Blue Collar (1978)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

Paul Schrader

Writers:

Paul Schrader (written by) and
Leonard Schrader (written by) ...

Release Date:

10 February 1978 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Tagline:

Whatever became of the "American Dream"?

Plot:

Three workers, Zeke, Jerry and Smokey, are working at a car plant and drinking their beers together...

Plot Keywords:

Union | Robbery | Worker | Factory | Black Comedy

Cast

Richard Pryor	...	Zeke Brown
Harvey Keitel	...	Jerry Bartowski
Yaphet Kotto	...	Smokey James
Ed Begley Jr.	...	Bobby Joe
Harry Bellaver	...	Eddie Johnson Union President AAW Local 291
George Memmoli	...	Jenkins
Lucy Saroyan	...	Arlene Bartowski
Lane Smith	...	Clarence Hill, Union Steward
Cliff De Young	...	John Burrows
Borah Silver	...	Dogshit Miller, Foreman
Chip Fields	...	Caroline Brown
Harry Northup	...	Hank
Leonard Gaines	...	Mr. Bird, I.R.S. Man
Milton Selzer	...	Sumabitch
Sammy Warren	...	Barney

Runtime:

114 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Netherlands:16 | West Germany:16 | Finland:K-16 | Norway:15 | Norway:16 (original rating) | UK:18 | USA:R | Iceland:12

Filming Locations:

Detroit, Michigan, USA

Company:

TAT Communications Company

Trivia:

No major auto company would allow this film to be shot at their factory, so the Checker Cab Co. plant was used as the primary location.

Quotes:

Smokey James: Why do you go to the line every Friday?
Jerry Bartowski: Well ...
Smokey James: Because the finance man's gonna be at your house on Saturday, right? That's exactly what the company wants - to keep you on their line. They'll do anything to keep you on their line. They pit the lifers against the new boys, the old against the young, the black against the white - ANYTHING to keep us in our place.

Movie Connections:

Features "The Jeffersons" (1975)

Soundtrack:

Saturday Night Special

Watch this movie

I first caught sight of this at 1am, in the usual late night films that normally send you straight off to sleep. Not this film. I was still awake at 2.30 when it ended.

Richard Pryor deserves more credit for this role than he has received. By that I mean he's received no credit for a great performance and just shows that the man had more talent than was given credit. I urge any person thinking of a union career to watch this and then do the opposite of the characters.

A gritty union drama that you can't stop watching from beginning to end.