Filming Locations for The Blues Brothers

Enormously overblown and expensive slapstick chase movie went from box office disaster to cult status mainly because of the terrific soundtrack, the great array of soul stars on display and John Belushiís charisma.

It was filmed, of course, around Chicago, employing John Landisí usual breathtaking knack of persuading the authorities to allow him to stage major set pieces in busy public places.

Jake (Belushi) is released from the Joliet Correctional Center, north of the suburb of Joliet on Highway 53, itself south of the city. The new Bluesmobile demonstrates its prowess by leaping across the East 95th Street Bridge over the Calumet River at Calumet Harbor, south Chicago, down near the Indiana border.

The Brothersí digs, ëHotel For Men Only. Transients Welcomeí, no longer exists. It wasnít blown up by Carrie Fisher (that was a large photograph of the building pasted on to flyaway polystyrene blocks), but it has since been demolished. It stood at 22 West Van Buren Street, at the last check, still a vacant lot beneath the el-train.

The 'Soul Food Restaurant,' where the waitress is Aretha Franklin and John Lee Hooker plays outside, was Nate's Deli, originally Lyon's Deli, 807 West Maxwell Street, centre of the bustling Maxwell Street flea market at the junction with South Halstead Street, just southeast of the University of Illinois campus. Much of the area, including the deli, has since been demolished.

The Nazis turn up at the brothersí official address, 1060 West Addison Street – which just happens to be the home of the Chicago Cubs, Wrigley Field. The shopping mall through which the brothers drive their car is the Dixie Mall, Harvey, a suburb of south Chicago over the Little Calumet River.

The 'Palace Hotel Ballroom', ìup north on Lake Wazupumani,î where the Blues Brothers get their first major gig, is actually down south. it was the South Shore Country Club, now the South Shore Cultural Center, 7059 South Shore Drive at East 71st Street. The 1916 Mediterranean-style building, on the coast toward Calumet Harbor, was recently renovated.

The interior, though, is the Hollywood Palladium, 6215 Sunset Boulevard, at El Centro Avenue, seen also in the cheeky Star Trek spoof Galaxy Quest, Clint Eastwood's Oscar-winning Million Dollar Baby and John Schlesinger's Day Of The Locust.

The climactic chase through central Chicago, under the el, ends up at the prestigious Richard J Daley Center building (named for Mayor Daley, who died in office in 1976). The building stands on the block bounded by Randolph, Dearborn and Clark Streets and Washington Boulevard. On the open plaza south of the Center on Washington Boulevard is the 50-foot-tall Chicago Picasso Sculpture, the cubist head Jake and Elwood use for a landmark. Amazingly, Landis got permission for the Bluesmobile to crash through the Daley Center windows.

The brothersí ultimate destination, City Hall-County Building, is west of the Daley Center across Clark Street. Itís here they barricade themselves in while the National Guard abseil down the side of the building. The ëCook Countyí clerk, who receives their payment, is that other expert in expensive, lumbering monsters, Steven Spielberg.

Other locations used by the movie include the northwestern suburb of Park Ridge; Wauconda, 25 miles northwest of Chicago on Route 12; Waukegan, 25 miles north on the coast near the Wisconsin border and Milwaukee, on the coast over the border in Wisconsin itself.

After the death of Belushi, a sequel was never a good idea. And choosing to film much of Blues Brothers 2000 in Canada didnít help. Chicago sets the scene, but much of the filming was done in Toronto and Kingston, Ontario (look out for the Toronto motel seen in Bride of Chucky). The 'Kentucky' fairground is Markham Fairgrounds, Toronto.