Powerful Fun
Identifier
F.2005-08-0273
Date Of Production
1986
Abstract
"Powerful Fun (1986, 52 minutes) presents three year's worth of media events in a condensed way. Here is Governor Jim Thompson handshaking his way through the center of a parade, an octopus of glad handing, shot by Stamets who is shadowing the manic campaigner. The handheld camera with a wide angle view shows the marchers' surprise when the governor comes charging through their procession with hands flying and a hearty "Hiya, big guy!" The image tells us more about the magnificent insincerity of politics than a hundred editorials ever could. The film will probably never be seen again as it was shown at Chicago Filmmakers in a 1986 show. But the memory of the moments captured remains because of their uniqueness, vitality, and insight into the life of the city. Street corner preachers, Vietnam vets, Democratic machine ward heelers, blond teens with "White Power" t-shirts, and Black teens cursing out Klan demonstrators: Stamets creates a portrait of Second City that is mostly warts and all." -- Chuck Kleinhans, "Documentary on the Margins: Bill Stamets' Super 8mm Ethnography," Cinematograph no. 4: “Non-fiction Cinema?” long version (v. 2.0c); 28 Sept 1990.
Description
A finished film by Bill Stamets includes footage of the following: Televised news features Mayor Harold Washington, Jayne Byrne, Jay McMullen, Pope John Paul II, and Big Bird; Governor James Thompson attends Chicago’s Labor Day Parade; St. Patrick’s Day paraders support Byrne’s 1987 mayoral campaign; Byrne holds a press conference at Navy Pier; Adlai Stevenson III announces his candidacy for Illinois Governor at Oak Park River-Forest High School on October 22, 1985; Thompson campaigns for governor in advance of the 1986 Illinois gubernatorial election; Ald. Edward Vrdolyak speaks at a dinner event for the Executives’ Club of Chicago; Vrdolyak delivers a speech at presidential candidate Walter Mondale’s rally held at Medinah Temple; televised news features journalist John Calloway’s interview with Vrdolyak; Vrdolyak delivers a “coming home” speech; protestors display an anti-Nazi banner in Lincoln Park; Washington delivers a speech at a Veteran’s Day event; Washington speaks at a campaign event for aldermanic candidate Luis Gutiérrez; Mondale leads a torch-lit evening march along N. Michigan Avenue towards a rally held at Medinah Temple on October 30, 1984; Vrdolyak and Washington attend Democratic vice presidential nominee Geraldine Ferraro’s rally held in Daley Center Plaza on September 19, 1984.
Format
Super 8
Extent
500 feet
Color
color and B&W
Sound
Mag Stripe
Reel/Tape Number
1/1
Has Been Digitized?
Yes
Language Of Materials
English
Spanish
Spanish
Element
Reversal Positives
Subject
Lake Michigan
Marching bands
Parades and processions
Political Activists
Political campaigns
Politicians
Television
Marching bands
Parades and processions
Political Activists
Political campaigns
Politicians
Television
Preservation Sponsor
Related Collections
Related Places
Main Credits
Stamets, Bill (is filmmaker)
Participants And Performers
Washington, Harold (is participant)
Thompson, James R. (is participant)
Byrne, Jane (is participant)
McMullen, Jay (is participant)
Stevenson, Adlai III (is participant)
Simon, Paul, 1928-2003 (is participant)
Vrdolyak, Edward (is participant)
Jayne C. Thompson (is participant)
Elrod, Richard (is participant)
Gutiérrez, Luis (is participant)
Mondale, Walter F. (is participant)
Hynes, Thomas (is participant)
Rostenkowski, Daniel D. (is participant)
Pucinski, Roman C. (is participant)
Dunne, George (is participant)
Ferraro, Geraldine (is participant)
Do you know more about this item?
If you have more information about this item please contact us at info@chicagofilmarchives.org.
