The Blues Brothers (1980)

My own copy of the film.

The Blues Brothers is a musical comedy directed by John Landis and starring Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi, following their journey of redemption to save their childhood orphanage from foreclosure.

The actual church today in South Chicago. It no longer has the crooked cross on the steeple. Source: Google Maps

Shortly after being released from the Joliet State Penitentiary, Jake (Belushi) is advised to go to church, where he gets the epiphany to bring their rhythm and blues band back together, and the plot is set in motion.

Background

The main characters, Jake and Elwood Blues, were created by Belushi and Aykroyd respectively in musical performances as "The Blues Brothers" on the top-rated television series Saturday Night Live. By this time, Belushi was already a star due to his musical success and the success of the outrageous comedy, Animal House, also directed by John Landis. Belushi and Aykroyd then decided they could make a Blues Brothers film, with Aykroyd being the writer.
Dan Aykroyd had absolutely no screenplay experience, and had admittedly never even read one yet. Unable to find someone more experienced to work with him to work as a partner, he wrote it himself and after six months the first draft came out to be a whopping 324 pages (triple the length of standard screenplays)! Along with being inexperienced in writing in screenplay format, the initial draft was so long because Aykroyd initially intended for the film depict the recruitment of each individual member of their former band, with each having some backstory. Landis was tasked with condensing the story, which took him two weeks. In the final version, some of the band members did not all go their separate ways and actually work together. This made the reunion chapter of the film much shorter.

More About the Film

The Blues Brothers is not a musical. In musicals, the characters sing about how they feel. At no point does this every happen in the film. That's why it is categorized as a "musical comedy". There always seems to be music playing either in the background or as one of the film's musical numbers. The R&B stars James Brown, Cab Calloway, Ray Charles, and Aretha Franklin also have musical numbers in the film along with speaking parts at the behest of Aykroyd. There was friction in the film's production because only Ray Charles had a recent hit and Universal Studios wanted to replace those parts with younger and more relevant acts. However, due to the success of the film, many of the musicians' careers were revitalized.

Why I Love the Movie
"Chicago is one of the stars of the movie." -Dan Aykroyd

Being a Chicago native, I love the seeing my city's landmarks immortalized on the big screen. Many of the locations in the film are familiar with some even being very close to where I reside. For example, the church depicted earlier is in the next neighborhood over from mine.

Credit: Google Maps

One of the most memorable scenes is after Jake is picked up from prison by his brother, ironically in an old police car, and Jake complains about the car just as a boat is passing and the draw bridge goes up. Elwood, the motorhead, proceeds to jump the 95th Street bridge and upon landing asks, "So is it the new Blues Mobile, or what?" to which Jake responds, "Fix the cigarette lighter."
This bridge is actually in my neighborhood and only a few blocks away. A small restaurant called the Calumet Fisheries is located just out of the shot and contains many photographs and memorabilia of the Blues Brothers. Other memorable locations include Wrigley Field, the home of the Chicago Cubs (boo!), and the Richard J. Daley Center, "...where they got that Picasso," and many other locations.

The music is obviously another great aspect of the movie. After watching the movie, you may have feelings of wanting to watch certain scenes again because of the catchy tunes that perfectly fit the situations. You'll definitely have some of these tracks stuck in your head.

Final Thoughts

The Blues Brothers has been one of my favorite movies for a very long time. It has a lot a re-watch value and you might notice something new, like one of the many cameos or something amongst the junk on the car's dashboard (which Aykroyd designed), every time you watch it. I know I do! It has become a cult classic and was even deemed wholesome and virtuous by the Catholic church, which is a little surprising to me actually. The film was so successful, people thought that a sequel 18 years later would be as great a hit too, because that always works. The Blues Brothers 2000 (1998) ended up being a box office failure. I've never even seen it.

The moral of the story is: The Blues Brothers is an epic, funny, and enjoyable film for everyone, not just blues fans or Chicagoans.
I hope you watch this film and enjoy the history, music, and personalities immortalized within!

Sources
The Blues Brothers: 25th Anniversary Edition special features and
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blues_Brothers_(film)

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