Chicago (1927) Review- By Michael J. Carlisle

Title: Chicago
Year: 1927
Director: Cecil B. DeMille
Country: US
Language: N/A

Legendary choreographer Bob Fosse's Chicago is one of the most successful and longest running Broadway shows in its history. In the 00's it was made into a Hollywood production and would go on to acclaimed commercial and critical success, winning the prestigious "Best Picture" Oscar. To my surprise, Fosse's show wasn't the first use of Maurine Watkins' screenplay. It was made as a silent in 1927 and remade in 1942. 

Based on a true crime story, the movie is about a wild jazz-loving and boozing wife Roxie Hart who kills her boyfriend in cold blood after he leaves her. 

A Cecil B. DeMille production, although Frank Urson was credited as the director, it was widely known that DeMille directed most of the picture. He took his name off the credits because The King of Kings was also in theaters and he didn't want audiences to be torn between the two wildly contrasting films. DeMille's venture into producing pictures proved to have very mixed outcomes, both financially and critically. 

Chicago moves along at a rapid pace, although it does slow down in the middle, it quickly picks up near the end. Phyllis Haver plays the lead character rather well, capturing Roxie's homicidal urges to perfection. In contrast, Victor Varconi doesn't play his role well, that or he has a poorly written character that is extremely hard to connect with. 

Chicago will be a fun picture to watch for modern audiences because of how well it captures the roaring twenties. Everything oozes red hot jazz, from Roxies tacky feathered dresses to the set design. The score, compiled by Herr Rodney Sauer and "The Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra", is utterly fascinating. This is one of the best "silent musicals" of Cinema.