Radium City

"Radium City" is about the way corporate entities have and still do destroy rural areas to fatten their pocketbooks.

After living and working in the town on which this documentary is based, it was a terrifying jolt of reality to watch this movie. As a nurse in the town's hospital, I every day take part in the standard jokes about the copious amounts of radium in the soil and water; as well as the disturbing number of illnesses that are "rare" that happen to pop up on a daily basis. Multiple sclerosis, rare cancerous tumors and legions of leukemias. The scariest part of all is that the town has been trying to crush the legacy of both Radium Dial and this movie into the background for years. The local video stores "aren't allowed" to carry this movie, I've been told (I guess they worry about local government) so you can obtain a bootleg copy of this if you promise to return it and keep your mouth shut about where you got it. How scary is that?

By the way, in the past year it has come to light that there are huge amounts of arsenic in the neighboring town's soil, left over from a careless glass factory. Oh, and I'm moving away in 2 months- thank God. Hopefully I wont have to repeat this story to an oncologist in the future.

An excellent film about radium and other radioactive chemicals used by plant workers who were not told of the major health risks of the substance. Interesting that plant officials knew and did not reveal the information to keep from losing employees. That behavior would result in "Lawsuit City" if it happened today. Keeps your interest.

Though dry at times, this documentary slowly puts the pieces together on a chilling tale of the folly of mankind. Beautiful young girls are exposed to radiation, wholly unaware of the consequences. Eerie group pictures of the young women who worked at the Westclock factory, painting radioactive paint on the dials of their clocks will haunt you after you view this cautionary tale. Their happy demeanors and bright smiles mock the reality of them all dying of cancer in short order afterward. Memorable moments in the film include a description of the women clock painters using their tongues to sharpen the point of their paintbrushes (used to paint the radioactive Radium on the dials of the clocks) and a Geiger counter used over the graves of some of the dead women, clicking away madly. One is left with a sense of the duality of the US's golden age during the 1950's; both filled with wonder and joy and a deadly technological naiveté.

My involvement was the public showing Tues. February 9th 1988, in Glassworkers Union Hall, Ottawa IL (my birth town). It was on 16mm film, multiple reels & I still own the projectors we used .. set up the event on a 9' wide white paper roll of portable photo background .. I have no pictures of show, but remember Carole catching a stand that was starting to fall by crowd push after the showing, thwarting disaster. I was Carole's driver and spent a couple days visiting in the area, before driving her to St. Louis MO for a tv gig .. pictures of this time I'll try & post into imdb: Carole, the show flyer, Carole & Marie Rossiter (who film is dedicated to), WCMY Radio talk show w/Dan Parker.

My vhs copy is via Cinemax shown July 14th 1988 6pm on then Sammons Communication Cable, runs 1h_45m.

Movie credits ..

Produced & Directed by Carole Langer

Photographed by Luke Sacher

Edited by Carole Langer & Brian Cotenoir

Music by Tim Cappello

Scientific advisor Vilma Hunt, PHD.

Location manager Daphne Mitchell .. Associate producer Susan Brand .. Research coordination Arianna Dworsky .. Re-recording mixer Lee Dichter .. Negative matcher N&D Films .. Sound editor Thomas Gulino .. Processing TVC Labs

I can't really add much to billmarrs' review, but I will say that this film really stayed with me for years. I'd gladly trade six hours of the shrill, strident and hysterical histrionics of anti-globalization rhetoriticians for two hours of this film. And encourage anyone else to do the same.