Chicago Loop After Dark

During the 1930s and 1940s many Chicagoans were on limited budgets, but the great movie houses, like the Chicago Theater shown here, nevertheless drew these people downtown for entertainment. In the golden age of films, with stars such as William Powell notable for his detective stories, atmospheres were created, called 'film noir' not unlike the tone of this stark yet shimmering image. The 1890s great elevated transit lines linked the far limits of the city and its nearby suburbs like Oak Park and Evanston, to this central entertainment district. The exposed steel structure of the elevated rails system recalls the era of the first skyscrapers downtown as well. In the 1880s and 1890s when this metal alloy with iron made fast travel vertically (elevators) and horizontally (the "El") the defining feature of the metropolis.