Made in Dagenham (2010)

A dramatization of the 1968 strike at the Ford Dagenham car plant, where female workers walked out in protest against sexual discrimination.

Director:

Nigel Cole

Writer:

William Ivory

Stars:

Sally Hawkins, Bob Hoskins, Andrea Riseborough

Nominated for 3 BAFTA Film Awards. Another 3 wins & 14 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sally Hawkins	...	Rita O'Grady
Andrea Riseborough	...	Brenda
Jaime Winstone	...	Sandra
Lorraine Stanley	...	Monica
Nicola Duffett	...	Eileen
Geraldine James	...	Connie
Bob Hoskins	...	Albert Passingham
Matthew Aubrey	...	Brian (as Matt Aubrey)
Daniel Mays	...	Eddie O'Grady
Roger Lloyd Pack	...	George (as Roger Lloyd-Pack)
Phil Cornwell	...	Dave
Karen Seacombe	...	Marge
Thomas Arnold	...	Martin
Sian Scott	...	Sharon O'Grady
Robbie Kay	...	Graham O'Grady

Storyline

In 1968, the Ford auto factory in Dagenham was one of the largest single private employers in the United Kingdom. In addition to the thousands of male employees, there are also 187 underpaid women machinists who primarily assemble the car seat upholstery in poor working conditions. Dissatisfied, the women, represented by the shop steward and Rita O'Grady, work with union rep Albert Passingham for a better deal. However, Rita learns that there is a larger issue in this dispute considering that women are paid an appalling fraction of the men's wages for the same work across the board on the sole basis of their sex. Refusing to tolerate this inequality any longer, O'Grady leads a strike by her fellow machinists for equal pay for equal work. What follows would test the patience of all involved in a grinding labour and political struggle that ultimately would advance the cause of women's rights around the world.

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Plot Keywords:

f rated | whitehall | rolling downhill | looking at oneself in a mirror | sex scene | 

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Taglines:

Dagenham, England, 1968. An ordinary woman fights for equal pay and achieves something extraordinary.

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Genres:

Biography | Comedy | Drama | History

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and brief sexuality

Did You Know?

Trivia

Three of the original Dagenham seamstresses invited Sally Hawkins for tea, prior to the filming, as they wished to inform her properly about mindset behind the strike, that she was set to portray in the film. Hawkins' grandmother also worked as a seamstress, although not at the Dagenham factory.

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Goofs

Barbara Castle in the film berates her two male assistants, calling them 'chauvinistic', but feminists did not routinely call men 'male chauvinist pigs' until after the publication of Germaine Greer's The Female Eunuch in 1970.

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Quotes

Eddie O'Grady: Christ, I like a drink, but I ain't out on the beer every night or screwin' other women, or... 'Ere, I've never once raised me hand to you. Ever. Or the kids.
Rita O'Grady: Christ.
Eddie O'Grady: What? Why are you looking like that?
Rita O'Grady: Right. You're a saint now, is that what you're tellin' me, Eddie? You're a bleedin' saint? 'Cause you give us an even break?
Eddie O'Grady: What are you saying?
Rita O'Grady: That is as it should be. Jesus, Eddie! What do you think this strike's all been about, eh? Oh yeah. Actually you're right. You don't go on the drink,...

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Crazy Credits

Captions in the closing credits: "Two years later in May 1970 the Equal Pay Act became law. Similar legislation quickly followed in most industrial countries across the world. Ford Motor Company Limited went on to effect changes in its employment practices and is now used as an example of a good practice employer."

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Connections

Featured in Breakfast: Episode dated 20 September 2010 (2010)

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Soundtracks

Green Tambourine
Written by Shelly Pinz / Paul Leka
Performed by The Lemon Pipers
Published by Minder Music Limited (P)1968 Sony Music Entertainment Inc
Licensed courtesy of Sony Music Entertainment UK Limited

User Reviews

thought-provoking and entertaining

The movie gets to convey the atmosphere of those months in 1968, where 187 women joined together and went on a strike to ask for equal salaries to men, and better conditions of work. We as viewers really feel the cohesion, the solidarity, as well as the tensions of this group. Never pedantic, or too dramatically committed, the movie gets to make the public, mainly the female one, reflect upon the hard struggle women had to face before getting some basic rights, when still actual and necessary is the reflection about today's condition of female workers, when some kind of discrimination is still to be faced. However, the movie proceeds with a soft and entertaining pace, maybe at some points too entertaining, the sparkling character of Rita O'Grady herself was invented in order to make the story more cinematographically involving. No doubt however the cast makes a difference, the actresses offer single heart-felt interpretations, in the same way as the choral shots show intensity and strong emotion.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 September 2010 (UK)

Also Known As:

We Want Sex

Filming Locations:

Dagenham, Essex, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$7,200,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$37,563, 21 November 2010

Gross USA:

$1,095,369

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$12,629,471

Company Credits

Production Co:

Audley Films, BBC Films, BMS Finance

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color Black and White (television footage)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1