Tom Palazzolo's rapid-fire, seemingly spontaneous documentary style captures Chicago with pizazz. For more than ten years, Palazzolo has been delivering to us his captured visions - body builders, senior citizens, erotic parlours, weddings, deli owners, and the like - as if he had harnessed them in a cinematic butterfly net.
"The love of events that bring people together, revealing at once the absurdities and tenderness of the human comedy, plus a sharp eye for Americana, characterize and permeate the Palazzolo films." - Kevin Thomas, The Los Angeles Times
AMERICA'S IN REAL TROUBLE is a patriotic film with music and sound by some of the great unknowns of the past. Lots of overtones, undercurrents, innuendoes, visual similes, counterpoints, puns and contrapuntal movement. Filmed in Chicago, it covers several years of parades and civic events. If you're not moved by this film there's no hope for you.
"A stirring slice of raw Americana. I haven't been so moved since Leni Riefenstahl retired from showbiz." - John Heinz
Collection: Museum of Modern Art, NY
Exhibition: Invited to Commie Film Festival, Leipzig, East Germany
1967, 16mm, color/so, 15m, $45
The unveiling of Chicago's five-story Picasso by Mayor Daley and the city fathers (and mothers). Symbolically the event was a marriage of the virgin Art to Politics. His honor winds up the event by publicly raping the statue. The film includes a beautiful 6'8" blonde, Mayor Daley caught with his finger stuck in his ear, and the filmmaker treed by the police, and finally a breathtaking coda, Chicago's final tribute to Picasso and his statue.
Award: Ann Arbor Film Festival and Tour
1967, 16mm, color/so, 12m, $35
Some of the myth-heroes, folk personalities and superstars who have appeared in some of my past films pulsate to the rhythms of Jerry Lee Lewis, Sam the Sham and Bee Bumble and the Stingers. The nude beach scene done in five-below weather was the first film in Chicago to exploit the beauties of the male body (and was for a time censored here). The hand-stand on an iceberg usually brings the house down. Audiences should decide for themselves if the nudity in the film justifies itself.
"Lots of fun with all kinds of people." - Scott Bartlett
Sheldon Renan liked it.
1967, 16mm, color/so, 8m, $25
CAMPAIGN uses the neo-Roman architecture of Chicago (Coliseum, Amphitheater and Elks Temple) to build an atmosphere of institutional calm, beauty and strength. The benevolent despot, played by Mayor Daley, seen in the film crowned with a green hard hat, staves off the attempted coup of his regime by militant anarchists mistakenly publicized by the press and TV as a protest against the war and the Democratic Convention. Filmed in the streets of Chicago during the '68 Convention under actual combat conditions.
"The macing scene will take your breath away." - Hubert Humphrey
1968, 16mm, color/so, 12m, $35
Made with Jeff Kreines.
Ricky (Italian) and Roxann (Polish) arrive at a "surprise" wedding shower given by Ricky's side of the family. The gifts they receive are held up for the approval of the relatives (who along with the gifts steal the show from the young couple).
"Palazzolo and Kreines bring compassion and wit to their film on a lower middle class backyard wedding shower; cinema verite can be a treacherous form, lending itself to facile and often cruel distortion ....
"They respect the well-meaning spirit of the occasion and the genuine gratitude of the honored young couple, yet let us see the rich humor in social gatherings." - Kevin Thomas, The Los Angeles Times
Awards: Ann Arbor Film Festival; Prize from James Broughton, Bellevue Film Festival.
Exhibition: Robert Flaherty Film Seminar
1971, 16mm, color/so, 15m, $45
A day at your local massage parlor (Big Bertha's) in Chicago. While talking about the hangups of their customers some of the girls act out their own. They also tell their feelings about this sort of work (one of the few "non-skilled" jobs that pay women a "decent" wage); although, like waitresses, their salaries are almost all in tips. Through all the strange tales (about their customers) we come to feel a genuine affection for the girls, and begin to realize that perhaps they are in some way sexual social workers who perform a necessary (?) service for people ... (not as well-adjusted as myself).
