Cheat You Fair: The Story of Maxwell Street

Cheat You Fair: The Story of Maxwell Street
Directed by	Phil Ranstrom
Produced by	Phil Ranstrom
Written by	Phil Ranstrom
Narrated by	Joe Mantegna
Starring	Bo Diddley, Buddy Guy, Junior Wells, Uncle Johnny Williams, Nate Duncan, Studs Terkel, Florence Scala, Prof. Steven Balkin
Distributed by	[self]
Running time	90 min
Language	English

Cheat You Fair: The Story of Maxwell Street is a 90 minute documentary film, narrated by actor Joe Mantegna, which details the rise and fall of Chicago's Maxwell Street. Created by veteran documentary filmmaker, Phil Ranstrom, this film is presented in 3 acts—part history, part blues and part expose' about the fight to save the market from being destroyed by the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC).

The making of...

During the summer of 1994, over a period of several months, filmmaker, Phil Ranstrom, began filming the final days of the Maxwell Street market, along with Assistant Producer, Bill Griffith and Principal Videographer, Tony Medici. Focusing on the struggle by concerned citizens to save the market, Ranstrom followed the fight to prevent the city's sale of the land to UIC, and, later, the unsuccessful attempt by the Maxwell Street Coalition (MSC) to preserve the area as an historic district. Ranstrom was helped extensively by MSC member, Prof. Steve Balkin, as well as Big Shoulders Digital Video Productions, who became the Executive Producer of the production. Principal Editor, Justin Kulovsek, volunteered months of his time, in order to log, organize and edit the volumes of photographs, footage and music accumulated over the course of over a decade.

The title

The name "Cheat You Fair" came from the famous store at the corner of Maxwell and Halsted Streets, which exemplified the spirit of bargaining that went on there, with both the buyer and seller trying to "cheat" the other "fairly".

The story

The first act of the film explores the history of Maxwell Street, which began after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Some of the earliest inhabitants were Jewish settlers who came to America during the turn of the 20th century to escape Antisemitism in eastern Europe and Russia. Those who landed at Maxwell Street began selling products from pushcarts and Maxwell Street began to emerge as a place to shop and find a bargain.

The second act of this film looks at the partnerships between blacks and Jews on Maxwell Street and how they influenced modern music. Maxwell Street is considered to be the birthplace of the "electric, urban blues", a style of music which led directly to rock & roll. During the Great Migration (African American), Chicago was an arrival point for thousands of African-Americans, and Maxwell Street was a place where blues artists could earn a living playing for tips in the streets. Because so many artists were playing the blues in one relatively small area, Maxwell Street became the place to learn and to compete with other artist, which accelerated the blues movement, worldwide. With the birth of record companies like Ora Nelle Records, Delmark Records and Chess Records, Maxwell Street became the epicenter for the blues and numerous Maxwell Street artists wrote songs that were later were taken by major rock & roll acts like Elvis Presley and Led Zeppelin, which is detailed extensively in the film. Featured are interviews and performances with blues artists, Bo Diddley, Buddy Guy, Junior Wells, Charlie Musselwhite, Jimmy Lee Robinson, Eddie Burks, Frank Scott Jr., Tony Mangiullo and 99-year-old Uncle Johnny Williams. Chicago author, Studs Terkel, Little Italy activist, Florence Scala, and Maxwell Street icon, Nate Duncan, are also featured. During the making of this film, several of the principal subjects died, including Terkel, Scala, Duncan, Robinson, Burks, Williams and Diddley, and this film includes their last interviews.

The third act of the film examines the shady deals that destroyed this thriving market and the great loss suffered by thousands of poor people. It also explores the importance of a third place like Maxwell Street and what that means to communities.

Reviews

"Cheat You Fair" was has been critically acclaimed by various critics and journalists, including Chicago Tribune writer, radio host and author of 12 books, Rick Kogan, who said, "This is one of the most remarkable pieces of work I've ever seen. Anyone with any affection for Chicago must see this film."^[1]

Showings

Completed in 2007, "Cheat You Fair" premiered at the 2007 Chicago International Documentary Festival^[2] and was shown during the 2008 Sundance Film Festival^[3]; the 2008 Red Gorilla Festival in Austin, Texas^[4] ; the 2008 Deep Blues Festival, Minneapolis, MN^[5]; the Skokie Theater, Skokie, IL^[6] ; at the Cultuurcentrum in Antwerp, Belgium^[7]; and in various cities in Poland^[8][9] in 2008.

References

1. ^ [1]^{[dead link]}
2. ^ "Chicago International Documentary Festival". Chicagodocfestival.org. http://www.chicagodocfestival.org/arch_schedule_2007.htm. Retrieved October 21, 2011. 
3. ^ om een reactie te plaatsen!. "How "Cheat You Fair" came to be". YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHMHFO5n6Cc&NR=1. Retrieved October 21, 2011. 
4. ^ "Notes of the Urban Blues". Electrifiedblues.com. http://www.electrifiedblues.com/. Retrieved October 21, 2011. 
5. ^ "siskelfilmcenter.org | Chicago's Premier Movie Theater". S65962.gridserver.com. http://s65962.gridserver.com/home. Retrieved October 21, 2011. 
6. ^ Nov 2, 2007 – 07:59 am (November 2, 2007). "Want Some Cheat with That Whine? – Marquee – November 2007 – Chicago". Chicagomag.com. http://www.chicagomag.com/Radar/Marquee/November-2007/Want-Some-Cheat-with-That-Whine/. Retrieved October 21, 2011. 
7. ^ [2]^{[dead link]}
8. ^ [3]^{[dead link]}
9. ^ "Spotlight – Issue 55, November 2008". Usinfo.pl. November 21, 2008. http://www.usinfo.pl/krakow/spotlight/Nov08.html. Retrieved October 21, 2011. 

External links

• Cheat You Fair website
• Cheat You Fair: The Story of Maxwell Street at the Internet Movie Database