LINCOLN PARK, CHICAGO — Ferris Bueller's Day Off premiered on June 11, 1986. The Society marks the fortieth anniversary, with particular recognition for its senior Members who attended Glenbrook North.
Forty years ago, a film was released about a young man who skipped school, borrowed a Ferrari, and saw more of Chicago in one afternoon than most residents manage in a decade. The Society has always considered it less a comedy than a feasibility study.
The anniversary has produced lively discussion among Members who attended Glenbrook North. Each knows which parts of the school one ought to recognize, and several have offered to point them out during a screening.
One senior Member reports that the hallway scenes still come up in her book club. Another maintains that the economics teacher was based on a man she had for third period, and no one has been able to talk her out of it. A third notes only that the parking garage attendants were the most realistic part of the film, and she would know.
The itinerary is part of the pleasure: the Art Institute, a ballgame, a parade on Dearborn, and lunch under a borrowed name. Members watching together tend to interrupt with memories of their own afternoons downtown.
There is also the matter of the car. The Society does not condone borrowing a father's Ferrari, and notes that the entire catastrophe could have been avoided with a reputable valet, a service the village has offered for as long as anyone can remember. The lesson was about mileage, and the Members of the Doodle Pool teach it to their teenagers annually.
Forty years on, the Society's position is this: the film holds up, the city looks magnificent in it, and the Members of Glenbrook North remain available for comment, whether or not comment is requested.
— Issued by the Office of the Executive Director.