The Blues Brothers (1980)

Jake Blues, just out from prison, puts together his old band to save the Catholic home where he and brother Elwood were raised.

Director:

John Landis

Writers:

Dan Aykroyd, John Landis

Stars:

John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Cab Calloway

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
John Belushi	...	'Joliet' Jake Blues (as Jake)
Dan Aykroyd	...	Elwood Blues (as Elwood)
James Brown	...	Reverend Cleophus James
Cab Calloway	...	Curtis
Ray Charles	...	Ray
Aretha Franklin	...	Mrs. Murphy
Steve Cropper	...	Steve 'The Colonel' Cropper
Donald Dunn	...	Donald 'Duck' Dunn (as Donald 'Duck' Dunn)
Murphy Dunne	...	Murphy 'Murph' Dunne
Willie Hall	...	Willie 'Too Big' Hall
Tom Malone	...	Tom 'Bones' Malone
Lou Marini	...	'Blue Lou' Marini
Matt Murphy	...	Matt 'Guitar' Murphy
Alan Rubin	...	Alan 'Mr. Fabulous' Rubin
Carrie Fisher	...	Mystery Woman

Storyline

After the release of Jake Blues from prison, he and brother Elwood go to visit "The Penguin", the last of the nuns who raised them in a boarding school. They learn the Archdiocese will stop supporting the school and will sell the place to the Education Authority. The only way to keep the place open is if the $5000 tax on the property is paid within 11 days. The Blues Brothers want to help, and decide to put their blues band back together and raise the the money by staging a big gig. As they set off on their "mission from God" they seem to make more enemies along the way. Will they manage to come up with the money in time?

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Plot Keywords:

parolee | band | money | catholic | prison | 

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Taglines:

The show that really hits the road.

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | Crime | Music | Musical

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Certificate:

AL

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 November 1980 (Netherlands)

Also Known As:

Blues Brothers

Filming Locations:

1623 S. 51st Court, Cicero, Illinois, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$27,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$54,200,000 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

133 min 148 min (extended)

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (magnetic prints) Mono (optical prints)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When Aretha Franklin is describing Jake and Elwood to Matt Murphy, she says "They look like they're from the CIA or something . . . " The Blues Brothers wardrobe of dark suits and sunglasses originated as Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi's costumes on a few Saturday Night Live (1975) episodes in which they played Secret Service agents guarding Chevy Chase's President Gerald Ford. In those skits, they wore black suits and sunglasses.

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Goofs

When Elwood hits the Oldsmobile store in the mall the passenger-side headlight is destroyed. However when they "leave" the mall through the JC Penny's window the headlight is not damaged at all.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Prison Guard #1: Yeah, the Assistant Warden wants this one out of the block early. Wants to get it over with fast.
Prison Guard #2: Okay, let's do it.
[rattling the bars with his baton]
Prison Guard #1: Hey come on, it's time to wake up.
Prison Guard #2: Wake up. Let's go, it's time.
[striking the sleeping Jake with his baton]

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Crazy Credits

As the film ends with the Blues Brothers and band playing "Jailhouse Rock", there are several cuts starting with the second verse that feature the castmembers who are professional singers singing lines of the song with their names on the screen.

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Connections

Referenced in Honest Game Trailers: Angry Birds (2016)

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Soundtracks

JUST THE WAY YOU ARE
(uncredited)
Written by Billy Joel
Performed by Murph and the MagicTones

User Reviews

Why the hell is "THE BLUES BROTHERS" not in 'The Top 250?'

Forget the sequel... completely disregard it 100%... this film is the ultimate cult classic and the greatest musical ever made because it wasn't too corny! Fantastic Blues/Rock/Jazz/Swing... very nice stuff... John Belushi Rules... this is my all time favorite movie EVER! From the one-liners to the music to the performances to the dialog... everything about it was just so witty, original, unique, intelligent, superb, hilarious... if only more (or dare I say... less) SNL Spin-Off Film Characters were in TRULY ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC MOVIES LIKE THIS ONE... the world would be a much better place in my opinion! GET THE DVD AND DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT GOING ANYWHERE NEAR BLUES BROTHERS 2000! AT ALL!