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The film used 13 different cars bought at auction from the [[California Highway Patrol]] to depict the [[Bluesmobile]], a retired 1974 [[Mount Prospect, Illinois]] [[Dodge Monaco]] patrol car. The vehicles were outfitted by the studio to do particular driving chores; some customized for speed and others for jumps, depending on the scene. For the large car chases, filmmakers purchased 60 police cars at $400 each, and most were destroyed at the completion of the filming.<ref name="Chicago Sun-Times2">{{cite news|last=Newbart|first=Dave|title=Incredible stunt driving: "That was all real"|publisher=''[[Chicago Sun-Times]]''|url=http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-bbcarchase23.html|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20050728125722/http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-bbcarchase23.html|archivedate=2005-07-28|date=June 23, 2005|accessdate=December 16, 2008}}</ref> More than 40 stunt drivers were hired and the crew kept a 24-hour body shop to repair cars.<ref name="Chicago Sun-Times2">{{cite news | title=Chicago Sun-Times | work=Incredible stunt driving: "That was all real" | url=http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-bbcarchase23.html | archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20050728125722/http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-bbcarchase23.html | archivedate=2005-07-28| accessdate=December 16, 2006}}</ref>
The film used 13 different cars bought at auction from the [[California Highway Patrol]] to depict the [[Bluesmobile]], a retired 1974 [[Mount Prospect, Illinois]] [[Dodge Monaco]] patrol car. The vehicles were outfitted by the studio to do particular driving chores; some customized for speed and others for jumps, depending on the scene. For the large car chases, filmmakers purchased 60 police cars at $400 each, and most were destroyed at the completion of the filming.<ref name="Chicago Sun-Times2">{{cite news|last=Newbart|first=Dave|title=Incredible stunt driving: "That was all real"|publisher=''[[Chicago Sun-Times]]''|url=http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-bbcarchase23.html|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20050728125722/http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-bbcarchase23.html|archivedate=2005-07-28|date=June 23, 2005|accessdate=December 16, 2008}}</ref> More than 40 stunt drivers were hired and the crew kept a 24-hour body shop to repair cars.<ref name="Chicago Sun-Times2">{{cite news | title=Chicago Sun-Times | work=Incredible stunt driving: "That was all real" | url=http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-bbcarchase23.html | archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20050728125722/http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-bbcarchase23.html | archivedate=2005-07-28| accessdate=December 16, 2006}}</ref>



Revision as of 01:14, 18 November 2011

The Blues Brothers
Movie poster with two of the main characters on the right-side of the image. They are both wearing black suits, hats, and sunglasses and facing forwards. The man on the right is resting his arm on the shoulder of the man on the left. A police car is present on the left side of the image behind them. At the top of the image is the tagline "They'll never get caught. They're on a mission from God." At the bottom of the poster is the title of the film, cast names, and production credits.
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJohn Landis
Written byDan Aykroyd
John Landis
Produced byBernie Brillstein
George Folsey, Jr.
David Sosna
Robert K. Weiss
StarringJohn Belushi
Dan Aykroyd
Carrie Fisher
John Candy
Henry Gibson
CinematographyStephen M. Katz
Edited byGeorge Folsey, Jr.
Music byElmer Bernstein
Distributed byUniversal Studios
Release date
  • June 20, 1980 (1980-06-20)
Running time
133 minutes
CountryTemplate:FilmUS
LanguageEnglish
Budget$30 million[1]
Box office$115,229,890[2]

The Blues Brothers is a 1980 musical comedy film directed by John Landis and starring John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd as "Joliet" Jake and Elwood Blues, characters developed from a musical sketch on the NBC variety series Saturday Night Live. It features musical numbers by R&B and soul singers James Brown, Cab Calloway, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, and John Lee Hooker. The film is set in and around Chicago, Illinois, and also features non-musical supporting performances by John Candy, Carrie Fisher, Charles Napier, and Henry Gibson.

The story is a tale of redemption for paroled convict Jake (Belushi) and his brother Elwood (Aykroyd), who take on "a mission from God" to save from foreclosure the Catholic orphanage in which they grew up. To do so they must reunite their rhythm and blues band, The Blues Brothers, and organize a performance to earn $5,000 to pay the tax assessor. Along the way they are targeted by a destructive "mystery woman", Neo-Nazis, and a country and western band—all while being relentlessly pursued by the police.

