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Prohibition Chicago: 1920–1939

Stories

Chicago · 1920–1939 · exact time + place

The wild era of bootlegging, gangsters, and jazz clubs — famously depicted in movies like The Untouchables. The button below opens StoryTerra with both Chicago and 1920–1939 already set.

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10 famous Prohibition Chicago stories

Live snapshot of the top 10 most popular catalogue items (2026-09-04). Click any card to open this entry on the live map.

Browse 17 books, 31 movies, 1 TV show and 5 games set in Chicago.

The Untouchables

The Untouchables

Paramount
movie

Young Treasury Agent Eliot Ness arrives in Chicago and is determined to take down Al Capone but it's not going to be easy because Capone has the police in his pocket. Ness meets Jim Malone a veteran patrolman and…

Setting: Chicago, USATime Period: 1930s
Some Like It Hot

Some Like It Hot

The Mirisch Company-Ashton Productions-United Artists
movie

Two musicians witness a mob hit and struggle to find a way out of the city before they are found by the gangsters. Their only opportunity is to join an all-girl band as they leave on a tour. To make their getaway they…

Setting: Chicago, USA; Florida, USATime Period: 1920s
The Sting

The Sting

Universal Pictures-Zanuck/Brown Productions
movie

A novice con man teams up with an acknowledged master to avenge the murder of a mutual friend by pulling off the ultimate big con and swindling a fortune from a big-time mobster.

Setting: Chicago, USATime Period: 1930s
Public Enemies

Public Enemies

Universal Pictures-Appian Way-Forward Pass-dentsu-Relativity Media-Tribeca Productions-Misher Films
movie

Depression-era bank robber John Dillinger's charm and audacity endear him to much of America's downtrodden public but he's also a thorn in the side of J. Edgar Hoover and the fledgling FBI. Desperate to capture the…

Setting: Chicago, Illinois, USA; Indiana, USATime Period: 1930s
Chicago

Chicago

Miramax-Producers Circle-Storyline Entertainment
movie

Murderesses Velma Kelly and Roxie Hart find themselves on death row together and fight for the fame that will keep them from the gallows in 1920s Chicago.

Setting: Chicago, USATime Period: 1920s
Scarface

Scarface

The Caddo Company-United Artists
movie

In 1920s Chicago Italian immigrant and notorious thug Antonio "Tony" Camonte shoots his way to the top of the mobs while trying to protect his sister from the criminal life.

Setting: Chicago, USATime Period: 1920s
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Escape Artists-Mundy Lane Entertainment
movie

Tensions rise when the trailblazing Mother of the Blues and her band gather at a Chicago recording studio in 1927. Adapted from August Wilson's play.

Setting: Chicago, Illinois, USATime Period: 1927
The Front Page

The Front Page

Universal Pictures
movie

A journalist suffering from burn-out wants to finally say goodbye to his office – but his boss doesn’t like the idea one bit.

Setting: Chicago, USATime Period: 1920s
The Public Enemy

The Public Enemy

The Vitaphone Corporation-Warner Bros. Pictures
movie

Two young Chicago hoodlums Tom Powers and Matt Doyle rise up from their poverty-stricken slum life to become petty thieves bootleggers and cold-blooded killers. But with street notoriety and newfound wealth the duo…

Setting: Chicago, USATime Period: 1930s
Dick Tracy

Dick Tracy

Touchstone Pictures-Mulholland Productions-Silver Screen Partners IV
movie

The comic strip detective finds his life vastly complicated when Breathless Mahoney makes advances towards him while he is trying to battle Big Boy Caprice's united mob.

Setting: Chicago, USATime Period: 1930s

The 10 stories above are just a sample of the 54 in the catalogue for this entry. For the live 1920–1939 catalogue, use the button above — or browse all Chicago stories. On the live map you can also filter by the exact time the stories take place — any year, decade or century, from BCE to the future.

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