1972, 16mm, color/so, 15m, $45
"LOVE IT/LEAVE IT is a raucous treatment of patriotic color, football, nudity and parades set to a refrain of 'Love It' and coalescing into Tom Palazzolo's nightmare rendition of America the Awful. It sounds the theme song of this program [at the Whitney] and gives you a pretty good start on deciding to 'Leave It.'" - Archer Winston, New York Post "[A]s filmmaking it's riveting." - The New York Times
"A part of it looks like the kind of out-of-control patriotism ... of Desert Storm." - J. Hoberman
1972-1973, 16mm, color/so, 15m, $45
Made with Bernie Caputo and Jeff Kreines.
"Palazzolo, Caputo and Kreines are able to look beyond the silliness of the contests the oldsters are asked to enter and the opportunism of the speeches of various politicians to discover that these old people, some of whom perform in a joyous amateur musical revue, are clearly having a pretty good time on what is possibly an all too rare outing." - Kevin Thomas, The Los Angeles Times
"With a title taken from the corny hit song of the '40s, ENJOY YOURSELF follows the antics of old folks as they participate in a variety of song, fun and games. There's an energetic rendition of 'Hello Dolly,' a paper-plate throwing contest, and hula dance by six women in their 70s who introduce their act by explaining that they're 'young of heart and got a lot of nerve.'" - Gene Siskel, Chicago Tribune
"ENJOY YOURSELF is a lovely funny documentary about an old folks day in the park, the senior citizens are rounded up for games ... and a particularly gaudy and very large red pillow is awarded by an embarrassed Lt. Governor to a man who says he's never won anything in his life and does not seem especially happy to have won such a pillow - the movie smiles about human nature." - Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
1974, 16mm, color/so, 20m, $60
Made with Jeff Kreines.
A record (and more) of a body building contest held in Chicago, and featuring "some of the best bodies in the Midwest." George, one of the contestants and owner of a health club, explains the why and what for, while Chuck, his friend, walks away with first place.
See what they go through and share the excitement and fulfillment of winning. "Makes all those work-outs worthwhile." A look at some people and a way of life you might otherwise never experience.
Exhibition: Ann Arbor Film Festival; Robert Flaherty Film Seminar.
16mm, color/so, 12m, $25
For 29 years Jerry Meyers has screamed and yelled at the customers who came into his deli - the film attempts to explain why people keep coming back for more.
"A top award for the Fastest Camera in the Midwest. To have captured the essence of Jerry and his deli-in-action proves this filmmaker one of the few who can make the documentary a high art form, comparable to the best portraiture painting; and taking it, possibly, one step farther." - Larry Jordan, Judge
Awards: Ann Arbor Film Festival and Tour; First Prize (short film category), Bellevue Film Festival.
1974, 16mm, color/so, 9m, $30
Frank Collin, the leader of the Nazi organization, has since become a name in the headlines with his attempts to march into Skokie, a predominantly Jewish suburb of Chicago. Their right to march is being tested in the Supreme Court.
"MARQUETTE PARK is a steamroller of raw cinema verit�, an unsettling look at the reaction of white residents to a black march into their neighborhood, and the role played in generating hostility by local Nazi organizers. Palazzolo, a veteran Chicago filmmaker whose earlier works come as close as any to embodying a 'Chicago style' of personal documentary, and Mark Rance, a student at MIT, have shot the events of a single afternoon from behind the 'white lines' in a straight and even-handed looking fashion, without a trace of moralizing or manipulation." - Ron Epple, Filmmakers' Newsletter
Award: Kenyon Film Festival
Exhibition: Cannes Film Festival, 1977; Ann Arbor Film Festival; Independent Expo; Bellevue Film Festival.
1976, 16mm, color/so, 25m, $75
DVD Sale, $35 home use, $150 institutions
Made with Mark Rance.
We traveled to Indiana back roads to see and shoot the annual Miss Nude Universe Contest held at a "notorious" nudist camp. They wanted $15 a head at the gate so we parked down the road and crawled through the brush. Once in, we encountered truckers and hundreds of Sunday photographers straining for a shot at the contestants. Afterwards we joined the quest for stray women willing to pose. After a quick success we headed home with our catch in the can. (This film also contains shots of the Mr. Nude Trucker Contest.)
