Main Cast: Richard Pryor, Harvey Keitel, Yaphet Kotto, Ed Begley, Jr., Harry Bellaver
Release Year: 1978
Country: US
Run Time: 114 minutes
Plot
Paul Schrader's directorial debut examines the trials of Detroit autoworkers living at the mercy of a heartless corporation and a corrupt union. Surviving from paycheck to paycheck, Checker Cab assembly linemen Zeke (Richard Pryor), Jerry (Harvey Keitel), and Smokey (Yaphet Kotto) scrape by and take pleasure in a few rounds of beer or bowling (and occasional illicit amusements). But when their money troubles pile up, Jerry and Smokey join Zeke in a desperate plan to steal cash from their local union office. Along with a piddling $600, they unexpectedly swipe evidence of union corruption. Deciding to use it for blackmail, the men discover instead how powerfully malevolent the union can be in a system that counts on petty divisiveness to keep the larger power structure intact. Inspired by stories of real-life disillusionment, Schrader and his brother/co-writer Leonard Schrader took on politically difficult issues of race and corporate labor, infusing the indictment of unions with a suggestion of post-Watergate paranoia about forces beyond the union that keep workers in their place. From the opening sequence of the assembly line to the final evocative freeze-frame, Schrader maintains an atmosphere of gritty realism, with the lead trio lending low-key dramatic force to a situation beyond their control. Too downbeat for a late '70s audience increasingly drawn to happier fare, Blue Collar flopped, yet it did earn Schrader critical accolades. Although he has reportedly since disowned the film, Blue Collar remains one of Schrader's best works, with Zeke and Jerry powered by the same sense of simmering frustration that would explode so effectively in Affliction two decades later. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
Review
Richard Pryor's best dramatic performance is at the heart of Blue Collar, a rare American film that casts an unflinching look at the high-pressure life of working-class people. Acclaimed screenwriter Paul Schrader (who wrote such films as Taxi Driver and Raging Bull) made his directorial debut with this simmering story about three desperate Detroit autoworkers (played by Pryor, Harvey Keitel, and Yaphet Kotto) who plot to rob their own union. Both the merciless corporation and the corrupt union are their enemies in this bleak, profane, but spirited film. The subject matter of real, unglamorous people is usually off-limits for Hollywood, but Schrader wisely resists the temptation to glamorize his protagonists. Pryor shows tremendous range in a role that uses his expressive humanity for other than comic purposes. His lost, weary, cheated character is at the core of the film's considerable moral weight. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
George Memmoli - Jenkins; Lucy Saroyan - Arlene Bartowski; Lane Smith - Clarence Hill; Cliff De Young - John Burrows; Borah Silver - Miller; Chip Fields - Caroline Brown; Harry Northrup - Hank; Leonard Gaines - Internal Revenue Man; Milton Selzer - Sumabitch; Sammy Warren - Barney; Jimmy Martinez - Charlie T. Martinez; Jerry Dahlmann - Superintendent; Denny Arnold - Unshaven Thug; Rock Riddle - Blonde Thug; Stacey Baldwin - Debby Bartowski; Steve Butts - Bob Bartowski; Stephen P. Dunn - Flannigan; Speedy Brown - Slim; Davone Florence - Frazier Brown; Eddie Singleton - Ali Brown; Rya Singleton - Aretha Brown; Vermetta Royster - Neighbor; Jaime Carreire - Little Joe; "Spanky" McFarland - Doris; Tracey Walter - Union Member
Credit
David Nichols - Associate Producer, Vic Ramos - Casting, Ron Dawson - Costume Designer, Alice Rush - Costume Designer, Paul Schrader - Director, Tom Rolf - Editor, Ry Cooder - Composer (Music Score), Jack Nitzsche - Composer (Music Score), Ry Cooder - Musical Arrangement, Lawrence G. Paull - Production Designer, Bobby Byrne - Cinematographer, Don Guest - Producer, Peg Cummings - Set Designer, Willie D. Burton - Sound/Sound Designer, Leonard Schrader - Screenwriter, Paul Schrader - Screenwriter
Both a critique of union practices and an examination of life in a working-classRust Belt 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 a few scant bills in the union safe. More importantly, they also come away with a ledger, evidence of the union's illegal loan-lending operation and ties to organised crime syndicates. They soon find themselves wrestling with what to do with this newfound knowledge amidst both a union investigation of the crime and a federal agent's attempts to coerce Jerry into informing on union corruption.
Analysis
The film is notable for its language, which mimics the street-level profanity found in Schrader's Taxi Driverscreenplay and exceeds it in both frequency and rhythm. It is also notable for the performances of its three leads. As Schrader observes in the commentary on the film's DVD, none of the three got along with each other during the production, and fistfights between takes were not uncommon. Film scholars and fans of the film cite Pryor's performance (one of his few non-comedic performances) as one of the best of his career[citation needed], his dressing down of a union rep and a later exchange with an IRS agent considered masterstrokes.[citation needed]
