It must have seemed like a no-brainer to make a film about the Great Chicago Fire. Unfortunately, no brains were used in developing the story that would climax with the fire. The story about sibling rivalry between the sons of Mrs. O'Leary, whose cow supposedly started the fire, is incredibly lame and dull. The melodramatic script is unbearably syrupy in handling the mother-son relationship on one hand while romanticizing sexual assault on the other hand. Power looks very handsome but is somewhat lackluster as the bad brother while Ameche has the thankless role of the good brother. Brady's thickly-accented performance is hardly Oscar-worthy. At least the fire is well filmed.
Review of In Old Chicago
