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| PSSST! Know the password? If so, you can join our host, contractor Nick Mystrom, as we build a hidden room in a home in the Second City. In the 1920s to "speak easy" meant to whisper and we'll build a speakeasy in the basement of a suburban Chicago home. But we'll have to build quietly so as to not alert neighbors and especially not the police, but that will be a little harder—since two of them live right upstairs! Nick is in good hands with master builder Frank Sullivan, a Chicago native who knows millwork from floorboards to rafters. Together with a team of specialists, this room will become a highly secure 1920s-style speakeasy. Nick and team have two weeks to create this woodworking masterpiece in time to surprise recipient Joe Smith, who spent 32 years as a Chicago police officer, and his wife Daina, also a Chicago cop—both of whom love the 1920s era. The program also highlights Prohibitionn era personalities gambler Arnold Rothstein, speakeasy hostess Texas Guinan, and bootlegger George Remus. |
| Executive Producer: Marc Etkind Producer: David Rajter Producer: Fran Calderone Associate Producer: Angela Victor Screenwriter: David Rajter Editor: Scot Kelly Post Production: Tim Knauff Production Manager: Michelle Willrich Clearance Supervisor: Kate Del Core Researchers: Uldis Balodis, Paul Lacques Coordinator: Shannon Peiper Voice Over Coordinator: John Knapp Music: Guy Thomas Title Design: Song Design, Inc. Cast: Craig Alton . . . Himself Joe Bianchini . . . Himself Mike Byrnes . . . Himself Al Capone . . . Himself (archival footage) Bruce Dirks . . . Himself Texas Guinan . . . Herself (archival footage) Dave Jemilo . . . Himself Donald Kennedy . . . Himself Joe Klingler . . . Himself Dave Konopka . . . Himself John LaMonica . . . Himself Carrie Nation . . . Herself (archival footage) Anthony Picardi . . . Himself David Pietrusza . . . Himself Daina Smith . . . Herself Joe Smith . . . Himself Frank Sullivan. . . Himself Bill Rawski . . . Himself Franklin D. Roosevelt . . . Himself (archival footage) Jorge Salas . . . Himself Dale Shelton. . . . Himself Bryan Sperry . . . Himself Fred Sperry . . . Himself Narrator/Host . . . Nick Mystrom A production of Actuality Productions, a subsidiary of Hearst Entertainment, 2005 Available on DVD from The History Channel |
| The Big Build: The Speakeasy The History Channel Original Airdate: November 24, 2005 |