In Old Chicago - 3 stars out of 10

In Old Chicago - 3 stars out of 10

In spite of practically advertising their close work with the Chicago Historical Society in the making of this film, "In Old Chicago" is nothing more than boring fiction with a cool fire at the end.  I understand that you have to spend time developing the characters so that you will be rooting for them during the disaster sequence, but they could have at least used the real people involved in the Great Chicago Fire instead of completely making up people that they thought would be more interesting.  No actor is bad but most are "just okay."  The exception to the rule is Alice Faye, particularly in her musical numbers.  I also enjoyed seeing Andy Devine (the voice of Friar Tuck in Disney's Robin Hood), simply because I wondered where this voice came from!  Unfortunately, I just didn't fall in love with the characters and spent the whole time waiting for the fire.  The special effects were impressive as the town went up in flame, but the boring-to-fireball ratio was simply out of proportion.