Robbery in progress at Milwaukee, Damen and North --Not Really

Police with guns drawn, SWAT team with rifles and medics ready to pick up casualties are all focused on the Illinois Trust Financial building at Milwaukee, Damen and North . 

What Illinois Trust Financial building you ask?  You might know it by its original name, Noel State Bank, or more recently as the Midwest Bank.  The name and the action is all part of a pilot for a TV drama tentatively named ATF.

Currently empty, the wonderful off-white historic structure at a multi street intersection with lots of space in front is a perfect location for film makers.  In fact, there is still a door on the second floor labeled "Homicide" from a previous shoot. 

Wicker Park has been the scene for many movies and TV shows though ironically the only production with the neighborhood's name had absolutely nothing to do with our area.  A WTTW movie critic at the time said, " (Wicker Park, 2004)...the only thing about this movie that had anything to do with Chicago were the Chicago Tribune newspaper boxes."  The filming was done in Canada. 

In the 1980s, Wicker Park was like the back lot for Hollywood.  If there wasn't a film crew in your house, they were possibly next door or down the street.  Red Heat with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jim Belushi in 1988 was one of the well known ones.  American Dream, an ABC-TV series used the interior of a home on W. Evergreen while a TV trilogy called Chicago Story used streets and interior shots. 

In commenting on Stir of Echoes (1999), Wicker Parker Tim Kolecke says, "The bar front used in the block party scene is not a real building. It was lit in a parking lot on Evergreen and Milwaukee Avenues on the near north side in Wicker Park, right off the Damen (Blue Line) El stop. Also, the Old Style sign hanging in front of the bar is how many bars in Chicago look, but most of the time the sign reads "Old Style On Tap." 

High Fidelity featuring John Cusack was shot here in 2000 while Nicolas Cage and Michael Caine came in in 2005 with The Weather Man.  Will Ferrell was here in 2006 with the filming of Stranger Than Fiction and Vince Vaughn was here in 2007 for Fred Claus.   

The end of last year, trailers and vans lined the streets with equipment for  Last Rites of Joe May with Dennis Farina.  They are in post production phase.

While some are inconvenienced, everyone seems to be enjoying the fun of being part of Hollywood...again. Traffic on streets is blocked off and sidewalk traffic is limited during shooting. Main streets are Milwaukee, Damen and North Avenues. Side streets in the area will be experiencing more traffic today and tomorrow.