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A tall station hall with a skylight, benches and stone columns
The Great Hall of Chicago Union Station, January 2019. Fyu · CC BY-SA 4.0

Chicago and Montana · 1986 shoot · 1987 film

The Untouchables

The famous staircase scene was first set in a hospital. It moved to Union Station during production. Eight places below, one on each tread.

Sources

The descent

One place on every tread

Step the marker down the staircase. Each tread is a real place the 1986 shoot used, in the order below.

The marker stands on the first tread.

Tread 1 · Where the railway shootout was filmed · The Loop

Chicago Union Station

The film article lists Chicago Union Station as the setting of the railway shootout.

A wide marble staircase between stone columns in a station hall
Chicago Union Station’s grand staircase, photographed in August 2007. Sean Lamb · CC BY-SA 3.0

The railway scene is an homage to the Odessa Steps sequence in Sergei Eisenstein’s 1925 film Battleship Potemkin.

The film article adds that the 1994 comedy Naked Gun 33⅓ parodied the scene as a dream sequence.

A working Amtrak and Metra station on Canal Street. The Great Hall and staircase are open to anyone passing through; allow time around trains.

Sources
A steel truss bridge over a wide river in open country
Hardy Bridge over the Missouri River in Montana, March 2017. Pahcal123 · CC BY-SA 4.0

The border

Canada was Montana

The film article says Montana stood in for the Canada–U.S. border, and adds that the border raid never happened historically.

In August 1986 Paramount contacted the Montana Film Commissioner’s Office, which suggested Hardy Bridge over the Missouri River near Cascade. The bridge was closed to traffic from 6 to 20 October to film the shootout.

Twenty-five local people were cast as mounted Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers. The crew built cabins and summer homes along the river and planted 600 trees brought in from the Lincoln and Kalispell areas in a day and a half.

Filming took about ten days, and hundreds of people watched from a nearby field.

A steel truss bridge on the old U.S. 91 road in Cascade County. Check local road conditions before you go.

Sources

The bottom step

Go and find the steps

Seven of the eight places are in Chicago, and each card says how to see it. The Montana bridge is a long way out; confirm the road before you go.

Sources

Where it is now

8 places to see in Chicago and Montana.

Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.

  • Building reference · Public access · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A working Amtrak and Metra station on Canal Street. The Great Hall and staircase are open to anyone passing through; allow time around trains.

  • Building reference · Public access · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A free public building on Washington Street, open for exhibitions and concerts. Check the opening hours before you go.

  • Building reference · Public access · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A working office building on LaSalle Street. The office atrium has been closed to the public since 2001; the page lists guided tours.

  • Building reference · Public access · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A working theatre on State Street. The sign and front are public; the foyer opens with a show ticket.

  1. A wide marble staircase between stone columns in a station hall
    Chicago Union Station’s grand staircase, photographed in August 2007. Sean Lamb · CC BY-SA 3.0

    The Loop · 225 South Canal Street, Chicago

    Chicago Union Station

    The film article lists Chicago Union Station as the setting of the railway shootout.

    A working Amtrak and Metra station on Canal Street. The Great Hall and staircase are open to anyone passing through; allow time around trains.

    Sources
  2. A large stone building with arched windows seen from the street
    The Chicago Cultural Center on Washington Street, November 2022. w_lemay · CC BY-SA 2.0

    The Loop · 78 East Washington Street, Chicago

    Chicago Cultural Center

    The film article says the Chicago Cultural Center stood in for the opera house, the courthouse lobby and the rooftop chase.

    A free public building on Washington Street, open for exhibitions and concerts. Check the opening hours before you go.

    Sources
  3. A tall brick and stone office building seen from below
    The Rookery on LaSalle Street, July 2014. Marlene Calderon · CC BY-SA 3.0

    The Loop · 209 South LaSalle Street, Chicago

    The Rookery

    The film article gives the Rookery as Eliot Ness’s police headquarters.

    A working office building on LaSalle Street. The office atrium has been closed to the public since 2001; the page lists guided tours.

    Sources
  4. A tall lit vertical sign reading Chicago above a theatre front
    The Chicago Theatre’s vertical sign on State Street, June 2007. TonyTheTiger · CC BY-SA 3.0

    The Loop · 175 North State Street, Chicago

    The Chicago Theatre

    The film article says the upper foyer of the Chicago Theatre was used as Capone’s suite.

    A working theatre on State Street. The sign and front are public; the foyer opens with a show ticket.

    Sources

Stay

A room on Michigan Avenue.

The hotel the film article names for the mob banquet.

Choose Chicago listing

The Blackstone, Autograph Collection

South Loop, Chicago

A historic hotel on South Michigan Avenue, the building the film article names for the mob banquet. Its Choose Chicago listing describes lake and park views and on-site dining. Pictured: the Blackstone, 2008.

See the listing

Go there

Walk the Loop.

Architecture and film location walks of the Loop, where four of the eight places stand.

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Chicago architecture walking tours

The Loop, Chicago

Live marketplace results for walks through the Loop. Check which pass the Rookery, the Cultural Center and the Chicago Theatre.

Live marketplace results · itineraries change

Compare tours
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Chicago movie location tours

Chicago

Live marketplace results for film location tours of Chicago. Check each route for the Loop stops.

Live marketplace results · itineraries change

Compare tours

What’s on

No dates yet.

Nothing dated for the film is listed at these places now.

No current dated events are listed. Check providers for the latest programme.

Dates, prices, rooms and stock change: confirm with the provider before you travel or buy. A stay or tour is described as a filming location only where the card says so.

The archive

Every place and moment behind this page, with sources.

8 of 8 places · 10 of 10 stories

  • Chicago Union Station

    225 South Canal Street, Chicago

    • The steps

      The railway shootout at Union Station is an homage to the Odessa Steps sequence in Battleship Potemkin.

    • Moved from a hospital

      The scene was first set in a hospital and moved to Union Station during production.

  • Chicago Cultural Center

    78 East Washington Street, Chicago

    • Opera house and rooftop

      The Cultural Center played the opera house, the courthouse lobby and the rooftop chase.

  • The Rookery

    209 South LaSalle Street, Chicago

    • Ness’s headquarters

      The Rookery played Eliot Ness’s police headquarters.

  • The Chicago Theatre

    175 North State Street, Chicago

    • Capone’s suite

      The Chicago Theatre’s upper foyer was used as Capone’s suite.

  • Roosevelt University, Auditorium Building

    430 South Michigan Avenue, Chicago

    • Capone’s residence

      Roosevelt University’s exterior and lower lobby played the Lexington Hotel.

  • The Blackstone Hotel

    636 South Michigan Avenue, Chicago

    • The banquet

      The Blackstone Hotel was used for the mob banquet.

  • Our Lady of Sorrows Basilica

    3121 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago

    • The church scene

      Our Lady of Sorrows Basilica appears in the scene where “the Chicago way” is explained.

  • Hardy Bridge, Montana

    Missouri River near Cascade, south-west of Great Falls, Montana

    • The border

      Hardy Bridge stood in for the Canada–U.S. border; the bridge was closed for two weeks in October 1986.

    • Local riders

      Twenty-five local people were cast as mounted police officers, and hundreds watched the shoot.

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Links go to each venue’s or organiser’s own site. Check dates, access and availability there before you go.

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Where next?

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Image credits
  • The Chicago River and Marina City on a rainy night · Chris Rycroft · CC BY 2.0
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