EXPO: Magic of the White City

As a history buff, I looked forward to a well made, engaging documentary about this fascinating event in American History. What I got was marginally engaging and clearly made with a budget in mind. Thanks to my avid watching of The History Channel, Discovery Channel, etc. I know what to expect from a well made historical documentary. This movie, if it can even be called that, simply doesn't compare.

The movie consists of period images, artwork, promotional material, maps, and many other visual representations of the Colombian Exposition set to period music. The best part about this technique is the clear organization as we travel across the fair grounds from building to building exploring the varied elements that made up the Colombian Exposition. You really get a good idea of what it must have been like to get off at the purpose built train station and walk into the fair grounds. The flaw in this technique is its monotony. After the tenth building, one wonders how long till we reach the exit. The narration by Gene Wilder was clearly an attempt by the producers to add some pizazz to the production values. Why else would they put his face so prominently on the cover of the DVD? So... if you are interested in this specific historical event then by all means rent or borrow this DVD. If not, save yourself the 2 hours.

Cheers!

Past and future Classic Game Room host Mark Bussler enjoyed a secondary career of making direct-to-DVD documentaries during the 2000s. One such film covered the 1893 World's Fair, a grand and gaudy celebration of the achievements, and vices, of 19th century America and her global neighbours.

Narrated by the sublime Gene Wilder, the film benefits from clear extensive research: Bussler shows us a wealth of archival material to paint a picture of the Fair. Photos, adverts, plans, sketches and even surviving artefacts like an Eidson phonograph. It's all fascinating... until you realize that's all there is. For a film, EXPO is decidedly non-cinematic and clearly made on a tight budget for a specific market at a specific time. Most of it, as another reviewer noted, plays out like a slick but undeniable Powerpoint presentation, which even Wilder's soothing delivery can't mask. What actual footage there is mostly flat stocks of animals or locations around present-day Chicago. There's a reenactment and a belly dancer, but not much else.

Without talking heads from relevant authorities, or much other footage to break it up, the documentary's pacing suffers for it and at nearly two hours is a bit long. By the end I certainly felt informed about the White City, but perhaps not as inspired or enthralled as I hoped to be, or Bussler likely intended. Worth checking out at least once for those with an interest in the era, but a pedestrian production for what was a celebration of human imagination.

I knew little about the Fair, even though I was aware it took place in my city back in the late 1800's. This film is packed with all the information you could possibly give to someone in the time allowed. I first got hooked on Chicago history and Architecture after reading the book "Devil in the White City". I have seen articles from that period of time at the Chicago Historical Society and have been to Graceland cemetery to see the graves of the Architects how planned and helped build the Fair and many of the buildings that still stand in downtown Chicago.

So when the film started I already had some insight into the circumstances and people responsible for bringing the Fair to Chicago. I knew that one of the buildings still stood, the Museum of Science and Industry, having gone there many, many times as a child but never could even imagine the scope and size that the Fair entailed. Now when I venture into that part of the city my imagination will see, in my minds eye, the ghostly beauty of the buildings that once were there and the people who attended it. I think it is a wonderful film to watch. A little long and drawn out, but still filled with the Magic that once was the "White City" of Chicago.

Beware of documentaries that value the producer's fantasies more highly than their commitment to accuracy! At least one INTENTIONAL error in this film makes me question the integrity of the entire thing. The live-action footage of the belly dancer completely misrepresents how the women at the Columbian Exposition would have dressed and danced in 1893. Although the vintage still photos ALL show the dancers wearing blouses, with their midriffs and upper arms covered, the modern-day footage shows the dancer with a completely bare midriff and a horrid enormous navel jewel.

For those who care, the bra as we know it was invented in 1913 (according to patents issued), and the "jewel in the navel" idiocy was invented by Hollywood after the Hayes Code was instituted in the 1930's. So why did the producer force these anachronisms into a documentary about an 1893 event? I am told that the dancer tried to push for wearing historically-correct costuming, but the producer, Mark Bussler, insisted on a "1970's James Bond" look. If Bussler knowingly insisted on a 1970's look for one of the elements of his "documentary" about 1893, what other inaccuracies did he knowingly insert into it? He completely destroyed the credibility of this entire project by depicting the dancer with a look that was 80 years out of context.

For a historically-accurate description of the dancers at the Columbian Exposition, don't view this documentary. Instead, see the book titled Looking for Little Egypt by Donna Carlton.

There's only so much you can do with a subject that pre-existed video or film or audio recordings, but this didn't really push even the bare bones of presentation. Narration, photos, and re-enactment clips. Could have used a few talking heads maybe? But for what it was, it was well done enough and worth checking out.