Cheat You Fair: The Story of Maxwell Street

Cheat You Fair: The Story of Maxwell Street is a 90 minute documentary film, narrated by actor Joe Mantegna, which details the rise and fall of Chicago's Maxwell Street. Created by veteran documentary filmmaker, Phil Ranstrom, this film is presented in 3 acts—part history, part blues and part expose' about the fight to save the market from being destroyed by the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC).

During the summer of 1994, over a period of several months, filmmaker, Phil Ranstrom, began filming the final days of the Maxwell Street market, along with Assistant Producer, Bill Griffith and Principle Videographer, Tony Medici. Focusing on the struggle by concerned citizens to save the market, Ranstrom followed the fight to prevent the city's sale of the land to UIC, and, later, the unsuccessful attempt by the Maxwell Street Coalition (MSC) to preserve the area as an historic district. Ranstrom was helped extensively by MSC members, Prof. Steve Balkin and Lori Grove, as well as Big Shoulders Digital Video Productions, who subsidized and facilitated most of the production. Principal Editor, Justin Kulovsek, volunteered months of his time, in order to log, organize and edit the volumes of photographs, footage and music accumulated over the course of over a decade.

The name "Cheat You Fair" came from the famous store at the corner of Maxwell and Halsted Streets, which exemplified the spirit of bargaining that went on there, with both the buyer and seller trying to "cheat" the other "fairly".

The first act of the film explores the history of Maxwell Street, which began after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Some of the earliest inhabitants were Jewish settlers who came to America during the turn of the 20th Century to escape Antisemitism in eastern Europe and Russia. Those who landed at Maxwell Street began selling products from pushcarts and Maxwell Street began to emerge as a place to shop and find a bargain.

The second act of this film looks at the partnerships between blacks and Jews on Maxwell Street and how they influenced modern music. Maxwell Street is considered to be the birthplace of the "electric, urban blues", a style of music which led directly to rock & roll. During the Great Migration (African American), Chicago was an arrival point for thousands of African-Americans, and Maxwell Street was a place where blues artists could earn a living playing for tips in the streets. Because so many artists were playing the blues in one relatively small area, Maxwell Street became the place to learn and to compete with other artist, which accelerated the blues movement, worldwide. With the birth of record companies like Ora Nelle Records, Delmark Records and Chess Records, Maxwell Street became the epicenter for the blues and numerous Maxwell Street artists wrote songs that were later were taken by major rock & roll acts like Elvis Presley and Led Zeppelin, which is detailed extensively in the film. Featured are interviews and performances with blues artists, Bo Diddley, Buddy Guy, Junior Wells, Charlie Musselwhite, Jimmy Lee Robinson, Eddie Burks, Frank Scott Jr., Tony Mangiullo and 99-year-old Uncle Johnny Williams. Chicago author, Studs Terkel, Little Italy activist, Florence Scala, and Maxwell Street icon, Nate Duncan, are also featured. During the making of this film, several of the principle subjects died, including Terkel, Scala, Duncan, Robinson, Burks, Williams and Diddley, and this film includes their last interviews.

The third act of the film examines the shady deals that destroyed this thriving market and the great loss suffered by thousands of poor people. It also explores at the importance of a third place like Maxwell Street and what that means to communities.

"Cheat You Fair" was has been critically-acclaimed by various critics and journalists, including Chicago Tribune writer, radio host and author of 12 books, Rick Kogan, who said, "This is one of the most remarkable pieces of work I've ever seen. Anyone with any affection for Chicago must see this film."

Completed in 2007, "Cheat You Fair" premiered at the 2007 Chicago International Documentary Festival and was shown during the 2008 Sundance Film Festival; the 2008 Red Gorilla Festival in Austin, Texas; the 2008 Deep Blues Festival, Minneapolis, MN; at the Gene Siskel Film Center, Chicago, IL; the Skokie Theater, Skokie, IL; at the Cultuurcentrum in Antwerp, Belgium; and in various cities in Poland in 2008. The DVD is available at the film's website.

Cast and credits

NARRATOR: Joe Mantegna

WRITTEN, PRODUCED & DIRECTED BY: Phil Ranstrom

FEATURING (as themselves): Bo Diddley, Buddy Guy, Junior Wells, Charlie Musselwhite, Studs Terkel, Jimmy Lee Robinson, Eddie Burks, Frank Scott Jr., Bob Koester, Cheryl Arena, Tony Mangiullo, John Primer, Nate Duncan, Florence Scala, Merlin, McFarland, Steve Balkin, Danny Chun, Alan Mammoser, Janelle Walker, Bill Lavicka, Ambrosio Medrano, Alfonso Morales, Dexter Watson

