AMATEUR NIGHT AT CITY HALL REVIEWED
“Amateur Night at City Hall” is a stunning look at one of the most troublesome mayors in American history. Rizzo rose from a brutal cop to becoming Mayor of Philly by appealing to Democratic working base. Eventually, he turned against them after earning federal funding favors for backing President Nixon’s re-election in 1972. The documentary originally crafted in 1977 covered the approaching end of Rizzo’s time as Mayor. Crafted for PBS, director Robert Mugge followed a man that was dodging polygraph issues and spending money on suing companies that besmirched the name of Philadelphia. The film has been remastered for modern audiences, but it seems to hit on something timely.
All of Mugge’s clips and quips show a man that was out of his mind. A clip of a voter states that they are proud that such a dumb man got so far in life. Releasing a documentary about a politically fluid man that likes beating down his opposition and saying whatever it takes to get elected? I wonder why MVD thought now was the time to release this now? It’s almost like Mugge, MVD and others want us to see how these patterns keep repeating. But, I could be wrong.
SPECIAL FEATURES
- Nothing
A/V STATS
- 1.78:1 standard definition transfer
- Dolby Digital 5.1