It’s a Saturday and a movie from 2002, so it’s probably a period piece. This one is a musical, which is generally regarded as a lot better than the last musical I covered. Chicago is set in the 1920s, and I suspect there’s a little “embellishment” in the costume department, but that works out well for us because there are a lot more fox furs in this than there were in the actual 1920s.
Chicago – The Film
The 2002 film is based on a 1970s musical based on a 1920s play loosely based on actual events. Everybody got that? Aspiring actress Roxie Hart (Renée Zellweger) kills a guy. She goes to jail and meets showgirl Velma (Catherine Zeta-Jones), who also killed some people. Shenanigans ensue, and the guilty parties go free and do a musical show together. Thus, everyone (except the dead people) lives happily ever after.
Chicago – The Furs
Chicago is a bit of a tease before it gets going, and I guess it’s those showbiz roots. Here is radio host Mary Sunshine (Christine Baranski), who covers the various trials in the film. She is not on screen often, but she wears some relatively “tame” fur collars when she does appear.
Lots of murder-y ladies in this movie, including, briefly, Kitty Baxter (Lucy Liu), who steals the sensational murder spotlight briefly from Roxie’s trial. When returning home, she wears what might be an ermine or sheared mink-trimmed coat. She discovers her hubby in bed with two ladies who are not her. (Dramatic reenactment).
There’s more Mary Sunshine sprinkled in before we get to the good stuff, which finally hits about an hour and a half into the movie. Surprise witness Velma shows up at Roxie’s trial to do a little sabotage, and she makes an entrance.
A rather lovely four minutes follows, where Catherine Zeta-Jones and silver fox fur are given appropriately reverential treatment.
Granted, you have to make it through another musical number. But saying that should suggest everything you need to know about my relationship with movie musicals.
You save the best for last with any good show, and Chicago does that. Velma and Roxie team up for an all-murderer review that is a major hit.
Their climactic number starts with a pair of matching white fox-trimmed robes.
Sadly they do not last for the entire number, but you get a decent look at the pair while vamping around the stage.
Apropos of nothing, does anyone remember when Renée Zellweger was famous?
Chicago brings us almost four minutes of fur, at least half of which is really great. Due to the overall runtime, it only clocks in at a rather anemic 3%. However, we stan Catherine Zeta-Jones in fur, so it’s worth taking a look for that alone.
- Fur Runtime: 3:40 minutes
- Film Runtime: 113 minutes
- On-Screen Fur Ratio: 3.24%
Find-a-Fur: Chicago, 2002
(all times are approximate and are affected by the cut of the film)
- 37:00 – mink coat
- 45:30 – ”
- 1:04:40 – 06:30 – ermine? trim
- 1:08:30 – short hair
- 1:16:07 – mink collar
- 1:29:00 – 33:30 – silver fox collar on CZJ
- 1:34:55 – trim
- 1:41:50 – white fox trimmed robes RZ/CZJ
Fur Fashion Gallery: Chicago, 2002
