Blue Collar (film)
Encyclopedia
Blue Collar is a 1978 film; the directorial debut of screenwriter
Paul Schrader
. This drama (with minimal comic elements) stars Richard Pryor
, Harvey Keitel
and Yaphet Kotto
.
enclave, the film concerns a trio of Detroit auto workers: Zeke Brown (Pryor), Jerry Bartowski (Keitel), and Smokey James (Kotto). Fed up with mistreatment at the hands of both management and union brass, and coupled with financial hardships on each man's end, the trio hatch a plan to rob a safe at union headquarters. They commit the caper, but find only a few scant bills in the union safe. More importantly, however, they also come away with a ledger
which contains evidence of the union's illegal loan-lending
operation and ties to organized crime syndicates. They attempt to blackmail the union with the information, but the union retaliates strongly and begins to turn the tables on the three friends. Meanwhile, a federal agent attempts to coerce Jerry into informing
on the union's corruption which could make him enemies with his co-workers as well as the union bosses. At the same time, corrupt union bosses try to get Zeke to work for them.
, and at numerous locales around Detroit, including the Ford River Rouge Complex on the city's southwest side and the MacArthur Bridge
to Belle Isle
.
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
Paul Schrader
Paul Schrader
Paul Joseph Schrader is an American screenwriter, film director, and former film critic. Apart from his credentials as a director, Schrader is most notably known for his screenplays for Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver and Raging Bull....
. This drama (with minimal comic elements) stars Richard Pryor
Richard Pryor
Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor was an American stand-up comedian, actor, social critic, writer and MC. Pryor was known for uncompromising examinations of racism and topical contemporary issues, which employed colorful vulgarities, and profanity, as well as racial epithets...
, Harvey Keitel
Harvey Keitel
Harvey Keitel is an American actor. Some of his most notable starring roles were in Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets and Taxi Driver, Ridley Scott's The Duellists and Thelma and Louise, Ettore Scola's That Night in Varennes, Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, Jane Campion's The...
and Yaphet Kotto
Yaphet Kotto
Yaphet Frederick Kotto is an African-American actor, known for numerous film roles , and his starring role in the NBC television series Homicide: Life on the Street .-Early life:Kotto was born in New York City, the son of Gladys Marie, a...
.
Plot
Both a critique of union practices and an examination of life in a working-class Rust BeltRust Belt
The Rust Belt is a term that gained currency in the 1980s as the informal description of an area straddling the Midwestern and Northeastern United States, in which local economies traditionally garnered an increased manufacturing sector to add jobs and corporate profits...
enclave, the film concerns a trio of Detroit auto workers: Zeke Brown (Pryor), Jerry Bartowski (Keitel), and Smokey James (Kotto). Fed up with mistreatment at the hands of both management and union brass, and coupled with financial hardships on each man's end, the trio hatch a plan to rob a safe at union headquarters. They commit the caper, but find only a few scant bills in the union safe. More importantly, however, they also come away with a ledger
Ledger
A ledger is the principal book or computer file for recording and totaling monetary transactions by account, with debits and credits in separate columns and a beginning balance and ending balance for each account. The ledger is a permanent summary of all amounts entered in supporting journals which...
which contains evidence of the union's illegal loan-lending
Usury
Usury Originally, when the charging of interest was still banned by Christian churches, usury simply meant the charging of interest at any rate . In countries where the charging of interest became acceptable, the term came to be used for interest above the rate allowed by law...
operation and ties to organized crime syndicates. They attempt to blackmail the union with the information, but the union retaliates strongly and begins to turn the tables on the three friends. Meanwhile, a federal agent attempts to coerce Jerry into informing
Informant
An informant is a person who provides privileged information about a person or organization to an agency. The term is usually used within the law enforcement world, where they are officially known as confidential or criminal informants , and can often refer pejoratively to the supply of information...
on the union's corruption which could make him enemies with his co-workers as well as the union bosses. At the same time, corrupt union bosses try to get Zeke to work for them.
