''Utilities'' is a 1983 Canadian

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by Harvey Hart and starring

Robert Hays Robert Blakely Hays (born July 24, 1947) is an American actor, known for a variety of television and film roles since the 1970s. He came to prominence around 1980, co-starring in the two-season domestic sitcom ''Angie (TV series), Angie'', and ...

and Brooke Adams.

Plot

Bob Hunt (Robert Hays), a social worker, has a client, Dr. Martha Louise Rogers (Jane Mallet), whose electricity is cut off because she cannot pay the bill. She is assisted by contributions by her neighbors and friends, and the bill is paid entirely in coins, though the clerk is belatedly told that payment is not accepted in such a large quantity of coins. Unfortunately, the electric company fails to reconnect the power due to a communications snafu, and the elderly woman is taken to hospital suffering

hypothermia Hypothermia is defined as a body core temperature below in humans. Symptoms depend on the temperature. In mild hypothermia, there is shivering and mental confusion. In moderate hypothermia, shivering stops and confusion increases. In severe ...

. Hunt sets off on a vendetta of revenge, sabotaging assorted support systems. Attempting to evade detection at one site, he flattens himself against the wall with wet paint, with a finger sticking up, and leaving the impression of a hand with one raised finger in the paint. The news media find out this detail and the unknown saboteur is nicknamed "The Finger." When the phone company is hit, it issues a public statement denying that, due to the sabotage to its billing records, long-distance calls can be made without a charge. Promptly, the movie depicts people making outrageous use of long distance, which in 1981 was still quite expensive. One girl calls overseas and plays a Styx double album over the phone. In a long, climactic courtroom hearing, a rate-hike proposal by Kenneth Knight and his utility company, Eastern Gas & Electric, is to be voted on by a public commission. But first a number of protesting citizens are given an opportunity to speak, followed by Hunt, who confesses: "I am The Finger." At that point, many others in the courtroom,

Spartacus Spartacus (; ) was a Thracians, Thracian gladiator (Thraex) who was one of the Slavery in ancient Rome, escaped slave leaders in the Third Servile War, a major Slave rebellion, slave uprising against the Roman Republic. Historical accounts o ...

-style, rise to claim they are The Finger. Just as the commission is about to approve E, G & E's rate increase, police officer Marion Edwards bursts in, there to make an arrest. Hunt expects to be placed in handcuffs, but she reveals that Knight has been destroying his own substations in an effort to achieve public sympathy. The lights of the city go dark as spectators in the courthouse celebrate.

Cast

as Bob Hunt * Brooke Adams as Marion Edwards * John Marley as Roy Blue * James Blendick as Kenneth Knight

References

External links

* * 1983 films 1983 comedy films Canadian comedy films English-language Canadian films New World Pictures films Films directed by Harvey Hart Films with screenplays by Jim Kouf Films produced by Howard W. Koch Films scored by Maribeth Solomon Films scored by Micky Erbe 1980s English-language films 1980s Canadian films {{1980s-comedy-film-stub