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IMDb > Zoot Suit (1981)

Zoot Suit (1981) More at IMDbPro »

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Overview

User Rating:
6.4/10   450 votes
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Director:
Luis Valdez
Writer:
Luis Valdez (play)
Contact:
View company contact information for Zoot Suit on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
January 1982 (USA) more
Genre:
Drama | Musical more
Plot:
A kind of musical accompanying the story of the early 1940's and the effect that the "zoot suit" (a man's suit of long jacket and pegged pants... more | add synopsis
Awards:
Nominated for Golden Globe. more
User Comments:
Maybe I Was Expecting Too Much... more

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)
Daniel Valdez ... Henry Reyna

Edward James Olmos ... El Pachuco
Charles Aidman ... George Shearer
Tyne Daly ... Alice Bloomfield
John Anderson ... Judge F.W. Charles
Abel Franco ... Enrique
Mike Gomez ... Joey / Jose Torres

Alma Martínez ... Lupe (as Alma Rosa Martínez)

Francis X. McCarthy ... Press (as Frank McCarthy)
Lupe Ontiveros ... Dolores
Ed Peck ... Lieutenant Edwards
Robert Phalen ... District Attorney
Tony Plana ... Rudy
Rose Portillo ... Della
Marco Rodríguez ... Smiley / Ismael Torres
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Additional Details

Runtime:
103 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Sensurround

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
The character of Henry Reyna was based upon the real-life zoot-suiter Henry "Hank" Leyvas, who was tried and wrongfully convicted for first-degree murder of Jose Diaz, after an incident on 1 August 1942. The film and the play that preceded it conformed to the facts of the actual case. The appeals court overturned the earlier verdict and Reyna and his friends were set free in 1945, following the Zoot Suit Riots and the banning of zoot suits in Los Angeles (courtesy of the Los Angeles City Council) in 1944. Many futures and outcomes for Reyna were given in the film and the play. In real life, Leyvas was convicted some years later for selling drugs. He served ten years and was released, and soon opened a family restaurant. He died of a heart attack in 1971. more
Quotes:
El Pachuco: The Press distorted the very meaning of the word "Zoot Suit." All it is for you guys is another way to say Mexican more
Soundtrack:
Pachuco Suave more

FAQ

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2 out of 5 people found the following comment useful:-
Maybe I Was Expecting Too Much..., 6 May 2006
5/10
Author: HomeroB from United States

Myabe I was expecting too much. After hearing about the play for so many years, I finally was able to get my hands on watching the film version. First off, its not really a movie per se as much as its a filmed version of the play. To me, this was the truly distracting thing of the movie. Two totally different mediums, totally different ways of telling a story.

The dialog at times came off as stilted and trying too hard to sound like *authentic* Hispanic speak. Eh. To each their own. Olmoses performance in it is astounding, coming off as extremely despicable.

Some rather nit picky things. It bothered me when Olmos comes out as the (heavily implied) Aztec native. The connection is made that a true Mexican is one who is touch with their native roots, a rather narrow definition in my opinion. Also, there is almost absolutely no feminine perspective in the entire movie. None, other than the stereotypical loca chica drunk. Those were the things that I had the biggest problems with.

Henry's own demons, for me at least, is what makes this movie worth watching, and the manipulation of even then modern cinema could have done a lot with that, but squandered it. We see him caught between being one who is in between the hyphen (the idea as a Mexican-American, he is neither Mexican nor American, but in between) asking if he should listen to his conscience or El Pachuco (or even if his conscience is El Pachuco, which is a personal theory of mine, but opens a whole 'nother can of worms that ties into the Aztec thing that is enough for a thesis paper)

Fantastic soundtrack, and if you should happen to have the luck of coming across it, than I would definitely buy it, as its excellent.

All and all, its an interesting perspective on Mexican-American lives in LA during the 1940's, and a small glimpse of the Zoot Suit Riots.

Final grade: C+ for effort.

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Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Zoot Suit (1981)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
Is the movie word for wor from the play? gscollard-1
Watching it right now... MayaMacabre
I need this music! le_chaton_rouge05
Zoot Suit Music!! martinfi
'Pachuco Suave' gabi80789
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