Cast
- Richard PryorRichard PryorRichard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor was an American stand-up comedian, actor, social critic, writer and MC. Pryor was known for uncompromising examinations of racism and topical contemporary issues, which employed colorful vulgarities, and profanity, as well as racial epithets...
as Zeke Brown - Harvey KeitelHarvey KeitelHarvey Keitel is an American actor. Some of his most notable starring roles were in Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets and Taxi Driver, Ridley Scott's The Duellists and Thelma and Louise, Ettore Scola's That Night in Varennes, Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, Jane Campion's The...
as Jerry Bartowski - Yaphet KottoYaphet KottoYaphet Frederick Kotto is an African-American actor, known for numerous film roles , and his starring role in the NBC television series Homicide: Life on the Street .-Early life:Kotto was born in New York City, the son of Gladys Marie, a...
as Smokey James - Ed Begley Jr. as Bobby Joe
- Harry BellaverHarry BellaverHarry Bellaver was an American stage, film and television actor who appeared in many roles from the 1930s through the 1980s.-Life and career:...
as Eddie Johnson - George MemmoliGeorge MemmoliGeorge Memmoli was a New York City born actor. Memmoli was a friend and frequent collaborator of director Martin Scorsese, providing memorable appearances in Mean Streets , New York, New York , and contributed to a documentary focused on a mutual friend of Scorsese's and Memmoli's - American Boy:...
as Jenkins - Lucy SaroyanLucy SaroyanLucy Saroyan was an American actress and photographer.Saroyan was born in San Francisco, California, the daughter of the writer William Saroyan and the actress Carol Grace. Her brother is writer Aram Saroyan...
as Arlene Bartowski - Lane SmithLane SmithWalter Lane Smith III was an American actor. Some of his well known roles included portraying collaborator entrepreneur Nathan Bates in the NBC television series V, Mayor Bates in the film Red Dawn, newspaper editor Perry White in the ABC series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman,...
as Clarence Hill - Cliff De Young as John Burrows
- Borah Silver as Dogshit Miller
- Chip FieldsChip FieldsLaverne "Chip" Fields, who is sometimes credited as Chip Hurd or Chip Fields-Hurd, is an American singer, actress, television director, consultant, and dialogue coach, who has appeared in popular films, television shows, and Broadway theatre...
as Caroline Brown - Harry NorthupHarry Northup-Life and career:Northup was born in Amarillo, Texas. He lived in seventeen places by the time he was seventeen, but mostly lived in Sidney, Nebraska, where he graduated from high-school in 1958. From 1958 to 1961, he served in the United States Navy, where he attained the rank of Second Class...
as Hank - Leonard Gaines as Mr Bird, IRS Man
- Milton SelzerMilton SelzerMilton Selzer was an American stage, film, and television actor.-Early life:Born in Lowell, Massachusetts, Selzer and his family moved to Portsmouth, New Hampshire where he was raised. After graduating from Portsmouth High School, he attended the University of New Hampshire before serving in World...
as Sumabitch - Sammy Warren as Barney
- Jimmy MartinezJimmy MartinezJimmy Martinez is a professional wakeboarder, he was born on May 12, 1988 in Madrid, Spain.At the age of 4, he started riding motorcycles with his father, which quickly turned into his biggest passion, as he loved the speed and adrenaline that he felt while riding...
as Charlie T. Hernandez
Locations
The film was shot on location at the Checker plant in Kalamazoo, MichiganKalamazoo, Michigan
The area on which the modern city stands was once home to Native Americans of the Hopewell culture, who migrated into the area sometime before the first millennium. Evidence of their early residency remains in the form of a small mound in downtown's Bronson Park. The Hopewell civilization began to...
, and at numerous locales around Detroit, including the Ford River Rouge Complex on the city's southwest side and the MacArthur Bridge
MacArthur Bridge (Detroit)
The MacArthur Bridge is a bridge that spans the Detroit River between Detroit, Michigan and Belle Isle. The bridge, which features nineteen total arches across , provides main access to Belle Isle. Completed in 1923 for $2,635,000 USD, it replaced a mostly wooden bridge that accidentally caught...
to Belle Isle
Belle Isle Park
Belle Isle is a island park in the Detroit River, between the United States mainland and Canada, managed by the Detroit Recreation Department. It is connected to the rest of Detroit, Michigan by the MacArthur Bridge...
.