2. Tour: A Chicagoland Pet Parade & 1950s Hollywood
For our 10th virtual walking tour, we return to La Grange, IL, to explore a parade that has attracted Chicago area families—and major Hollywood stars!—for almost 75 years.
3. Trivia on Chicago- & film-affiliated parades & protests
Big-name movie stars like Diana Ross, Lena Horne, and Paul Robeson have attended this Chicago parade, the largest African American parade in the U.S. What’s the name of this annual parade?
4. #FBF: Lincoln would’ve banned Gone with the Wind!
Upon its release in 1939, Gone With The Wind was popular amongst Chicagoans. Large 3,000-seat theatres like the Oriental and the Woods, for example, reported sold-out or nearly sold-out shows.
Woods Theatre, Chicago. cinematreasures.org.
But not everyone in Chicago was enamored with MGM’s lavish Technicolor movie set during the Civil War. On opening night, downtown protestors held signs and shouted:
“Gone with the Wind slanders Lincoln!"
“It glorifies slavery!
“It distorts American history!”
“It excites race hatred!”
“Lincoln would’ve banned Gone with the Wind!”
Chicago Tribune (14 Jan 1940).
According to Boxoffice (Feb. 1940), the black and white protestors—whom the media dubbed "alleged Communists"—congregated at the theatre’s entrance to support their cause. But eventually, the group quietly dispersed, the report tells us. As a result, “there was no need to call the extra plain clothes and regular policemen who had been assigned to the opening.”
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