Released in the United States on June 20, 1980, it received generally good reviews. It earned just under $5 million in its opening weekend and went on to gross $115.2 million in theaters worldwide before its release on home video.

Plot

"Joliet" Jake Blues (John Belushi) is released from prison after serving three years for armed robbery. Jake is irritated at being picked up by his brother Elwood (Dan Aykroyd) in the Bluesmobile, a battered former Mount Prospect police car, instead of the Cadillac the brothers used to own. The brothers visit their childhood home, a Roman Catholic orphanage, and learn that it will be closed unless $5,000 in property taxes is collected. The brothers visit an evangelical church service where Jake has an epiphany: they can legitimately raise the funds by re-forming their rhythm and blues band.

Elwood runs a red light, and is pulled over by two Illinois State Police troopers who learn of his suspended license. When they attempt to arrest him, he speeds off, escaping through the Dixie Square Mall. As the brothers arrive at the flophouse where Elwood lives, a mystery woman (Carrie Fisher) launches a bazooka attack that leaves them unharmed. The next morning, she detonates a bomb that demolishes the building, which fails to injure the brothers, but saves them from being arrested. Jake and Elwood begin tracking down members of the band. Trombonist Tom "Bones" Malone and the rhythm section, (Willie "Too Big" Hall, Steve "The Colonel" Cropper, Donald "Duck" Dunn, and Murphy "Murph" Dunne), are playing in a nearly empty Holiday Inn lounge, and are easily persuaded to rejoin. Trumpeter "Mr. Fabulous", now Maître d’ at a restaurant, is harder to sway, but Jake and Elwood convince him by engaging in rude behavior and promising to continue until he agrees. En route to meet saxophonist "Blue Lou" Marini and guitarist Matt "Guitar" Murphy, the brothers drive through a rally of "Illinois Nazis", adding another enemy to the brothers' growing list. Marini and Murphy are at the soul food restaurant which Murphy owns with his wife (Aretha Franklin). Against her advice, the two musicians leave and rejoin the band. The reunited group get instruments and equipment from Ray's Music Exchange (with Ray Charles accepting an IOU).

Jake is unable to book a gig in advance, but the band stumbles into a gig at Bob's Country Bunker, a country bar. After a rocky start, the band wins over the bottle-tossing crowd. At the end of the evening, however, not only is their bar tab greater than the pay for the gig, but the brothers infuriate the band that was actually meant to play, the Good Ol' Boys. The Blues Brothers blackmail their old booking agent into securing a gig for them—a performance at the Palace Hotel Ballroom, located 106 miles (171 km) north of Chicago. After being driven all over the area promoting the concert, the Bluesmobile runs out of gas, making Jake and Elwood late for the concert. The ballroom is packed, and the concert-goers are joined by the Good Ol' Boys and scores of police officers. Jake and Elwood sneak into the venue and perform two songs. A record company executive offers them a cash advance on a recording contract, more than enough to pay off the orphanage's taxes and Ray's IOU, and tells the brothers how to slip out unnoticed.

As the brothers escape via a service tunnel, they are confronted by the mystery woman, whereupon it is revealed she is Jake's ex-fiancée. She fires an M16 rifle at them, but Jake charms her before dropping her, allowing the two brothers to escape to the Bluesmobile. They head back to Chicago with dozens of state/local police and the Good Ol' Boys in pursuit. Jake and Elwood eventually elude them all, leaving piled-up police cars in their wake. After a gravity-defying escape from the Illinois Nazis, Jake and Elwood arrive at the Richard J. Daley Center, where the Bluesmobile literally falls to pieces. They rush inside the adjacent Chicago City Hall building, soon followed by hundreds of police, state troopers, SWAT teams, firefighters, Illinois National Guardsmen, and the Military Police. Finding the office of the Cook County Assessor, the brothers pay the tax bill. Just as their receipt is stamped, they are arrested by a large crowd of armed law officers. Jake, Elwood, and the rest of the band are sent to prison where they play "Jailhouse Rock" for fellow inmates.

