JOLIET, IL — It was 40 years ago today, June 16, 1980, that a new movie featuring Elwood Blues and Joliet Jake and their mission to save a Catholic orphanage premiered before a small group of suburban politicians and film crew members. The Blues Brothers hit box offices four days later, and Joliet's never been the same since.

It was a story like none other: a paroled convict and his brother who were on "A Mission from God." More than 100 vehicles were wrecked in the film, a record at the time. And thanks to the likes of Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi and movie director John Landis, Joliet is forever synonymous with a movie that many consider the greatest film ever produced in Illinois.

The movie begins and ends in Joliet, at the Old Joliet Prison, a giant limestone fortress along Collins Street. Built in 1858, the Illinois Department of Corrections closed the prison in 2002. It remained abandoned and fell into disrepair over the next 15 years, until the city of Joliet and the Joliet Area Historical Museum teamed up with volunteers to save it.

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Since the fall of 2018, the Joliet Area Historical Museum has operated sight-seeing tours at the Old Joliet Prison for guests. The self-guided tours of the Old Joliet Prison started this month.

As far as the Old Joliet Prison's claim to fame, The Blues Brothers is one of the most self-explanatory films around, remarked Greg Peerbolte, executive director of the Joliet Area Historical Museum.

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The Blues Brothers debuted to a select audience on June 16, 1980, and hit box offices four days later. Image via Universal/Kobal/Shutterstock

"Joliet Jake reinforced the notion of the synonymous nature of the city of Joliet with the prison," Peerbolte told Joliet Patch on Tuesday. "It just reinforced how iconic the site already was even 40 years ago."

The Blues Brothers "united prisoners, guards, staff, everyone felt like they were special," Peerbolte added. "The pop culture aspect of the prison is something that gets a lot of interest for us, and as Dan Aykroyd told me, it was a love letter to Chicago and it was a love letter to the region where it was filmed."

Last fall, Peerbolte met up in Chicago for a private meeting with Aykroyd to talk to him about the possibility of returning to the Old Joliet Prison as part of a 40th anniversary celebration. Their private meeting occurred before the new coronavirus outbreak put an end on large public concerts and special events across Illinois. As a result, the pandemic hampered efforts by Joliet's museum to hold an outdoor celebration to mark the movie's anniversary this month.

On Tuesday, Peerbolte told Patch he remains cautiously optimistic the museum can still hold its annual Great Joliet Prison Break-In on the last weekend in August, as it did in 2019 and 2018. Peerbolte said he continues to monitor the state's response to the new coronavirus as well as the number of coronavirus cases, which have been dropping significantly of late.

This month, the museum staff resumed offering daily self-guided walking tours at the Old Joliet Prison grounds, 1125 N. Collins St. There are also haunted history tours on Friday evenings. The self-guided tours start at 9 a.m. and end at 5 p.m. The Old Joliet Prison's self-guided tours are $20 per adult; museum members and Joliet residents, $15 per adult, $10 per child, ages 3-12, children under 3 free, reservation required.

For more information about ticket costs and tours for the Old Joliet Prison, go here. Visitors enter at Western Gate via Hills Avenue, north side of the prison.

Peerbolte said he has met a number of Blues Brothers fans who have come to the Old Joliet Prison from all over Europe, and some were even dressed up as Jake and Elwood.

"It really is a pilgrimage. We've met people from as far away as from Switzerland, who have come in Blues Brothers costume to experience the prison," Peerbolte said. "We are Joliet Jake's origin story, hence the name. It gives the mystique. There is definitely some mysticism and some pilgrimage to describe when people come here to experience this site."

This month, the museum staff resumed offering daily self-guided walking tours at the Old Joliet Prison grounds, 1125 N. Collins St. Image via John Ferak/Patch
This month, the museum staff resumed offering daily self-guided walking tours at the Old Joliet Prison grounds, 1125 N. Collins St. Image via John Ferak/Patch

This month, the museum staff resumed offering daily self-guided walking tours at the Old Joliet Prison grounds, 1125 N. Collins St. Image via John Ferak/Patch
This month, the museum staff resumed offering daily self-guided walking tours at the Old Joliet Prison grounds, 1125 N. Collins St. Image via John Ferak/Patch
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