Wrigley Field And The Wrigleyville Neighborhood

This blog entry is about my favorite place and neighborhood in Chicago. Before I go on I would like to apologize to my Chicago White Sox friends as I have nothing against the south-siders but I am a loyal Chicago Cubs fan. When I was a kid there is nothing like taking a trip to Wrigley Field to watch the Cubs play. Many adults agree as some of them go to games there because of the environment and the historical presence of Wrigley Field. This blog entry is about the movies that were filmed there and around the neighborhood.

The Two Movies Viewers Will Get To See A Lot Of Wrigley Field On The Big Screen

Rookie Of The Year is a movie about a kid who accidentally breaks his arm in a freak fall. When he got his cast off he learned that his arm healed in a way that allowed him to throw a baseball real fast. The Chicago Cubs learned this too as when he went to throw a home run ball, hit by the opponent, back onto the field (A Cubs fan tradition) the throw made it all the way to the catcher. The Cubs got him to join the team and his pitching turned them into a contender.

Another movie that made great use of Wrigley was A League Of Their Own. The interesting thing about the use of Wrigley Field in the movie was it was called Harvey Field. They used the name of the man who created the league in the movie. The tryouts for the All American Girl's Baseball League took place at Wrigley. If you look closely you will see the lights for the stadium which the field did not have back in the 1940's. Lights were added to Wrigley Field in 1988.

Movies That Have At Least One Scene Filmed Inside Of Wrigley Field

The most famous movie to show the inside of Wrigley Field may have been Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Ferris, Sloane and Cameron were sitting down the left field line taking in the Cubs game when a foul ball is hit their way and is caught by Ferris. Meanwhile, the principal who is trying to track down Ferris looks away just as Ferris is shown catching the ball on television.  

At the beginning of the Break-Up Vince Vaughn, Jennifer Aniston and Jon Favreau are at Wrigley watching a game. This scene gives a little bit of the feel and atmosphere that fans get by going to the famous ballpark.

There was also a brief scene in the movie Kissing A Fool where David Schwimmer's character does a sports report during batting practice before a game.

An unusual use of Wrigley Field was shown in the movie The Express. In the movie it was suppose to be the home of the Cleveland Browns football team. They had to digitally alter some of the background to make it look like a football stadium. Ironically the Chicago Bears did play football there for a lot of years. The Bears played at Wrigley for 50 years with the last game being in 1970.

Movies Filmed On The Rooftops Across The Street From Wrigley Field

One of the unique traits of Wrigley Field is the Wrigleyville neighborhood that surrounds the famous ballpark. Possibly the most famous being the buildings that line Waveland Avenue which is beyond the left field wall and Sheffield Avenue which is beyond right field. During the last 20 years or so the owners of these buildings have built bleachers on their rooftops for fans to have a new perspective on viewing the games and to make a little money. Before the bleachers were built people would just stand on a roof top and watch the game. There were a couple of movies that have taken advantage of this unique view by filming a scene on the roof top. In About Last Night Rob Lowe's character takes Demi Moore's character on a date to watch a Cubs game from a roof top from Sheffield Avenue.

Another movie that had a great view from the roof top was Blink. Aiden Quinn's character takes Madeline Stowe's character there on a date to watch a Cubs night game. This is, to the best of my knowledge, the only time a movie has shown a night game at Wrigley Field.

Movies That Showed The Famous Wrigley Field Marquee Located In Front Of The Ballpark

The marquee is one of the most famous landmarks in Chicago and a few movies have shown it on the big screen. The most famous showing has to be The Blues Brothers. Elwood Blues gave some wrong info on purpose when he renewed his drivers license (How he still had one is amazing) and the Nazi's caught wind of this address and go there to confront him but find out this is where the Cubs play instead. I am guessing the Illinois Nazi's must have been White Sox fans to not already know this info.  (Sox fans I am teasing)

Other movies to show the marquee are...  Ferris Bueller's Day Off with the marquee reading "Save Ferris", About Last Night, Rookie Of The Year, V.I. Warshawski, A season 3 episode of ER where it is briefly seen. I assume there will be more movies in the future.