Cast

The Blues Brothers Band

Production

Origins

The characters, Jake and Elwood Blues, were created by Belushi and Aykroyd in performances on Saturday Night Live. The name "The Blues Brothers" was the idea of Howard Shore. The fictional back story and character sketches of blood brothers Jake and Elwood were developed by Aykroyd in collaboration with Ron Gwynne, who is credited as a story consultant for the film. As related in the liner notes of the band's debut album, Briefcase Full of Blues, the brothers grew up in an orphanage, learned the blues from a janitor named Curtis and sealed their brotherhood by cutting their middle fingers with a steel string said to have come from the guitar of Elmore James.[3]

When it was decided the act could be made into a film by Universal Studios, Aykroyd set about writing the script. He had never written a screenplay before, he said in the 1998 documentary, Stories Behind the Making of The Blues Brothers, and he put together a very descriptive volume that explained the characters' origins and how the band members were recruited. It was 324 pages, which was three times longer than a standard screenplay. To soften the impact, Aykroyd made a joke of the thick script and had it bound with the cover of the Los Angeles Yellow Pages directory for when he turned it in to producer Robert K. Weiss. John Landis was given the task of editing the script into a usable screenplay.[4]

The premise of the underlying plot, that a church-owned orphanage would have to pay a property tax bill, has been questioned—in Illinois, and generally elsewhere in the world, religious property is exempt from taxes. However, at the time of writing of the film, a legislative proposal to tax such property was under consideration. The proposal was never enacted into law.[5]

Location

Much of the film was shot on location in and around Chicago, Illinois between July and October 1979.[6] Made with the cooperation of Mayor Jane M. Byrne, it is credited for putting Chicago on the map as a venue for filmmaking.[7] Nearly 200 movies have been filmed in Chicago. "Chicago is one of the stars of the movie. We wrote it as a tribute," Dan Aykroyd told the Chicago Sun-Times in an article written to mark the film's 25th anniversary DVD release.[8]

Film screenshot showing a police car driving through a shopping mall. Scattered items are present on the floor and people are running away from the vehicle. Stores visible in the mall include Toys 'R' Us and Jewel.
The Bluesmobile races through the mall while being chased by State Troopers.

The first traffic stop was in Park Ridge, Illinois. The mall car chase was filmed in the real, albeit abandoned, Dixie Square Mall in Harvey.[9] The bridge jump was filmed on an actual drawbridge, the 95th Street bridge over the Calumet River, on the southeast side of Chicago. The main entrance to Wrigley Field (and its sign reading "Save lives. Drive safely, prevent fires.") makes a brief appearance when the "Illinois Nazis" visit it after Elwood falsely registers the ball field's location, 1060 West Addison, as his home address on his driver's license. (Elwood's Illinois driver's license number is an almost-valid encoded number, with Dan Aykroyd's own birth date embedded). The other chase scenes included Lower Wacker Drive, Lake Street and Richard J. Daley Center.[10]

In the final car chase scene, the production actually dropped a Ford Pinto, representing the one driven by the "Illinois Nazis," from a helicopter at an altitude of more than a mile—and had to gain a Special Airworthiness Certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration to do it.[11] The FAA was concerned that the car could prove too aerodynamic in a high-altitude drop, and pose a threat to nearby buildings. The shot leading up to the car drop, where the "Illinois Nazis" drive off a freeway ramp, was shot in Milwaukee, Wisconsin near the Hoan Bridge on Interstate 794. The Lake Freeway (North) was a planned but not completed 6-lane freeway and I-794 contained an unfinished ramp that the Nazis drove off.[12] Several Milwaukee skyscrapers are visible in the background as the Bluesmobile flips over, notably the U.S. Bank Center.