1976, 16mm, color/so, 15m, $45
I used high speed 7250 - sometimes pushed to 3200 ASA - to record three nights at Mother's, a Chicago lounge. The film is a record both of the events there and of my own presence and gradual gaining of access. The last two thirds of the film deals with what was termed the "World's Series" and consisted of winners from previous contests. The second place "loser" (there was only one prize) turns out to be the most interesting person on camera - she speaks philosophically about life as the management fondles money.
1977, 16mm, color/so, 25m, $75
"LABOR DAY: EAST CHICAGO is a documentary about a group of working-class Lions Club members on a holiday outing. There are overweight, doughy people in tank tops, kids in a bicycle decorating contest, a beauty pageant - a very kitschy situation, but, happily, the filmmaker isn't low enough to laugh at his subjects ...." - Ann Arbor Film Festival, University Newspaper
"The indisputable highlight ... is a beyond deadpan question-and-answer session between the Lions' MC and the prospective beauty queens, whose public poise and cultural conditioning are here put to the test. In these days of inflation, how do you feel about going dutch treat on a date? (She doesn't approve.) What activity should be established for young people here on the East Side? (Disco.) And so on. Palazzolo has always brought a respectful lens to bear on the most laughable and lamentable customs of Chicago's citizens, and this Labor Day cameo is no exception. ... But the real virtue of the film is its study of the ideology of beauty, East Chicago style." - B. Ruby Rich, Chicago Reader
Award: Ann Arbor Film Festival
1979, 16mm, color/so, 25m, $75
A film about my grandmother, now in her 90s, as she shops, eats and talks about her life, family and the deaths of her husband and son, Joe.
1979, 16mm, color/so, 20m, $60
This film follows a film crew as they make a TV spot for a Ford new/used car dealer who (even though he is dressed in white) is not the kind of person you'd buy anything from. As the commercial is being filmed, I also turn the camera on a salesman who is trying to unload a used car on an unsuspecting woman - hoping she will buy on time so he can charge her 17% interest.
1980, 16mm, color/so, 15m, $45
"MARQUETTE PARK II trains its central gaze on the official onlooker: the media [covering the event of a march by the Chicago-based Nazi Party].
"The film's opening structure gracefully orders its priorities, giving us a flag-waving antifascist crazy, followed by Nazi clubhouse antics, displaced in turn by an emblematic TV screen in the center of the frame - a sly comment on the media identity of this event. Later there's a silent shot picturing the arrival of the press corps on the scene .... At Marquette Park, Palazzolo and Rance provide us with priceless scenes of the on-the-spot reporters in the very act of recording their stream-of-consciousness impressions. The process reeks with such schizophrenia that the credibility of on-location truth-telling will never be the same. "The intercutting of the media's presence, the Nazi's activities, and the media reporting of the day unmistakably points up how seriously the press treated an eminently ludicrous display. The earnest, deadpan tone of the reporters and television newsmen granted an aura of historical importance to the Nazi's buffoonery. ... [The film's] high points (which are many) show the real value of documentary." - B. Ruby Rich, Chicago Reader
1980, 16mm, color/so, 35m, $105
Note: MARQUETTE PARK and MARQUETTE PARK II may be rented together for the price of $50.
We followed John Anderson and his running mate Pat Lucy as they kicked off their 1980 presidential campaign with an appearance in the Calumet City (a suburb of Chicago) Parade, where they encounter clowns, children, adults who don't know who they are and a drunken lady who has more charm than any of the candidates.
1981, 16mm, color/so, 15m, $45
My work has always depended on outside sources, whether it's an artwork from another period or people, events, and places from my own past or present. I use this material as a springboard.
Both as a student and a teacher I have spent most of my adult life in an art environment. This present work combines formative memories of Catholic school with the other half of my life - the museum and school of the Art Institute of Chicago. I have always wanted to do a remake of Robert Wiene's The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, both because the film is very interesting to me in a psychological sense and to reflect my interest in art and film history.
