Ferrara, Primrose, Wrigley, Lanzi . . . These are but a few of the names of candy-making companies that called Chicago home in the 20th century, establishing the Windy City as a sweets capital. The documentary Shelf Life concerns the last name on that list: the Lanzi Candy Company, founded by Italian immigrant couple Elmo and Helen Lanzi after they arrived at Ellis Island sometime around World War I. Setting down roots in Chicago, Elmo started a decades-long, family business creating novel confections produced by machines he built himself.
Filmmaker Michael Lahey, one of the late Elmo’s grandchildren, explores this rich history, but with a personal edge. Fahey wonders why, in a town where remaining family-owned candy companies are currently operated by a third, or even fourth-generation descendant of the original founders, did Elmo not turn over the reins of the Lanzi Candy Company to one of his three children instead of selling the business to strangers? The answer is tied to individual chapters in the lives of Elmo’s offspring, from one son’s marriage to a mentally ill wartime bride, to another son’s 1960s rejection of the Establishment, to a daughter kept at a distance from a family enterprise due to sexism.
Now, with a creative entrepreneur from outside trying to bring back the long-defunct Lanzi Candy name from history’s junkyard, Fahey seeks clarity and perhaps some healing among his relatives. If you like candy and had no idea how important Chicago has been in supporting families in the business of feeding our collective sweet tooth, Shelf Life is for you. The miles of footage Fahey shot in factories where so much candy is still handmade is absolutely mesmerizing. Strongly recommended. Aud: K, E, I, J, H, C, P.