The "Palace Hotel Ballroom," where the band performs its climactic concert, was at the time of filming a country club, but later became the South Shore Cultural Center, named after the Chicago neighborhood in which it is located. The interior concert scenes were filmed in the Hollywood Palladium.[13]

The filming in downtown Chicago was conducted on Sundays during the summer of 1979, and much of the downtown was cordoned off from the public. Costs for filming the largest scene in the city's history, totaled $3.5 million.[14] Permission was given after Belushi and Aykroyd offered to donate $50,000 to charity after filming.[14] Although the Bluesmobile was allowed to be driven through the Daley Center lobby, special breakaway panes were temporarily substituted for the normal glass in the building.[14][15] The speeding car caused $7,650 in damages to 35 granite pavers and a bronze air grille in the building.[14] Interior shots of the elevator, staircase, and assessor's office were all re-created in a filmset for filming.[14]

Bluesmobile

Original 1979 theatrical poster
Fictional band concert poster

The film used 13 different cars bought at auction from the California Highway Patrol to depict the Bluesmobile, a retired 1974 Mount Prospect, Illinois Dodge Monaco patrol car. The vehicles were outfitted by the studio to do particular driving chores; some customized for speed and others for jumps, depending on the scene. For the large car chases, filmmakers purchased 60 police cars at $400 each, and most were destroyed at the completion of the filming.[16] More than 40 stunt drivers were hired and the crew kept a 24-hour body shop to repair cars.[16]

For the scene when the Blues Brothers finally arrive at the Richard J. Daley Center, a mechanic took several months to rig the car to fall apart.[16] The statues, seeming to be looking on with concern when the car disassembles, actually exist at the Cook County Building. At the time of the film's release, it held the world record for the most cars destroyed in one film until it was surpassed by its own sequel.[16]

Casting

In addition to recognized soul and R&B stars James Brown, Cab Calloway, Ray Charles, and Aretha Franklin, the members of The Blues Brothers band are notable for their musical accomplishments as well. Steve Cropper and Donald Dunn are architects of the Stax Records sound and were half of Booker T. & the M.G.'s - it is Cropper's guitar heard at the start of the Sam & Dave song "Soul Man". Horn players Lou Marini, Tom Malone, and Alan Rubin had all played in Blood, Sweat & Tears and the Saturday Night Live band. Drummer Willie Hall had played in The Bar-Kays and backed Isaac Hayes. Matt Murphy is a veteran blues guitarist. Blues performers were featured in the cast as well, with John Lee Hooker backed by harmonica player Big Walter Horton and pianist Pinetop Perkins, playing "Boom Boom" on Maxwell Street.

As the band developed at Saturday Night Live, pianist Paul Shaffer was part of the act and was cast in the film. However, due to contractual obligations with SNL, he was unable to participate. So actor-musician Murphy Dunne (whose father, George Dunne, was the Cook County Board President) was hired to take his role.[4] Shaffer later did appear in Blues Brothers 2000.

Carrie Fisher, Kathleen Freeman, Henry Gibson, and John Candy were cast in non-musical supporting roles. The film is also notable for the number of cameo appearances by established celebrities and entertainment industry figures, including Steve Lawrence as a booking agent, Frank Oz as a corrections officer, Twiggy as a "chic lady" in a Jaguar convertible whom Elwood propositions at a gas station, and Steven Spielberg as the Cook County Assessor's clerk. John Landis plays a state trooper in the mall chase. Paul Reubens (pre-Pee-wee Herman) has a small role as a waiter in the Chéz Paul. Joe Walsh has a cameo as the first prisoner to jump up on a table in the final scene, and Chaka Khan is the soloist in James Brown's choir. The character portrayed by Cab Calloway is named Curtis as an homage to Curtis Salgado, a Portland, Oregon, blues musician who inspired Belushi while he was in Oregon filming Animal House.[17]

Over 500 extras were used for the next to the last scene, the blockade on the building at Daley Center, including 200 National Guardsmen, 100 state and city police officers, and 15 horses.[14][18] Additionally, three Sherman tanks, three helicopters, and three fire engines were used.[14]

Reception

Box office

The Blues Brothers opened on June 20, 1980 with a release in 594 theaters. It took in $4,858,152, ranking second for that week (after The Empire Strikes Back) and 10th for the entire year. Over the years, it has retained a following through television and home video. The film in total grossed $57,229,890 domestically and $58,000,000 in foreign box offices for a total of $115,229,890.[2] By genre, it is the ninth-highest grossing musical and the tenth-highest earner among comedy road movies. It ranks second, between Wayne's World and Wayne's World 2 (which, coincidentally, also take place in the greater Chicago metropolitan area, in nearby Aurora, Illinois), among films adapted from Saturday Night Live sketches.[2] Director Landis claimed that The Blues Brothers was also the first American film to gross more money overseas than it did in the United States.[8]