"CALIGARI'S CURE is Tom Palazzolo's first fictional narrative film and also his first feature .... The film is a comic fantasy that presents the filmmaker's memories ... as reenacted by a cast of performance artists and friends in wildly colored, distorted sets and costumes. Palazzolo's style is playful and irreverent, incorporating and openly acknowledging a wide range of influences from cinema, art history, and contemporary American art. The subjectively distorted, expressionist sets of the original German film, for instance, have been transformed into a junky, cartoon-like, and distinctively American version that reflects Palazzolo's involvement with contemporary painting as well as with film history." - Callie Angell, New American Filmmakers Series, Whitney Museum of American Art, NY
1982, 16mm, color/so, 70m, $135
VHS Sale: $50, DVD Sale: $35 home use, $150 institutions
Note: For an additional $10 rental fee, any other film by Tom Palazzolo will be available for showing with CALIGARI'S CURE.
"Maxwell Street since the late 1800s has been the city's best site for free enterprise, flea market, black market, blues bands on the corner, watch bands up to the elbow, fresh fruit and greasy sausage, hawking and gawking. There is a steady parade of picture-takers passing stands, booths, stalls, and heaps of merchandise. They wear Nikons as jewelry. They seek icons of poverty.
"AT MAXWELL STREET demonstrates a remarkable mode of filmmaking. To let a handful of beginning students aim camera and microphones might invite a primer of errors. But Palazzolo instead achieves, with grace, an honest essay. A quality of awkwardness and improvisation comes about which fits the action indigenous to the street. Though his pedagogy may appear scattershot, Palazzolo's film is stamped with his characteristic humanism, relish of oddballs, and instinct for mysterious detail. His editing harmonizes a phenomenological grab-bag of disparate footage without homogenizing its true roughness. The music Paul Gartski created for the film is entrancing, and is an essential ingredient. The discipline Palazzolo exercises over his many sources is subtle and winning." - Bill Stamitz
Award: Ann Arbor Film Festival, 1984
1984, 16mm, color/so, 45m, $135
"The Lilly of the title had run the 'World in Wax Musee' at Coney Island for 54 years until her recent retirement. Palazzolo's original intent was to film a scheduled auction of the contents of the museum, a wonderful idea, but because the collection may be sold as a unit, the director found himself on Coney Island making a new film, and probably a better one.
"Lilly leads the camera on a tour of the museum with the lights and wires being dragged along before the eyes of the audience. The woman insists on looking into the camera as she delivers her absurd and touching stories about the figures.
"As Lilly's helpers toast her and say how much they will miss her, she admits to us that her wax figures 'made mistakes.' But, she says, 'I don't believe there is a hell. I believe we pay for our sins here on earth.'
"It is good news for those who love good films that Tom Palazzolo's latest film is one of his best." - William J. Leahy
1987, 16mm, color/so, 28m, $85
VHS Sale: $50
ADDED LESSONS, the sequel to Palazzolo's 1982 semi-autobiographical film, CALIGARI'S CURE, continues his self-expressionistic exploration of the psyche of his alter-ego, Francis, now a young man adrift in a hallucinatory dreamscape of painted sets. Structured as a deconstruction of the early surrealistic films of the 1920s, the film shows Francis's struggle to satisfy the contradictory demands of mother, society and his own fantasy life. The film features Chicago performance artists Carmella Rago, Jim Grigsby, Lynn Book, Liam Hayes, Jack Heilbig and many others.
"There is some wry humor in ADDED LESSONS about the place of art in urban society. There is also an interesting examination of the quest for a spiritual marriage in a blatantly carnal world. ... Bernie Beckman's inventive sets set the proper mood." - Chicago Sun-Times
"Palazzolo assaults the barriers of preoccupation, complacency, common sense and good taste." - Chicago Magazine
1988, 16mm, b&w/color/so, 75m, $140
VHS Sale: $50
Note: ADDED LESSONS may be rented with CALIGARI'S CURE for the special price of $200.
Based on a cartoon by Heather McAdams.
A live-action cartoon come to life, starring Heather McAdams and film students. An anti-harrassment guide for women. "This funny look at how women can battle back at creepy guys who ogle them mixes innocence and street smarts to produce hilarious results." - Lynn Voedisch, Chicago Sun-Times
16mm, color/so, 5m, $20
Welcome to a Vatican of the future, with a very young Pope and his power-hungry assistant. The assistant has been trying to keep the Pope in the dark in regards to the lackluster image of the Catholic Church. Due to a series of eye-opening events, the Pope decides to call in (unknown to his assistant) a marketing expert to help improve the Church. The Pope becomes smarter and buys into the new ideas presented to him, such as a billboard campaign: "I Can't Believe I Ate the Whole Body of Christ." At the same time, his assistant becomes unglued and "physically" wrestles with the Pope for power. In the end, the Pope becomes a born-again marketeer! The film is directed by popular Chicago filmmaker Tom Palazzolo.
