During the spring of 1993 the city of Chicago was buzzing about a movie being filmed in our town; The Fugitive.
The Fugitive starred Harrison Ford as Dr. Richard Kimball and Tommy Lee Jones as the US Marshall chasing him. Local gossip columns were atwitter reporting Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones sightings all over town.
VIDEO: Trailer for "The Fugitive"
*Portions of the dam scene were filmed in the remains of the Chicago Freight Tunnels.
*The "one-armed man" lived in the Pullman neighborhood of Chicago, and that historic neighborhood built in the 1870s for George Pullman's factory workers, was showcased extensively. Harrison Ford used the pay phone in the local bar (the Pullman Pub). Ford also climbs a ladder and runs down the roofline of the historic rowhomes towards the one-armed man's house.
*A fight with the one-armed man takes place on the "L." It's true that the Balbo station mentioned in the movie doesn't exist and has never existed, but that scene really was filmed on an authentic "L" car.
*One night scene under the "L" tracks, showed Kimble exiting an alley by 130 N. Wells St., with "Chicago Memorial" covering the then Illinois Bell Building sign.
*The Chicago Hilton on Michigan Avenue is the location for the dramatic concluding scene.
*Local Chicago TV reporters, including John Drummond, Pam Zeckman, and Lester Holt play TV reporters on the scene.
*Another scene takes place along the Chicago River and at Cook County Hospital.
*And perhaps, most famously, during the St Patrick's Day Parade chase scene, Mayor Richard M. Daley (shown broadly smiling and waving) and then Illinois Attorney General Roland W. Burris (yes, that Roland Burris) are briefly, but prominently, shown as participants in the parade. They had no idea the scene was being filmed. It was all done surreptitiously.
While Harrison Ford was dodging Mayor Daley and Roland Burris in the St. Patrick's Day Parade in Chicago, the Cubs were in spring training in Mesa, confident that they wouldn’t be missing their former ace Greg Maddux, who had been allowed to walk away from Chicago and sign a contract with the Braves.
Larry Himes believed that signing Jose Guzman would make up for the loss of Maddux. He also let Andre Dawson go because Andre was considered too old, and he signed outfielders Candy Maldanado and Willie Wilson take his place.
Maddux responded by shutting out the Cubs on Opening day for the Braves, on his way to a second consecutive Cy Young award. He would win two more Cy Youngs, a World Series, and nearly 200 games for the Braves. Jose Guzman, on the other hand, won a total of 14 games and blew out his arm.
Andre Dawson only had 39 more home runs left in his Hall-of-Fame-worthy bat, but that’s 35 more than Willie Wilson (photo) and Candy Maldanado combined to hit in their Cubs careers. Candy hit three before being traded in mid-season for GlenAllen Hill. He was batting only .186 at the time and was being mercilessly booed by the Bleacher Bums. Wilson hit one home run in his season-plus Cubs career, but in all fairness he was signed for his speed. When he played for Oakland in ’92, he stole 28 bases. With the Cubs, he stole 8. He was released shortly after the 1994 season began.
Maybe the reason Mayor Daley is smiling so much during that St. Patrick’s Day parade in “The Fugitive” is because the Sox fan in him couldn’t help but chuckle that the Cubs had not only taken former White Sox President Larry Himes off the hands of the Sox, but that the Cubs would forever be saddled by Himes' most moronic move. He may have gotten Sammy Sosa for the Cubs, but he also lost Greg Maddux.
What do Dr. Richard Kimball and Greg Maddux have in common?
Both of them were sent away needlessly, both did lots of damage to Chicago upon their returns, and both were eventually welcomed back with open arms. In both cases, however, the damage would never truly be undone.