Critical reception

The film has an 85% positive rating based on 45 reviews from critics at the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes.[19] It won the Golden Reel Award for Best Sound Editing and Sound Effects,[20] is 14th on Total Film magazine's "List of the 50 Greatest Comedy Films of All Time"[21] and is number 69 on Bravo's "100 Funniest Movies".[22]

The Blues Brothers has been criticized for its simplistic plot and being overly reliant on car chases. Among the reviewers at the time of the film's release who held that opinion was Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times. However, Ebert praised it for its energetic musical numbers and said that the car chases were "incredible".[23] In his review for The Washington Post, Gary Arnold criticized Landis engorging "the frail plot of The Blues Brothers with car chases and crack-ups, filmed with such avid, humorless starkness on the streets of Chicago that comic sensations are virtually obliterated".[24] Time magazine's Richard Corliss wrote, "The Blues Brothers is a demolition symphony that works with the cold efficiency of a Moog synthesizer gone sadistic".[25]

Janet Maslin of The New York Times criticized the film for shortchanging viewers on more details about Jake and Elwood's affinity for African-American culture. She also took director Landis to task for "distracting editing", mentioning the Soul Food diner scene in which saxophonist Lou Marini's head is out of shot as he dances on the counter. In the documentary, Stories Behind the Making of The Blues Brothers, Landis acknowledges the criticism, and Marini recalls the dismay he felt at seeing the completed film.[26]

On the 30th anniversary, L'Osservatore Romano,[27] the "semi-official" newspaper of the Holy See, wrote that the film is filled with positive symbolism and moral references that can be related to Catholicism. They went further stating, The Blues Brothers "is a memorable film, and, judging by the facts, a Catholic one."[28]

Cult-film status

See also: The Blues Brothers in popular culture

The Blues Brothers has become a staple of late-night cinema, even slowly morphing into an audience participation show in its regular screenings at the Valhalla Cinema, in Melbourne, Australia.[29] John Landis acknowledged the support of the cinema and the fans by a phone call he made to the cinema at the 10th anniversary screening, and later invited regular attendees to make cameo appearances in Blues Brothers 2000. The fans act as the members of the crowd during the performance of "Ghost Riders in the Sky".[30]

In August 2005, there was a 25th anniversary celebration for The Blues Brothers at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles.[31] Attendees included Landis, former Universal Studios executive Thom Mount, movie editor George Folsey, Jr., and cast members James Brown, Henry Gibson, Charles Napier, Steve Cropper, and Stephen Bishop. It featured a press conference, a panel discussion where Dan Aykroyd joined via satellite, and a screening of the original theatrical version of the film. The panel discussion was broadcast directly to many other cinemas around the country.

American Film Institute

Release

Home media

When the film was first screened for a preview audience, a producer demanded that director John Landis cut 25 minutes from the film.[35] After trimming 15 minutes, it was released in theaters at 133 minutes. The film's original length was restored to 148 minutes for the "Collector's Edition" DVD and a Special Edition VHS release in 1998. The 25th anniversary DVD release in 2005 includes both the theatrical cut and the extended version.

The film was released on Blu-Ray on July 26th, 2011, with the same basic contents as the 25th anniversary DVD. In a March 2011 interview with Ain't it Cool News, Landis also mentioned he had approved the Blu-Ray's remastered transfer.

Soundtrack

Untitled

The Blues Brothers: Music from the Soundtrack was released on June 20, 1980 as the second album by the Blues Brothers Band, which also toured that year to promote the film. "Gimme Some Lovin'" was a Top 20 Billboard hit, peaking at number 18.[37] The album was a followup to their debut, the live album, Briefcase Full of Blues. Later that year they released a second live album, Made in America, which featured the Top 40 track, "Who's Making Love".[37]

The songs on the soundtrack album are a noticeably different audio mix than in the film, with a prominent baritone saxophone in the horn line (also heard in the film during "Shake a Tail Feather", though no bari sax is present), and female backing vocals on "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love", though the band had no backup singers in the film. A number of regular Blues Brothers' members, including saxophonist Tom Scott and drummer Steve Jordan, perform on the soundtrack album but are not in the film.

