Pugs ‘n Pols

Three documentaries by Chicago videomakers from the 1970s: "Jane Byrne Election Night" by Scott Jacobs, "Golden Gloves" by Tom Weinberg and Scott Jacobs, and "Election Day (Chicago Style) by Scott Jacobs and Valjean McLenighan.

0:49Copy video clip URL “Jane Byrne Election Night.” Produced by Scott Jacobs for “The Video News” with Cindy Neal and Lily Ollinger. [Note: For the official director’s cut, visit: https://vimeo.com/139883277] We follow Jane Byrne on February 27, 1979 at the Ambassador Hotel. Byrne is just finding out that she may have won the election for Mayor of Chicago. She watches TV and talks about the havoc handshaking has wrought on her nails and jewelry. Her husband talks about preparing meals so she’d be well fed when she got home. After her victory seems certain, she organizes her family and supporters and speaks to her campaign staff. When she’s won, the media struggle to get close to her.

21:56Copy video clip URL “Golden Gloves” by Tom Weinberg and Scott Jacobs, 1977. A moving portrait of a promising young boxer. We see him reeling after his first victory, certain of his impending fame and fortune. We also see the boy after his first big loss and his recognition that it’s really going to be hard for him to support himself while boxing. The tape is incredibly intimate and seems to sum up not only the hardships faced by inner-city project dwellers, but also the general loss of idealism faced by all young adults.

31:49Copy video clip URL Election Day (Chicago Style) by Scott Jacobs and Valjean McLenighan, 1976. Non-citizens are paid to vote, people are given “help” pulling the lever in the voting booth, aspiring precinct captains volunteer to get voters out, and Richard J. Daley remains mayor. Politics as usual in Chicago.

39:15Copy video clip URL End of tape.