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IMDb > Blue Collar (1978)
Blue Collar
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Blue Collar (1978) More at IMDbPro »

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Blue Collar (1978) -- Trailerfan.com - Trailer (Flash)

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Overview

User Rating:
7.4/10   1,864 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 6% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writers:
Paul Schrader (written by) and
Leonard Schrader (written by) ...
more
Contact:
View company contact information for Blue Collar on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
10 February 1978 (USA) more
Genre:
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... more | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
NewsDesk:
(4 articles)
User Comments:
An unjustly overlooked classic! more (34 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

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
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Additional Details

Runtime:
114 min
Country:
Language:
Colour:
Colour (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Filming Locations:

Fun Stuff

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. more
Quotes:
Zeke Brown: [just before the union break-in] Maybe we should've robbed a liquor store like everybody else. more
Movie Connections:
Features "Good Times" (1974) more
Soundtrack:
Hard Workin Man more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
6 out of 6 people found the following comment useful.
An unjustly overlooked classic!, 4 January 1999
Author: cinefan from California, USA

This is a great film. I knew little about it going in, other than it was supposed to be a very well done, searing drama (this according to several film books, including Leonard Maltin's yearly tomes). I was not disappointed. Paul Schrader - writer of "Taxi Driver," "Raging Bull," and writer/director of "Affliction" - delivers yet another gritty, working-class drama. But the film is not without liberal doses of humor, provided chiefly by Richard Pryor in what I consider to be the best performance of his career. C'mon, people! How can you go wrong with Pryor, Harvey Keitel, and Yaphet Kotto (answer: you can't). The films hooks you right from the great opening credit sequence and doesn't let go 'til the final freeze-frame. I won't give the twists and turns of the plot away, but the film centers on three desperate Detroit auto workers and their corrupt union. It's very disappointing this film is so overlooked today (it also flopped when released)... the level of acting and direction (this was Schrader's directorial debut) is astonishing. See this movie!

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more (34 total)

Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Blue Collar (1978)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
DVD re-release? Pat33Ewing
good movie BigClown
YAPHET KOTTO interview cultfilmfreak
missed the ending!!! angloo
pryor, keital and kotto teejay6682
soundtrack? hannahwig
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