Blue Collar (1978)
93%RT Audience Score: 88%
Awards & Nominations: 1 win & 2 nominations
Paul Schrader’s Blue Collar offers a searing, darkly funny indictment of labor exploitation and rampant consumerism that’s fueled by the outstanding work of an excellent cast.
Blue Collar is a gritty and intense film that takes a hard look at the struggles of working-class Americans. While the pacing may be a bit slow at times, the movie’s eclecticism is truly remarkable. Paul Schrader’s directorial debut is a powerful and affecting social portrait that is both a psychological drama and a black comedy. The performances are excellent, particularly Harvey Keitel and Yaphet Kotto, who bring a raw and authentic energy to their roles. Overall, Blue Collar is a must-see for anyone who wants to understand the challenges faced by blue-collar workers in America, and it’s a great reminder that even in the toughest of times, there’s always hope.
Production Company(ies)
T A T Communications, Company,
Distributor
Universal Pictures, Anchor Bay Entertainment
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA
MPAA / Certificate
R
Year of Release
1978
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Mono
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:1h 54m
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Language(s):English
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Feb 10, 1978 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 11, 2010
Genre(s)
Drama
Keyword(s)
Blue Collar, R, Drama, 1978, 1h 54m, Paul Schrader, Don Guest, Sydney A Glass, Leonard Schrader, Richard Pryor, Harvey Keitel, Yaphet Kotto, Ed Begley Jr., Harry Bellaver, George Memmoli, reviewed by Jesse Hassenger, K Austin Collins, Richard Brody, Ben Sachs, William Thomas, directed by Paul Schrader, produced by Don Guest, written by Sydney A Glass, Leonard Schrader, Paul Schrader, labor exploitation, consumerism, union, robbery, blackmail, authorities, Detroit, autoworkers, Zeke Brown, Jerry Bartowski, Smokey James, union’s ledger, organized crime, box office performance, budget, MPAA rating, Fresh Kernels
Worldwide gross: $6,521,083
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $31,943,738
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,521
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 3,483,505
US/Canada gross: $6,521,083
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend:
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $1,700,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $8,327,505
Production budget ranking: 1,737
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $4,484,362
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $19,131,871
ROI to date (est.): 149%
ROI ranking: 771
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
Director(s)
Paul Schrader
Writer(s)
Sydney A. Glass, Leonard Schrader, Paul Schrader
Producer(s)
Don Guest
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
1 win & 2 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (42) | Top Critics (22) | Fresh (41) | Rotten (1)
The pacing can feel a bit lax, but the movie’s eclecticism is remarkable.
August 21, 2021
Jesse Hassenger
AV Club
TOP CRITIC
Blue Collar offers up the bitter, outrageous, and ultimately despairing vision of anti-union efforts that the subject deserves.
August 21, 2021
K. Austin Collins
The Ringer
TOP CRITIC
Schrader depicts the exchange of labor for money as a kind of original sin, and not even those who honor its code-to the letter and in spirit-are innocent.
August 21, 2021
Richard Brody
New Yorker
TOP CRITIC
The movie is affecting as a social portrait as well as a psychological drama.
August 21, 2021
Ben Sachs
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
This works both as unrelenting drama and as black comedy.
August 21, 2021 | Rating: 4/5
William Thomas
Empire Magazine
TOP CRITIC
Paul Schrader’s directorial debut is an unexpectedly gritty working-class melodrama set in Detroit.
August 21, 2021
Jerry Renshaw
Austin Chronicle
TOP CRITIC
There’s an authenticity of observation that still stands out, even amidst the famously “gritty” 1970s American film landscape, plus an integrity to the performances…
September 13, 2021
Dennis Harvey
48 Hills
This isn’t a fun film…but it’s remarkable and volatile, and fueled with three really great performances and Schrader at his best.
September 10, 2021
Jason Shawhan
Nashville Scene
Blue Collar is one of the best studies of the essential flaw of the revolutionary character in the context of the oppressed.
August 21, 2021
Charles Mudede
The Stranger (Seattle, WA)
This is a strong debut for Schrader, who, with the help of photographer Bobby Byrne, has made a rigorous visual statement about the dispiriting qualities of life in heavily industrialized urban areas.
August 21, 2021
Malcolm Johnson
Hartford Courant
Paul Schrader’s direction is eloquent without being arty, and the performances — including Harvey Keitel, as the white member of the trio, and Yaphet Kotto, as the ex-con are, within the limits of the script, excellent.
August 21, 2021
R.H. Gardner
Baltimore Sun
The film suffers from the flimsy justification for much that happens. But if we’re confused, we’re never bored, for this is a work of more than unusual Interest.
August 21, 2021
Stanley Eichelbaum
San Francisco Examiner…
Plot
Three workers, Zeke (Richard Pryor), Jerry (Harvey Keitel), and Smokey (Yaphet Kotto), are working at a car plant and drinking their beers together. One night, when they steal away from their wives to have some fun, they get the idea to rob the local union’s bureau safe. First they think it is a flop, because they get only six hundred dollars out of it, but then Zeke realizes that they also have gotten some “hot” material. They decide to blackmail their union. The best reason for that is the union itself. All three are provoked by the fact that the union claims to have lost ten thousand dollars by their robbery.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Richard Pryor delivers a “rock solid performance” in Blue Collar, according to an audience review on Fresh Kernels.
Paul-Schrader.jpg