The Following Is A Walking Tour For Some Of The Movies Filmed In The Wrigleyville Neighborhood

I am going to start right next to the ballpark on Sheffield Avenue and circle the ballpark and then continue the tour by going north on Clark Street and then circle back to Wrigley. There may be some movies not listed as doing movies for this site is a never ending process.

The first location is Kathleen Turner's house from V.I. Warshawski which is right across the street from Wrigley Field at 3627 N. Sheffield Avenue. There are a couple of scenes inside the house and there is a Cubs game being shown on her television but right out the window you can see that Wrigley Filed is empty.

Near the beginning of Uncle Buck they show the exterior of the apartment where Uncle Buck lived. This building is located at 3708 Sheffield Avenue. You can see the Wrigley Field center field marquee in the screen shot.

In the very underrated I Want Someone To Eat Cheese With Jaff Garlin's character is hanging out next to his car just outside of Wrigley Field on Kenmore Avenue.

Walk west on Waveland and then turn right or north. This movie also used a couple of business store fronts on Clark Street which are at 3725 and 3731. These are just a block north of Wrigley Field.

Another movie filmed north of Wrigley Field on Clark Street is Blink. There is a scene where Madeline Stowe's band is playing at The Metro at 3730 N. Clark Street.  This is right across the street from the store fronts.

Start walking south on Clark Street and go right on past Wrigley Field until you get to Sluggers bar.

Sluggers bar from Hardball is just a block south of Wrigley and it is located at 3540 N. Clark Street. If you are wanting to hang out in a bar that was a movie location this is the one to visit. Otherwise, there are several bars in the area.

Heading a little further south is a corner building that was used in two different movies. It is located at 3369 N. Clark Street. The more famous of the two movies may have been The Untouchables. At the beginning of the movie the man working for Al Capone blew up the building and at the same time blew up a young girl.

In the movie Only The Lonely this building was used for the exterior of O'Neill's Bar. The interior was at a different bar not in this neighborhood.

In the movie Flatliners Kiefer Sutherland's character lived above 3365 N. Clark Street which is right next door to the building from Only The Lonely and The Untouchables.

Another residence near by was the one used by the sniper from the movie Wanted. That address was 3349 N. Sheffield Avenue and the house where James McAvoy's character lived in the movie was 3366 N. Clark Street. The ATM is located a block north at 3457 N. Clark Street.

Across the street and down a few houses is the home for John Candy's character from Only The Lonely. He must have caught a real bad break to have to live there because in the movie he is a die hard Chicago White Sox fan. In this movie he lives just a couple of blocks south of Wrigley. His house is located at 930 W. Roscoe Street. The house is now a different color plus there is a new house right next door but I assume fans of the movie will recognize the house immediately.

Go back to Sheffield Avenue and travel a little south to the next street and turn left on Newport Avenue.

Billie Frechette's house from Public Enemies is located at 949 W. Newport Avenue. That is a neat location since it is right next to the elevated train tracks.

Start walking under the Elevated train tracks and a few houses down on the other side of the street is where Drew Barrymore's house was from Never Been Kissed which is at 932 W. Newport Avenue. This movie took place in Chicago but this is one of only a few locations that were actually filmed in the city. Most of the movie was filmed in Los Angeles.

Keep walking east for a block until you get to Halsted Street and then turn left and walk north.

The police station from the movie Child's Play is a little to the east of Wrigley at 3600 N. Halsted Street. There are rumors this building will be torn down soon.

To go back to Wrigley Field just go straight west on Addison Street and it is about a block away.

Going to a Chicago Cubs game is a great experience in itself but when you add all of the filming locations in the area it becomes a movie fan's dream day. If you are a big Cub fan and it is your first trip make sure you see the statues that are around the perimeter of the ballpark. 
Ernie Banks, Billy Williams, Ron Santo and the legendary announcer Harry Caray.   

Here are some of my pictures...

Wrigley Field is located at 1060 W. Addison Street In Chicago