The Infamy of Geraldo’s TV Special: The Mystery of Al Capone’s Vaults review

Before he posted the infamous naked selfie (that Stephen Colbert making fun of), before he hosted talk show, and before he got injured by Neo-Nazi, Geraldo Rivera had hosted one of the most infamus live events of all time. The Mystery of Al Capone’s Vaults is the 1986 2-hour (including commercials) live TV special in which our host decided to open the newly-found Al Capone’s vault. There was a lot of hype around the time that “What could possibly hidden in his vault? Corpse? Money? Treasure?”. And, of course, this attracts a lot of people to watch this special on that night. I’m pretty sure that there was a lot of bet around the time about things in the vault.

The special (which was sponsored by Stroh and Hyatt Regency Chicago) begins with live introduction by Geraldo, then cuts into opening credits that give us an exciting feel. Plus, there’s a moment in which Geraldo Rivera’s name fully appeared on screen (see picture above). This is going to be his famous show! Next, Geraldo gives us background about the place, Lexington Hotel, and Al Capone himself. Then, our host shows us the whole basement of hotel and the vault. Geraldo still gives us excitement feeling that there’s something hidden here. He tells workers to do things like “Put that tractor here! Hey, you come here!”….to be honest, it sounds like he’s master of the whole show. And before commercial break, Geraldo tells us that the wall will come down after this messages.

(Commercial Break)

Before the wall is pulled, there’s a previously recorded footage of technicians using infrared monitor to check that there’s anything inside or not (Surprise surprise, it tells us that there’s nothing in the vault) and workers trying to clear area while exciting music is played. Then, it cuts to the live broadcast that shows Geraldo walks around the area and the crew pulls the wall. Unfortunately, there’s another wall inside (Could it be Al Capone’s private area?) so they try to fins a way to blow the wall.

(Commercial Break)

Geraldo shows us that he found two bottles of “moonshine bathtub gin” and while his crew try to find a way to blow the wall, the special cuts to the documentary about Al Capone. We see footage from 10’s-30’s era and the new interview from people who survive. Then, it cuts back to live broadcast of Geraldo telling audience to wait for the next break.

(Commercial Break)

The documentary still goes on. Geraldo fires 20’s Thomson sub-machine gun, more interview footage, and more stock footage. Although they cut back to live Geraldo, there’s nothing happened there. So, they still showing the documentary. Next, Geraldo tells us that they are going to blow the wall by using dynamites.

(Commercial Break)

We see a live broadcast of Doug Llewelyn at Hyatt Regency hotel in which the Al Capone party was hold while they watch this special. (My comments: It looks ridiculous). Then, they show montage of people in the hotel about “What’s inside the vault?”. Surprisingly, there’s one of them that said “Probably, it will be an empty vault”. I’m pretty sure that she won a bet that night.

(Commercial Break)

They blow the wall with dynamites (IMO, this is the most exciting part of special). And while the crew investigate area, a documentary still goes on. Previously recorded footage show us the area inside hotel, more interviews. Then the live footage of Geraldo shows us that, so far, they’ve found nothing inside the vault.

(Commercial Break)

More documentary. So far, they’ve found only sands inside the vault.

(Commercial Break)

Geraldo concludes the abomination. We clearly see that he feels embarrassed by the result. “I hope you enjoy the adventure” he said.

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Overall, the 80% of this special is nothing but documentary about Al Capone. I’m pretty sure that it was done to create excitement atmosphere. Sadly, nothing to be found in the vault. The only reason to watch this, beside to study Al Capone’s history, is to watch the most embarrassment TV special of all time. If you guys remember that night when this was broadcast, feel free to comment below about your experience.