PRINCIPAL VIDEOGRAPHY: Tony Medici

ASSISTANT PRODUCERS: Denise Ardizzone, Bill Griffith, Justin Kulovsek, Tony Medici

ADDITIONAL VIDEOGRAPHY: Tom Bacsik, Greg Glomb, Bill Griffith, John Hessler, Don Murphy, Pat Prater, Phil Ranstrom, Randy Riesen, Luciano Sabin

AUDIO: Lee Hart, Mary S. Medici, Rich Pooler, Greg Quedens,

PRODUCTION ASSISTANTS: Nick Gansas, Myoung Oh, Chris Raftery

PRINCIPAL EDITING: Justin Kulovsek

EDITORS: Dan Kolodziej, Matt Mueller, Phil Ranstrom

DIGITAL MOTION GRAPHICS: Terry Hahin

MUSICAL SCORE COMPOSITION, SOUND DESIGN & MIXING: Patrick Yacono/Signal Hill Sound

MUSIC SUPERVISOR: WJOY Music Search & Licensing, Joy Wellington Tillis

BLUES CONSULTANTS & CONTRIBUTORS: Jim O'Neal/BluEsoterica, George Paulus

ARCHIVAL/MUSIC MASTERING: Ham Strawn, Grace Audio/Visual

NARRATION RECORDING: North Hollywood Sound

STILL PHOTOGRAPHS: Fern Abrams-Packer, John Anderson, Steve Balkin, Chicago Daily News, Chicago History Museum, Chicago Tribune, Charles W. Cushman, Jacques Demetre, Ray Flerlage, Jim Fraher/BogFire, Ron Gordon, Indiana University, Laura Kamedulski, Nathan Learner, National Library of Congress, Russell Lee, Charlie Musslewhite, James Newberry, Art Shay, Gene Tomko, Vienna Beef, Dick Waterman, Uncle Johnnie Williams, Rien Wisse/Block Magazine, The Netherlands, Ernest Withers (young Wolf), Chief Illiniwek photo courtesy of University of Illinois Achieves, Pontiac Photo, Robert Whitall

ADDITIONAL FOOTAGE: Steve Balkin, Chicago Broadcast Museum, Scott Dirks, Jim Fraher, Historic Films, Tom Palazzolo, Tim Samuelson, Tom Weinberg/Media Burn

VOICE OF SIMONE DE BEAUVOIR: Cecile Savage

WEBSITE DESIGN: Blake Mikol

WEBSITE & GRAPHICS: Chris Allen, Wylee Jacobson

PRODUCTIONS STILLS: Steve Balkin, Mary S. Medici

SPONSOR LIASON: Denise Ardizzone

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH: Columbia College/Chicago, Chicago History Museum, Indiana University

PRODUCTION FACILITIES BY: Big Shoulders Digital Video Productions/Chicago

External links

• Cheat You Fair website
• Big Shoulders Digital Video Productions, Chicago, IL
• Internet Movie Database - Cheat You Fair: The Story of Maxwell Street
• Premiere of Cheat You Fair, 2007 Chicago International Documentary Festival
• Premiere of Cheat You Fair, 2007 Chicago International Documentary Festival
• Screening of Cheat You Fair, Chopin Theater, Chicago, IL
• Screening of Cheat You Fair, Portage Theater, Chicago, IL
• Screening of Cheat You Fair, Skokie Theater, Skokie, IL
• Screening of Cheat You Fair, Skokie Theater, Skokie, IL
• Screening of Cheat You Fair, Gene Siskel Film Center, Chicago, IL
• Screening of Cheat You Fair & Electrified, 2008 Red Gorilla Festival in Austin, Texas
• Screening of Cheat You Fair & Electrified, 2008 Deep Blues Festival, Minneapolis, MN
• Screening of Cheat You Fair, 2008, Antwerp, Belgium Cultuurcentrum
• 2008 Sundance Film Festival interview with director, Phil Ranstrom about his films, "Cheat You Fair" and "Electrified: The Story of the Maxwell Street Urban Blues"
• Screening of Cheat You Fair & Electrified in various cities in Poland, 2008
• Screening of Cheat You Fair & Electrified in various cities in Poland, 2008
• Interview with Phil Ranstrom, "Sunday Papers", WGN Radio, Rick Kogan, 1/24/10
• Interview with Phil Ranstrom, "EightFortyEight", WBEZ Radio, Richard Steele, 2/19/10
• Interview with Phil Ranstrom, Midday News, WGN Television, Steve Sanders, 1/7/10
• Review of Cheat You Fair, "Gone But Not Forgotten", Chicago Reader, Ben Joravsky, 4/26/07
• Interview with Phil Ranstrom, "EightFortyEIght", WBEZ Radio, Steve Edwards, 4/6/07
• YouTube Maxwell Street Channel