Risky Business, 1983
Director
Cast
visit the film locations
Chicago: Flights: O'Hare International Airport
CTA (Chicago Transit Authority) maps
Stay at: The Drake, 140 East Walton Place, Chicago (tel: 312.787.2200)
Trivia
The The Drake is featured again in My Best Friend’s Wedding, and Stephen Frears’ Accidental Hero, with Dustin Hoffman and Andy Garcia.
Risky Business location: Joel Goodsen sets up in business: Linden Avenue, Highland Park, Illinois
It’s the go-getting Eighties, greed is good, and when home-alone teen Joel Goodsen (Tom Cruise) gets ripped off while his parents are away, he bounces back by running a lucrative prostitution business.
Risky Business location: the diner: Shelton’s, Roger Williams Avenue, Ravinia, Illinois
The film is made around Chicago, where Joel’s neighbourhood is Highland Park, north of the city on the Metra rail line. His school is Highland Park High School, 433 Vine Avenue. The local diner, in which the teens plan their futures, was Shelton’s Ravinia Grill, 481 Roger Williams Avenue – currently closed – opposite Ravinia Station, Ravinia, one stop south of Highland Park.
The Goodsen family home, where Tom Cruise first shot to megastardom dancing in his underwear to Bob Seger’s Old Time Rock’n’Roll, is 1258 Linden Avenue, Highland Park (please remember this is a private home and respect the owners’ privacy).
Risky Business location: Joel meets up with Lana: Drake Hotel, Chicago
Joel has a meeting with hooker Lana (Rebecca De Mornay) in the Palm Court of the Magnificent Mile’s luxurious hotel, The Drake, 140 East Walton Place, is also featured in My Best Friend’s Wedding and is where faker Andy Garcia lives it up in Accidental Hero (aka Hero).
As things go from bad to worse for Joel, his father’s beloved Porsche slips into the waters of Lake Michigan at the marina of Belmont Harbor.