According to director Landis in the 1998 documentary The Stories Behind the Making of 'The Blues Brothers', filmed musical performances by Franklin and Brown took more effort, as neither artist was accustomed to lip-synching their performances on film. Franklin required several takes, and Brown simply rerecorded his performance live. Cab Calloway initially wanted to do a disco variation on his signature tune, "Minnie The Moocher", having done the song in several styles in the past, but Landis insisted that the song be done faithful to the original big band version.

  1. "She Caught the Katy" (Taj Mahal, Rachell) – The Blues Brothers with lead vocals by Jake Blues - 4:10
  2. "Peter Gunn Theme" (Mancini) – The Blues Brothers Band - 3:46
  3. "Gimme Some Lovin'" (S. Winwood, M. Winwood, Davis) – The Blues Brothers with Jake Blues, lead vocals - 3:06
  4. "Shake a Tail Feather" (Otis Hayes, Andre Williams, Verlie Rice) – Ray Charles with the Blues Brothers (Jake and Elwood, backing vocals) - 2:48
  5. "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love" (Wexler, Berns, Burke) – The Blues Brothers (Jake Blues, lead vocals; Elwood Blues, harmonica and vocals) - 3:21
  6. "The Old Landmark" (Brunner) – James Brown and the Rev. James Cleveland Choir (additional choir vocals by Chaka Khan credited in the film) - 2:56
  7. "Think" (White, Franklin) – Aretha Franklin and the Blues Brothers with backing vocals by Brenda Corbett, Margaret Branch and Carolyn Franklin (real-life sister of Aretha) and Jake and Elwood - 3:13
  8. "Theme from Rawhide" (Tiomkin) – Elwood and Jake and the Blues Brothers Band - 2:37
  9. "Minnie the Moocher" (Calloway, Mills) – Cab Calloway with the Blues Brothers Band - 3:23
  10. "Sweet Home Chicago" (Johnson) – Dedicated to the musician Magic Sam - 7:48
  11. "Jailhouse Rock" (Leiber, Stoller) Jake Blues and the Blues Brothers (Over the closing credits in the film, verses are sung by James Brown, Cab Calloway, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin and "crew".) - 3:19
Other songs in the film

The film's score includes "God Music" (instrumental with choir vocalese) composed by Elmer Bernstein, who previously had worked with John Landis on National Lampoon's Animal House. Other songs in the film include:

Sequel

The 1998 sequel, Blues Brothers 2000, had similar traits to the original, including large car chase scenes and musical numbers. Landis returned to direct the film and Dan Aykroyd reprised his role, joining John Goodman, Joe Morton, and 10-year-old J. Evan Bonifant as the new Blues Brothers. Aretha Franklin and James Brown were among the celebrities returning from the first film. There were also musical performances by Sam Moore, Wilson Pickett, Paul Shaffer, B.B. King, and Eric Clapton, among others. Dozens of artists were packed into an all-star band called The Louisiana Gator Boys. Even with many returning cast members the film was considered a box office failure, only generating a little over $14 million in sales and critics' reactions were very poor.[38]

