''Zoot Suit'' is a 1981

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serve merely as brea ...

of the

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

play '' Zoot Suit''. Both the play and film were written and directed by

Luis Valdez Luis Miguel Valdez (born June 26, 1940) is an American playwright, screenwriter, film director and actor. Regarded as the father of Chicano film and theater, Valdez is best known for his play '' Zoot Suit'', his movie '' La Bamba'', and his cre ...

. The film stars

Daniel Valdez Daniel Valdez (born April 27, 1949) is an American actor, musician, composer, and activist. He is best known for his work as musical director of the films '' Zoot Suit'' (1981) and '' La Bamba'' (1987). Early life Daniel Valdez was born to Francis ...

Edward James Olmos Edward James Olmos (born February 24, 1947) is an American actor, director, producer, and activist. He is best known for his roles as Lieutenant Martin "Marty" Castillo in ''Miami Vice'' (1984–1989), ''American Me'' (1992) (which he also dir ...

— both reprising their roles from the stage production — and Tyne Daly. Many members of the cast of the

Broadway production Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), 130 of the 144 extant and extinct Broadway venues use (used) the spelling ''Th ...

also appeared in the film. Like the play, the film features music from Daniel Valdez and

Lalo Guerrero Eduardo "Lalo" Guerrero (December 24, 1916 – March 17, 2005) was an American guitarist, singer and farm labor activist best known for his strong influence on later Latin musical artists. Early life Guerrero was born in Tucson, Arizona, one o ...

, the "father of Chicano music." In 2019, the film was selected for preservation in the United States

National Film Registry The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation, each selected for its historical, cultural and aesthetic contributions since the NFPB’s inception ...

by the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The libra ...

as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Plot

In ''Zoot Suit'', Luis Valdez weaves a story involving the real-life events of the

Sleepy Lagoon murder The "Sleepy Lagoon murder" was the name that Los Angeles newspapers used to describe the 1942 death of José Gallardo Díaz, who was discovered unconscious and dying near a swimming hole (known as the Sleepy Lagoon) with two stab wounds and a br ...

trial — when a group of young Mexican-Americans were charged with murder — resulting in the racially fueled Zoot Suit Riots throughout Los Angeles. In the play, Henry Reyna (inspired by real-life defendant Hank Leyvas) is a

pachuco Pachucos are male members of a counterculture associated with zoot suit fashion, jazz and swing music, a distinct dialect known as '' caló'', and self-empowerment in rejecting assimilation into Anglo-American society that emerged in El Pas ...

gangster and his gang, who were unfairly prosecuted, are thrown in jail for a murder they did not commit. The play is set in the

barrio ''Barrio'' () is a Spanish word that means " quarter" or " neighborhood". In the modern Spanish language, it is generally defined as each area of a city, usually delimited by functional (e.g. residential, commercial, industrial, etc.), social, a ...

s of

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

in the early 1940s against the backdrop of the Zoot Suit Riots and

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. As in the play,

portrays El Pachuco, an idealized Zoot Suiter, who functions as narrator throughout the story and serves as Henry's conscience. The film starts out with singing and dancing at the party. Henry Reyna, a young Mexican American, gets arrested for murder by the LAPD a day before he leaves for the Navy at sleepy lagoon. Police officers then interrogate and beat him. The film transitions to before everything happened back in his room where El Pachuco who is Henry’s internal voice is standing next to his dresser and hands him a switchblade to put in his pocket after Henry gets dressed a zoot suit. Dolores has a bad feeling about him dressing in the zoot suit. The film presents a foreshadowing moment, as his mother wishes that he returned to jail instead of going to World War II in the Navy. Henry and his friends were put in jail after being convicted with the murder of Jose Diaz at the sleepy lagoon, George Shearer comes to the jail cell where the boys are located to try and help them handle the murder case. Jose Castro, Ismael Torres, Thomas Roberts were the friends that were convicted with Henry. El Pachuco and Henry disagree with the lawyer because El Pachuco believes that Henry should not accept help from a white man. In the film it flashbacks to the night of the dance. Rudy, Henry's brother, is drunk and tries to start a fight with Rafas but Henry breaks them up and goes back to dancing. Rafas then tries to touch on Della and pick on her, so Henry and Rafas fight with their switchblades out. El Pachuco pops up and begins talking to Henry and tells Henry that the right decision is to not kill him after Henry tackled Rafas and has him on the floor with a switchblade to his neck. The next scene fast forwards to them in the courtroom and begins with Shearer letting the judge know that it has been two months since the boys have had a haircut or any clean clothes to make them look representable. The first person that goes up for the trial is Sergeant Frank Galindo from the Los Angeles Police Department. Galindo arrived at the scene where he found Jose Sanchez’s dead body at the sleepy lagoon. Della comes up as the next defendant and begins to explain her side of the story. She says that after the party she and Henry drove off to the sleepy lagoon lake and noticed that it was empty. They got out the car to enjoy the view and heard music at a party going on across the way. A car pulls up behind them who is accompanied by Rafas and his friends. The men threaten Henry and Della before smashing the car and fighting Henry. When Henry woke up, he went to town and got his friends but by the time they return to where Rafas jumped him they were gone so they heard the music and headed to the party at the ranch, but they got attacked when Henry and his friends were mistaken for Rafas group. Della saw El Pachuco beating someone on the ground. George’s objections kept getting denied in court by the judge and at the end of Dellas testimony she was sent to custody of Ventura state School for Girls. The boys were found guilty in the first- and second-degree murder case of sleepy lagoon. Alice Bloomfield who is a newspaper writer is trying to help them get out and writes to them in jail saying that they will clear their name. Bloomfield shows up to jail and talks to Henry privately and says that he wants to drop out of the case. She argues back with him, but they make up and Henry decides to get back in the case, but Henry flirts with Bloomfield and she asked him to write an article and he says only if they write privately together. Bloomfield revisits Henry and tells him how Della is doing at Ventura training institute, but Henry is mad at Bloomfield because she didn't write back to his love letters. She responds by saying that she doesn't want to lose her job after the case is over. Henry then kisses her and walks out. Henry gets put into solitary for 90 days for bad behavior and during this time in jail and solitary Henry is battling his inner thoughts with El Pachuco which starts to drive him crazy. Della visits the Jail to see how Henry is doing and let him know that she is out of the Ventura girls’ school and got off four months for good behavior. November 8th, 1944, Henry, and the boys are released from the case for being wrongfully convicted.

