The Breakfast Club (1985)

John Hughes movies hold a special place with Chicago People of a certain age. His run of movies from Sixteen Candles to Home Alone exposed the world to a certain segment of life, teenage angst, and what it was to grow up in this world.

The fictional town of “Shermer, Illinois” was loosely based on the North Shore area of Chicago, a generic, white, upper middle class suburb that really could have been “Anytown, USA” for a lot of audiences. Most of his movies were shot on location around Chicago and its northern suburbs.

The Breakfast Club was no exception, almost entirely filmed at the former Maine North Township High School after its closure in 1981. The building still exists today although there is some irony in it now being the district headquarters for the Illinois State Police.