See also

References

  1. ^ Egan, Jack (July 21), "Wall Street Turns Sour on Hollywood", New York Magainze, p. 12, retrieved 2 010-11-01 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |accessdate=, |date=, and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
  2. ^ a b c "The Blues Brothers". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved December 16, 2008.
  3. ^ "Fortune City-Blues Brothers". Biography of the Blues Brothers-From their album, A Briefcase Full of Blues. Retrieved December 16, 2008.
  4. ^ a b Stories Behind the Making of The Blues Brothers, documentary feature on 1998 DVD and 25th Anniversary DVD (2005).
  5. ^ "411Mania". Band: The Blues Brothers Movie: The Blues Brothers. Retrieved December 16, 2008.
  6. ^ "Blues Brothers Central". The Blues Brothers : About The Movie. Retrieved December 16, 2008.
  7. ^ Cecil Adams (October 15, 2009). "Were no movies made in Chicago while Richard J. Daley was mayor?". Straight Dope Chicago. Chicago Reader. Retrieved October 30, 2009.
  8. ^ a b Newbart, Dave (June 20, 2005). "They 'were on a mission from God'". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on 2005-08-25. Retrieved December 16, 2008. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  9. ^ "The CLUI Land Use Database-Dixie Square Mall". The Center for Land Use Interpretation. Archived from the original on January 20, 2008. Retrieved December 16, 2008. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  10. ^ "The Blues Brothers - Chicago Filming Locations". Locations in the Blues Brothers. Archived from the original on May 24, 2008. Retrieved December 16, 2008. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  11. ^ "The Blues Brothers". DVD Laser. Archived from the original on 2007-10-14. Retrieved December 16, 2008.
  12. ^ Bessert, Christopher. "Milwaukee Freeways: Lake Freeway". Wisconsin Highways. Retrieved December 16, 2008.
  13. ^ "Chicago-The Blues Brothers". Onscreen Illinois. Archived from the original on April 03, 2008. Retrieved December 16, 2008. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |archivedate= (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  14. ^ a b c d e f g Newbart, Dave (June 24, 2005). "Happy to have Bluesmobile ram Daley Center — County Building's doors harder to pry open" (Registration required). Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved June 2, 2009. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  15. ^ Jevens, Darel (April 4, 2007). "The 50 Greatest Chicago Moments". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved June 2, 2009. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  16. ^ a b c d Newbart, Dave (June 23, 2005). "Incredible stunt driving: "That was all real"". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on 2005-07-28. Retrieved December 16, 2008. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help) Cite error: The named reference "Chicago Sun-Times2" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  17. ^ "Biography". Curtis Salgado. Retrieved December 16, 2008.
  18. ^ "Blues Brothers 25th Anniversary". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on 2005-07-21. Retrieved December 16, 2008. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  19. ^ "The Blues Brothers (1980)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved December 16, 2008.
  20. ^ "The Envelope". Every show, every winner, every nominee-Blues Brothers. Retrieved December 16, 2008.
  21. ^ "Film & Movie Comedy Classics". Comedy Zone. Retrieved December 16, 2008.
  22. ^ "Bravo's 100 Funniest Movies List is Laughable". Manroom Magazine. Retrieved December 16, 2008.
  23. ^ Ebert, Roger. "The Blues Brothers". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved December 16, 2008. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  24. ^ Arnold, Gary. "Oh, Brothers!". The Washington Post.
  25. ^ Corliss, Richard (July 7, 1980). "A Great Rock-'n'-Roll Caravan". Time. Retrieved September 15, 2009. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  26. ^ Maslin, Janet (June 20, 1980). "The Blues Brothers (1980)". The New York Times. Retrieved December 16, 2008.
  27. ^ Greg Burke (June 18, 2010). "Vatican Calls The Blues Brothers "Catholic"". Fox News. Archived from the original on 2010-11-01. Retrieved 2010-11-01.
  28. ^ Paul Casciato (June 18, 2010). "Vatican beatifies Blues Brothers ... well almost". Reuters. Archived from the original on 2010-11-01. Retrieved 2010-11-01.
  29. ^ Coslovich, Gabriella (February 11, 2003). "A mission from God nears its end". Melbourne: The Age. Retrieved December 16, 2008. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  30. ^ "The Melbourne Blues Brothers go global!". The Return of the Blues Brothers. Archived from the original on July 20, 2002. Retrieved December 16, 2008.
  31. ^ "Blues Brothers 25th Anniversary DVD Launch". Blues Brothers Central. Retrieved April 27, 2009.
  32. ^ AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs Nominees
  33. ^ AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs Nominees
  34. ^ AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes Nominees
  35. ^ Chiarella, Chris (October 14, 2005). "John Landis, Uncensored". Home Theater. Retrieved December 16, 2008.
  36. ^ Adams, Bret. "The Blues Brothers [Original Soundtrack]". Allmusic. Retrieved July 23, 2009.
  37. ^ a b Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard book of top 40 hits. Billboard Books. p. 70. ISBN 0-8230-7499-4. Retrieved 2010-11-01.
  38. ^ "Blues Brothers 2000". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved December 16, 2008.

External links