Cast

as Henry Reyna * - A main character in the plot of this film, he is 21 years old and apart of the Los Angeles's Chicano community. Henry wears the Zoot suits which are high waisted and tightly cuffed trousers and a long coat and shirt under. Having a few encounters with the police is directly from that he is racially profiled for being a young Chicano man in a zoot suit. During the film he is arrested by Lieutenant Edwards because of being suspected of murdering Jose Williams who died at the Sleepy Lagoon. *

as "El Pachuco" * - The narrator and in Henry's mind that he battles to make decisions. He is portrayed as a true zoot suiter with a long black coat and red undershirt. * Rose Portillo as Della * - Henry's girlfriend and is younger than Henry *

Charles Aidman Charles Leonard Aidman (January 21, 1925 – November 7, 1993) was an American actor of stage, film, and television. Early life Aidman was born in Frankfort, Indiana, the son of George E. and Etta (Kwitny) Aidman. Aidman graduated from Frank ...

as George Shearer * - Henry's lawyer in the murder case, he tries to make things right by defending his name * Tyne Daly as Alice Bloomfield * - Sidekick to George and a newspaper writer, helps push out the agenda that Henry and his friends were mistaken. * John Anderson as Judge F.W. Charles * Abel Franco as Enrique * Bernadette Colognne as "Legs" *

Mike Gomez Mike Gomez (born April 18, 1951) is an American actor. Best known for his performances in such cult classics as ''The Big Lebowski'' and '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'', Gomez has costarred in numerous films including ''Heartbreak Ridge'' ...

as Jose "Joey" Castro * - A member of a 38th street gang * Alma Martínez as Lupe * - Henrys younger sister * Francis X. McCarthy as Press *

Lupe Ontiveros Guadalupe Ontiveros ( Moreno; September 17, 1942 – July 26, 2012) was an American actress best known for portraying Rosalita in ''The Goonies'', and Yolanda Saldívar in the film ''Selena''. She acted in numerous films and television shows, ...

as Dolores Reyna, Henry's mother * - Henrys mother, always afraid of the police hurting Henry * Marco Rodríguez as Ismael "Smiley" Torres * - Co founder with Henry of 38 street gang *

Kelly Ward Kelly Ward (born November 17, 1956) is an American actor and voice director for television animation. He is most famous for his role as T-Bird Putzie in '' Grease'' (1978). Biography Ward was born in San Diego. He is the son of Don and Bonn ...

as Tommy Roberts * - Member of 38th street gang, he is white unlike the others *

Kurtwood Smith Kurtwood Larson Smith (born July 3, 1943) is an American television and film actor. He is known for playing Clarence Boddicker in ''RoboCop'' (1987), Robert Griggs in ''Rambo III'' (1988), and Red Forman in ''That '70s Show'' (1998–2006), as ...

as Sergeant Smith * - Works with the LAPD who discriminates henrys and his friends * Dennis Stewart as Swabbie * Robert Beltran as Lowrider * Tony Plana as Rudy Reyna, Henry's brother * - Troublemaker but Henry's brother who is also in the 38 street gang

Reception

The film earned some controversy for being staged as a combination of play and movie; most of it was shot in normal cinematic fashion, but some scenes featured audience members watching the show, with the actors occasionally performing among them—a decision that

Leonard Maltin Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic and film historian, as well as an author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives. He is perhaps best known for his book of fi ...

in his Movie Guide called "a major distraction." On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

''Zoot Suit'' has an approval rating of 55% based on reviews from 11 critics.

Awards

The film was nominated for the 1982

Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of ...

for Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy (won by ''

Arthur Arthur is a common male given name of Brythonic origin. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. The etymology is disputed. It may derive from the Celtic ''Artos'' meaning “Bear”. Another theory, more wi ...

'').

won the 1983 Critics Award at the

Festival du Film Policier de Cognac The Festival du Film policier de Cognac ( en, Cognac Crime Film Festival) was an annual film festival that took place in Cognac, France from 1982 to 2007 (with no festival being held in 1991).Cognac, France Cognac (; Saintongese: ''Cougnat''; oc, Conhac ) is a commune in the Charente department, southwestern France. Administratively, the commune of Cognac is a subprefecture of the Charente department. Name The name is believed to be formed fr ...

References

External links