Themes: Trapped or Confined, Schemes and Ruses, Prostitutes
Main Cast: Jane Fonda, Donald Sutherland, Peter Boyle, Garry Goodrow, Howard Hesseman
Release Year: 1973
Country: US
Run Time: 92 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
In this counter-culture caper comedy, directed by Alan Myerson (whose work with The Committee and Second City gives the film a quirky sketch comedy freshness), Donald Sutherland plays Veldini, a sad-eyed demolition-derby driver, serving time for larceny. He also possesses a millennial desire to wreck every car manufactured in the United States from 1940 to 1960. After being released from jail, Veldini hatches a scheme to restore an old U.S. World War II amphibian plane to escape conventional society and fly off to a new nonconformist world. Searching for spare parts to complete the restoration, Veldini realizes that a particular electrical circuit is available only at the local Navy base, and he decides to rob the base to steal the circuit. Involved in the caper with him is Iris (Jane Fonda in a burlesque of her performance in Klute) as a 100-dollar-a-night call girl who is sick of being humiliated; Veldini's kid brother (John Savage); and Eagle (Peter Boyle), a schizophrenic out-of-work circus performer. Standing in the way of Veldini's scheme is Frank Veldini (Howard Hesseman), his older brother and a politically ambitious district attorney. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
John Savage - The Kid; Dan Barrows - Rocky; Roger Bowen - Fire Commissioner; John Brent - Tattoo Parlor Man; The Committee; Nancy Fish - Pool Hall Waitress; Larry Hankin - Garbage Man; Jessica Myerson - Savage Rose; Richard Schaal - Zoo Official; Mel Stewart - Black Man in Jail; Morgan Upton - Police Captain; Lynn Bernay - Bar Waitress; Ed Greenberg - Rookie Cop; Alan Myerson; Howard Storm - Health Inspector; James Cranna - Luncheonette Man; Ruth Silveira - Lady Electrician; David Moody - Boxer
Credit
Vince Cresciman - Art Director, Sheldon Schrager - First Assistant Director, Alan Myerson - Director, Donn Cambern - Editor, Robert Grovenor - Editor, Paul Butterfield - Composer (Music Score), David Shire - Composer (Music Score), Nick Gravenites - Composer (Music Score), Paul Butterfield - Songwriter, David Shire - Songwriter, Nick Gravenites - Songwriter, Michael Bloomfield - Songwriter, Laszlo Kovacs - Cinematographer, Stevan Larner - Cinematographer, Donald Sutherland - Producer, Tony Bill - Producer, Michael Phillips - Producer, Julia Phillips - Producer, Harold Schneider - Producer, Barry Thomas - Sound/Sound Designer, David S. Ward - Screenwriter
Steelyard Blues is a 1973 comedy crime film starring Donald Sutherland, Jane Fonda and Peter Boyle. It concerns the lives of a group of misfits trying to find a happier life against the norms of society. Sutherland plays an ex-con with a passion for demolition derbies. He has wrecked almost every possible car, but violates his parole when confronted by a 1950 Studebaker. This embarrasses his brother, Howard Hesseman, in an unlikely respectable role. Fonda plays a prostitute with an off-on relationship with Sutherland's character. The film is notable for reprising the Fonda-Sutherland pairing of Klute. The gang tries to get an old PBY flying, and much humor ensues.
