Labor Day East Chicago

"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; (Canyon Cinema)