Radiance and Reverie Film Series: Chicago

From the gallery to the silver screen, the jewels in Radiance and Reverie: Jewels from the Collection of Neil Lane shine in a new light. Each film in this series showcases at least one dazzling jewel from the exhibition. Explore Radiance and Reverie in the galleries, then settle in for a screening that celebrates the art of adornment, drama, and Hollywood style.

Chicago (2002) is a vibrant musical crime comedy set in 1920s Chicago, Illinois. Nightclub sensation Velma Kelly (Catherine Zeta-Jones) murders her philandering husband, and Chicago's slickest lawyer, Billy Flynn (Richard Gere), is set to defend her. But when Roxie Hart (Renée Zellweger) also winds up in prison, Billy takes on her case as well, turning it into a media circus. Neither woman will be outdone in their fight against each other and the public for fame and celebrity. 

Before the screening, Dr. Caryl Flinn will share an introduction that focuses on ways that Hollywood—and especially the movie musical—has relied on spectacle and glamour to attract audiences. Jewelry, which can provide a visual and thematic shorthand for opulence, is key to that endeavor, and Chicago uses jewelry and jeweled costumes as part of its own “razzle dazzle.”