Want to drive past the ‘Home Alone’ house? Or the church? A tour of 12 filming locations around Chicago
CHICAGO — The 600 block of Lincoln Avenue in Winnetka appears, at first glance, like any other well-heeled North Shore neighborhood with stately, million-dollar homes on generously sized lots.
And maybe it was before Nov. 16, 1990 — the day “Home Alone” premiered. The Tribune gave the modern Christmas classic, which was shot in just 62 days in the city and suburbs, three stars.
If you’re not familiar with the plot, here’s a quick summary: Kevin McCallister (played by Macaulay Culkin), 8, is left behind by his parents Kate (Catherine O’Hara) and Peter (John Heard) as their extended family (including Kevin’s siblings Buzz, Megan, Linnie and Jeff) fly to Paris.
When Kate realizes Kevin didn’t make the flight, there’s no way to contact him. Phone lines are down due to a snowstorm and cellphones weren’t a common thing in the early ‘90s, remember? What could go wrong?
“We live on the most boring street in the United States of America where nothing even remotely dangerous will ever happen, period,” Buzz (played by Devin Ratray) tells a sister.
Left to his own devices, Kevin must conquer his fear of being home alone — even though he wished for his parents and four siblings to disappear in the first place — and protect his house from two bungling burglars, “Wet Bandits” Marv (Daniel Stern) and Harry (Joe Pesci).
The film was written and produced by (“Sixteen Candles,” “Planes, Trains and Automobiles,” “The Breakfast Club” and more), who was by then deep into his oeuvre of to illuminate his scripts.
