Ferris Bueller’s Day Off was released in 1986. It was written and directed by John Hughes and Produced by Hughes and Tom Jacosbon. It stars Matthew Broderick as Ferris Bueller. The movie isn’t really known for the building’s it features with the exception of one modern piece of architecture. That building is the home of Bueller’s hypochondriac friend. Cameron Frye. In reality the home is known as the Ben Rose House in Highland Park Illinois. It was designed by architects A. James Speyer who studied under Mies van der Rohe, and Speyer’s student David Haid. In the film Ferris, with friends Sloan and Cameron take his father’s Ferrari 250 GT California in to the city of Chicago for the day only to return later that afternoon and attempt to roll back the mileage. However, the attempt fails miserably and the car is subsequently sent through one of the large windows of the all glass pavilion to its demise.
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is a film that features the city of Chicago. Although Beuller’s movie house is actually in Long Beach California the greater majority of the film was shot in Illinois. Bueller’s trip into the city gave director John Hughes the opportunity to show off his favorite city . In the film Bueller takes a whirlwind tour. He and his friends visit the Sears Tower, now known as the Willis tower, where they all, in a memorable scene, stand on a guardrail and peer down at the city below; They visit Riggley Field where Ferris is featured on TV catching a fly ball; They’re seen at the Chicago Board of Trade discussing marriage; They go to The Art institute of Chicago to take in some Hopper, Kandinsky, Picasso and Seurat, and in one of the most memorable scenes in movie history Bueller is featured in the heart of the city with tens of thousands of extra’s singing Danke Schoen and Twist and Shout.
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is an outrageously funny film that uses architecture to its advantage. Although much of the film is made of familiar landmarks and everyday kinds of places part of the films success lies in precisely that. Great architecture can take a secondary role and still be of primary importance in the movies. I’m Doug Patt. We’ll see you next time.
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