Detour #359: Life Moves Pretty Fast – How to Follow Ferris Bueller’s Day Off in Chicago, USA
It’s hard to believe but it’s now 40 years since Ferris, Cameron and Sloane skipped school. If you haven’t followed their route before, then what are you waiting for?
Three kids, one day skiving off school in Chicago, and a (fake) Ferrari made Ferris Bueller’s Day off one of the biggest movies of 1986, and, my personal favourite film of all time.
Maybe it’s because I saw it while on holiday in America, or maybe it’s just that no teenage boy could ever disagree with Cameron when he declares “Ferris Bueller, You’re My Hero.”
That just so happens to be the title of a new book by über fan Jason Klamm, who interviewed literally hundreds of people involved in the filming, from stars Matthew Broderick and Alan Ruck to set designers, producers, hair and makeup and even the extras at Shermer High School. It’s a great read for Ferris fans and reveals all manner of insights from John Hughes’ improv-heavy direction to the film’s key locations
The Bueller House, where Ferris puts on “One of the worst performance of my career,” to convince his parents that he’s too sick for school, was actually in California, but the school and surroundings of Shermer were shot in Northbrook, Illinois.
It was here that Hughes grew up, and where he also set The Breakfast Club, Weird Science, Sixteen Candles,Pretty In Pink and more. The town was previously known as Shermerville, so there are no prizes for guessing where Hughes got his inspiration.
Shermer High’s exterior is Glenbrook North High School on 2300 Shermer Road, and seeing as it’s where Ferris picks up Sloane it seems like an appropriate place to start. Nearby, at 1201 Cedar Lane there’s a tribute to the filmmaker that put Northbrook on the map, with a John Hughes Memorial Bench. Look northwest and you’ll see the water tower (sadly no longer daubed with Save Ferris)
Ferris’s mom’s office can be found in Chestnut Court, Winnetka, a short drive east. It’s here where she first speaks to school principal Ed Rooney who tells her Ferris has been absent “Nine times!”. It’s also in the Winnetka area that many of the yards Ferris races through on his mad dash home can be found.
At 370 Beech Street, Highland Park is Cameron’s house. “The place is like a museum. It's very beautiful and very cold, and you're not allowed to touch anything,” says Ferris. Hughes and the film crew came across the home, real name The Ben Rose House, quite by chance, having originally scripted that Cameron would send his father’s Porsche into the depths of Lake Michigan. When Hughes saw the Rose House and its amazing glass and steel Pavillion, housing its owner’s collection of classic Ferraris, the movie’s most memorable scene was re-written.
Photo Paramount
In the film’s timeline, that comes later, after the trio has driven into Chicago and left the car with the “Professional what?” at A-1 EZ OK Park – in reality Washington Madison Wells Self Park, at 172 West Madison Street. It’s a half hour drive south on I94, where you may be tempted to throw your arms in the air as you listen to Beat City by the Flowerpot Men. It may also be hard to resist playing the theme from Star Wars and attempting to copy stuntman Rick LeFevour who launches the Ferrari (actually a replica made by Modena Designs) on Clark Street using a special kicker ramp.
Chez Quis, where Ferris declares himself “the sausage king of Chicago” is at 22 W. Schiller Street. Don’t expect to go inside and eat pancreas, though, as it’s a private home. The next stop is Wrigley Field, home to the Chicago Cubs baseball team, where if you time it right you can take in a game and chant “Hey batter batter! Swing batter!”
Cameron, Ferris and Sloane head to the Sears Tower (now the Willis Tower at 233 South Wacker Drive. At the time of filming, it was the tallest building in the world. “The city looks so peaceful from up here,” says Sloane. “Anything is peaceful from 1,353 feet,” replies Ferris. You can find out for yourself on the Skydeck.
The trading floor at the Board of Trade is no longer a sea of arm-waving capitalists, but does have a museum so you can see how money was made back in the day.
At the Art Institute of Chicago the curators have put together a self-guided Be Like Ferris Bueller tour that takes in the Chagall, Rodin, Pollock artworks that the trio enjoy. Take extra time for Georges Seurat’s A Sunday on La Grande Jatte where Cameron gets totally absorbed in the painting’s Pointilism. “The closer [Cameron] looks at the child, the less he sees. I think he fears that the more you look at him, the less you see,” noted Hughes.
It’s at Dearborn and Adams Streets where Ferris hijacks a float at the Von Steuben Day German-American heritage parade, first singing Danke Schein and then launching into Twist and Shout for Cameron, “a young man who doesn't think he's seen anything good today.”
To complete the day the fastest way back to Shermer (Northbrook) is on the I90 and I94. Just don’t try to drive it in reverse.
ROADBOOK
CLASS: MOVIE MAGIC
NAME: The End of the ROad for 007
ROUTE: Northbrook to Chicago
COUNTRY: USA
Distance: 80 Miles
It’s hard to believe but it’s now 40 years since Ferris, Cameron and Sloane skipped school. If you haven’t followed their route before, then what are you waiting for?