There were so many questions about the man in the loud suits who danced on Chicago River bridges for the amusement of people on tour boats.

The Marina City resident was a fixture along the river, sharing his signature dance moves with the seemingly endless stream of tourists. Docents narrating architectural tours would often pause from talking about Daniel Burnham and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and turn their attention to Vincent Falk, a 59-year-old computer programmer for Cook County.

Finally, in 2008, a 95-minute documentary premiered that answered all the questions.

Vincent: A Life In Color was produced and directed by first-time filmmaker Jennifer Burns. Using as a framework a tour boat season on the Chicago River, she told Vincent’s story through the words of people who know him best, including some Marina City residents. Burns spoke with retired teacher Nancy Kolos, Patricia Burnett, Gladys Campione, and Harold Bellamy, an Air Force and National Guard veteran.

Marina City shows up numerous times in the film. In one scene, Falk shows off his extensive wardrobe, purchased mostly from Roberto’s on South State Street, that fits into Falk’s one-bedroom condominium unit in the west tower.

Burns and a small crew worked on the film for three years. It took two years to edit 125 tapes of raw video down to 95 minutes, according to the film’s editor, Christine Gilliland Wolf. She says Vincent inspired her throughout the project.

Vision issues but no handicaps

Born with glaucoma and blind in one eye, Falk was abandoned as an infant at St. Vincent de Paul in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago and lived at two orphanages before being adopted and raised by Clarence Falk and Mary Falk. The Falks adopted another son, Harry Falk, who grew up with Vincent and is a part of the documentary.

Despite his vision, Falk was on his high school’s diving team. He was a disco DJ in the 1970s, then studied computer science at University of Illinois.

Early fans of film include Roger Ebert

The film premiered on November 14, 2008, at the Cucalorus Film Festival in Wilmington, North Carolina. In March 2009, it was shown closer to Chicago at the Lake County Film Festival.

Writing in his Chicago Sun-Times blog on June 4, 2009, film critic Roger Ebert called the film “remarkable” and “beautifully photographed.”

Vincent’s life, he said, “is one that Oliver Sachs, the poet of strange lives, might find fascinating.”

“I can easily believe [Vincent] buys his own suits,” mused Ebert (left). “What I can hardly believe is that they are sold.” The first time he saw Vincent, Ebert says, “I saw a man with unfocused squinting eyes and a weird suit, and leaped to conclusions.” Now, he says, “I respond to Vincent, and applaud him.”

He believes the people on the tour boats are more entertained by Vincent than by the architectural history they’re getting. “At least they can smile and wave and tell the folks at home about that wacky guy they saw on the bridge.”

Of the 13 documentaries screened at the Kansas International Film Festival in Overland Park in September 2009, Vincent: A Life In Color was awarded “Best Documentary.”

Robert Butler, a film critic for Kansas City Star, included the film in a list of “10 to watch” at the film festival near Kansas City. Wrote Butler in his September 16, 2009, column, “If you’ve taken one of those Chicago boat tours you may have seen Vincent P. Falk perched on a bridge in a brightly colored suit, waving like a crazy man and doing a little dance move. Who is this so-called ‘Fashion Man?’ Nutcase? Performance artist? Jennifer Burns’s lovely doc digs into Vincent’s life to find an orphan...who takes childlike glee in dressing up in outlandish business suits.”

At the Bend Film Festival in Bend, Oregon, a second showing had to be added when the first sold out. It was seen in Anchorage, Olympia, Sacramento, San Francisco, Michigan, New Mexico, Washington, and at Roger Ebert’s Film Festival in Champaign, Illinois. (Right) Falk and Burns with the documentary’s movie poster, in Bend, Oregon.

Chicago premier on State Street

From May 7 through May 13, 2010, it was shown every day at the Gene Siskel Film Center on State Street, then 15 times between July 23 and July 29.

197 people attended the sold-out first screening. They included people who appear in the film, such as Sister Bernadette Eaton, one of Vincent’s teachers at St. Joseph’s Home for the Friendless, Chicago Sun-Times columnist Neil Steinberg, Russ Dober, a former supervisor, Dennis Brozynski, a friend of Vincent’s, and Roberto Nassiri, owner of the clothing store where Vincent buys his suits.

Chicago Sun-Times film critic Richard Roeper, who co-hosted At The Movies on television with Ebert for eight years, said, “It’s a lovely film. It’s just really well done.” Roeper told Burns on stage during a panel discussion, “It’s a world class documentary.” (Left) Vincent’s suits await pick-up at Marina Cleaners. Photo by Kenneth Huiner. (Click on image to view larger version.)

Complications following eye surgery

Shortly after the run of the documentary at the Gene Siskel Film Center in May 2010, Falk underwent a scheduled glaucoma procedure but complications following surgery left him temporarily blind. By July, his vision was improving, allowing him to see shapes and colors in his left eye. In October, he underwent a cornea transplant operation, the first of five, that resulted in some improvement to his vision but it was, said Falk, “not what I was hoping it would be. It’s still dark and there’s a little bit of fogginess.”

Falk has said he performs on the bridges for the attention and the laughs. “I want to be seen standing out from the crowd and I want to make people happy,” he said. “I’m always pleased if I get a few giggles and laughs.” (Right) Falk uses a small telescope to see from the State Street Bridge. Frame from film by Jennifer Burns.