1992, 16mm, color/so, 20m, $60
VHS Sale: $14.95
1993, 16mm, b&w/so, 4m, $20
Chicago filmmaker Tom Palazzolo's new documentary combines several of the filmmaker's longtime obsessions: the recording of the rituals and festivals that exist around the margins of popular culture, a documentation of remarkable but unrecognized Chicagoans, and the pursuit of his own unique brand of social commentary. These come together naturally in his telling of the story of the diminutive Mary Ellen St. Alban, whose vaudeville career began at the age of eleven and peaked in Hollywood in 1946 with her appearance as "Princess of the Elves" in Three Wise Fools. A year later she abandoned show business to marry Pernell St. Alban, best known for having played a Munchkin in The Wizard of Oz. The couple opened the Midget Club on Chicago's south side, which remained a well-publicized institution for 31 years.
1994, 16mm, color/so, 35m, $105
Rita recounts her bad luck with boyfriends, jobs, apartments.
2002, 16mm, b&w/so, 12m, $35
Includes: SNEAKIN' AND PEAKIN', HE, HOT NASTY and I WAS A CONTESTANT AT MOTHER'S WET T-SHIRT CONTEST
1967-1977, 16mm, color/so, 63m, $135
Includes: AMERICA'S IN REAL TROUBLE, LOVE IT/LEAVE IT, CAMPAIGN, ANDERSON/LOOSELY and MARQUETTE PARK I
1972-1981, 16mm, color/so, 82m, $135
GAY PARADE-GAY FOR A DAY: The parade kicks off to wild enthusiasm and color. The filmmaker joins a float to get the participants' perspective; suddenly a group of hostile youths appear and throw an egg at the filmmaker. It hits him in a surprising place. The film ends on a high note with the rousing song "When Johnny Comes Marching Home."
COSTUMES ON REVIEW: A great gay Halloween party is marred by the appearance of a show-stealing contestant in the costume competition. Felicia the MC and creator of Chicago's very large "Costumes on Review" is forced to disqualify the wayward mystery contestant for hogging the runway, spotlight and the applause of the audience. Felicia must then face the boos of the crowd - until he turns the crowd around with a plan to support gay events, not "tear them down." It's only a partial victory, though, as the mystery contestant is given an award by the jury even after Felicia has disqualified him/her.
VHS, color/so, 45m, $50
Includes: SNEAKIN' AND PEAKIN', I WAS A CONTESTANT AT MOTHER'S WET T-SHIRT CONTEST and HOT NASTY
See film descriptions above.
1975-1977, VHS, color/so, 55m, $50
Four fun films on Chicago - the real America.
Includes: YOUR ASTRONAUTS; JERRY'S; THE TATTOOED LADY; ENJOY YOURSELF, IT'S LATER THAN YOU THINK The astronauts visit and America fantasizes about lift off. Then we visit JERRY the screaming deli owner. Then off to the local run-down amusement park to visit THE TATTOOED LADY - who tells us her story. Finally we join an old folks' picnic run by the Democratic Machine and watch old folks have fun even in the face of insensitive political hacks.
See film descriptions above.
VHS, color/so, 60m, $50
Includes: HE, O, THE BRIDE STRIPPED BARE, LOVE IT/LEAVE IT, VENUS ADONIS, and CAMPAIGN
See film descriptions above.
1966-1973, VHS, color/so, 75m, $75
Jerry's
Rita's on the Ropes, see film description above.
Enjoy Yourself, see film description above.
Down Clark Street
Tom's nostalgic reminiscence of 1960's Chicago blends his vintage footage with new. It is a chronicle of a time past and a compassionate and sometimes humorous look at the forgotten characters that populated Clark Street.
DVD Sale, $35 home use, $150 institutions
Rickey & Rockey, see film description above.
Love it Leave it, see film description above.
"0"
"Gay for a Day", the 1976 Gay Pride Parade
DVD Sale, $35 home use, $150 institutions