The King of Steeltown

2001
1h 15m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

"The King of Steeltown" is an offbeat, sometimes humorous inside look at Chicago-style machine politics in a rust-belt city (East Chicago, Indiana) struggling with the decline of the steel i... Read all"The King of Steeltown" is an offbeat, sometimes humorous inside look at Chicago-style machine politics in a rust-belt city (East Chicago, Indiana) struggling with the decline of the steel industry. The film focuses on the 1999 re-election campaign of Robert A. Pastrick, mayor fo... Read all"The King of Steeltown" is an offbeat, sometimes humorous inside look at Chicago-style machine politics in a rust-belt city (East Chicago, Indiana) struggling with the decline of the steel industry. The film focuses on the 1999 re-election campaign of Robert A. Pastrick, mayor for three decades and a dominant political force since he launched his career in the early 1... Read all

Director
- Chris Sautter

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

8.2/10

YOUR RATING

Director
- Chris Sautter

1User review

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 1 win total

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User reviews1

8.213

Featured reviews

9Terinije

An excellent political documentary

The King of Steeltown, the story of Mayor Pastrick's renomination campaign against challenger Stiglich, is an excellent and thought-provoking synopsis of what could very well be the last urban political machine in the nation. Despite only having a population of 30,000, politics in East Chicago, Indiana is anything but a small-town's game, as this Democratic stronghold faces the most serious Democratic Primary battle in decades between a long-term, though allegedly corrupt, mayor and the county Democratic chairman who is constantly described as nothing more than power hungry. For anyone interested in politics in the least bit, this is an absolute must-see. However, democratic purists will most likely be disgusted at the below the belt tactics and the heavy use of money within the Pastrick campaign. This is the level of excellence that all political documentaries should aim for, though the visual quality is slightly sub par.