on December 30, 1926 and ran for one hundred seventy-two performances. The opening night cast included Francine Larrimore as Roxie Hart, Juliette Crosby as Velma Kelly, Edward Ellis as Billy Flynn, Charles Halton as Amos Hart, and Robert Barrat, Charles Bickford, and Ferike Boros. The play was then filmed as Chicago (1927) and Roxie Hart (1942).

[scarlett]

While filming, Catherine Zeta-Jones was also posing for her first Elizabeth Arden, Inc. cosmetics campaign. The photo and filming productions were running almost concurrently and, after a day's Arden shoot was completed, she was carted off to rehearsals for this movie.

[chris]

During "All That Jazz", Velma Kelly says that even "Lucky Lindy never flew so high." This was a nickname given to pioneer aviator and anti-Semite Charles A. Lindbergh.

[scarlett]

Adapted from a 1975 musical play directed and choreographed by Bob Fosse, whose other credits include the movies Cabaret (1972), Lenny (1974), and All That Jazz (1979). The stage musical "Chicago" premiered at the 46th Street Theatre (now known as the Richard Rodgers Theatre) in New York City on May 12, 1975 and ran for nine hundred thirty-six performances. Its opening night cast included Jerry Orbach as Billy Flynn, Chita Rivera as Velma Kelly (Rivera later played Roxie Hart in a 1990s London production and also had a bit part in this movie), Gwen Verdon as Roxie Hart, and Barney Martin as Amos Hart. A 1996 Broadway revival of the musical was even more successful and is still running as of this date (October 2008).

[kim]

There are several differences between this movie and stage versions that presented challenges in bringing this project to the screen. A significant difference is the portrayal of reporter Mary Sunshine (played in this movie by Christine Baranski). In the stage version, Mary Sunshine is played by a very convincing female impersonator who appears to be a large, matronly woman. He sings falsetto, and the audience is not aware that he is a man until the second act, after a line to the effect of "Things are not always what they appear to be!" and someone pulls off the wig and dress, revealing the truth about Mary Sunshine.