In Old Chicago (1938)

Set in Chicago in the mid to late 1800s, an Irish widow (Alice Brady in an Oscar winning performance) raises her three sons while working as a washerwoman. While one son (Don Ameche) grows up to be a lawyer dedicated to working for the betterment of Chicago's citizens, the other (Tyrone Power) rises to power by graft and corruption. Based on the story WE THE O'LEARYS by Niven Busch and directed by Henry King (LOVE IS A MANY SPLENDORED THING). This is a highly fictionalized version of the O'Leary family and the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Obviously spurred by the smash success of SAN FRANCISCO two years earlier, this is a hokey and tedious watch. As far as disasters go, fires aren't as cinematic as earthquakes and this is no TOWERING INFERNO. Your tolerance for this kind of baloney depends on one's affection for the two male leads and the female star, Alice Faye. I've never warmed to Miss Faye's wholesome smile and syrupy contralto but she has her fanbase and if you're among them, it should be enough to pull you through it. With Brian Donlevy, Andy Devine, Sidney Blackmer, Phyllis Brooks and Madame Sul-Te-Wan.