Jane Byrne Made the Best Scenes in 'The Blues Brothers' Possible

Jane Byrne poses with John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd and her daughter, Kathy.

John Belushi sat in Mayor Jane Byrne’s City Hall office, sweating and offering money for Chicago’s orphans if she would let him make a movie in her city.

She just nodded and let him sweat.

How much money?

“$200,000,” the comic replied.

Soaked through, Belushi was nervous. Chicago wasn’t hospitable to filmmakers. But Belushi, Dan Aykroyd and John Landis had a big idea for a film, and Chicago wouldn’t just be the setting. Chicago would be everything to this movie.

“I know how Chicago feels about movies,” Belushi continued.

In a 2010 interview with the Chicago Tribune, Jane Byrne recounted that fateful meeting, a scene that could’ve been pulled straight from the script of “The Blues Brothers” itself.

“Finally, I just said, ‘Fine.’ But he kept going. So again I said, ‘Look, I said fine.’ He said, ‘Wait. We also want to drive a car through the lobby of Daley Plaza. Right through the window,’” Byrne told the Trib.

And that seemed like a perfectly fine idea to the mayor who once served under “The Boss” himself, Richard J. Daley. His cronies didn’t care for her anyway.

The decision made that day in 1979 by Jane Byrne, who died last Friday at 81 and was laid to rest Monday, made the most memorable scenes in “The Blues Brothers” possible.

Comically outrageous pileups of squad cars beneath the El tracks. Coppers rappelling down Chicago buildings. Cops and soldiers swarming Daley Plaza. The Bluesmobile smashing into the Daley Center.

We have Jane Byrne to thank for every one of those. Without her, Belushi’s signature movie, an enduring comedy classic, just would not have been as special.

“I was a fan of his,” Byrne told the Tribune, reminiscing about the meeting with Belushi, who grew up in Wheaton. “But, of course, I wasn’t going to say this right away.”

In her first year as mayor, her decision to give the filmmakers broad access to the city and the subsequent success of the movie opened Chicago to more film production, just one of the cultural legacies of her four years in office. Chicagoans also can thank her for the annual Chicago Pride parade and the Taste of Chicago festival.

On Monday, mourners gathered in Lincoln Park at St. Vincent de Paul Church for Jane Byrne’s funeral. The city flag was draped over her casket.

“She loved the City of Chicago, and she was proud she was mayor of the City of Chicago,” said Monsignor Kenneth Velo, who presided over her funeral and described her as “tough” and “feisty.”

Like the city itself.

RELATED: ‘The Blues Brothers’ Shopping Mall Chase Scene As You’ve Never Seen It Before — in Legos

ALSO ON PATCH: Coming Soon: ‘Hillary Clinton: The Coloring Book’ ... Color in Those Pantsuits