Summaries

When barrio leader Henry Reyna and his friends are unjustly convicted on circumstantial evidence, activist lawyers Alice Bloomfield and George Shearer fight the blatant racially motivated miscarriage of justice to win them their freedom.

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, always worn with a long keychain that looped almost to the ankle.... the rebellious fashion of young men) had on the morals and attitudes of the people of that era.—BOB STEBBINS <[email protected]>

Part fact and part fiction, Zoot Suit is the film version of Luis Valdez's critically acclaimed play, based on the actual Sleepy Lagoon murder case and the zoot suit riots of 1940s Los Angeles. Henry Reyna is the leader of a group of Mexican-Americans being sent to San Quentin without substantial evidence for the death of a man at Sleepy Lagoon. As part of the defense committee, Alice Bloomfield and George Shearer fight the blatant miscarriage of justice for the freedom of Henry and his friends.—Fiona Kelleghan <[email protected]>

Details

Keywords
  • 1940s
  • national film registry
  • race relations
  • mexican american
  • zoot suit
Genres
  • Drama
  • Musical
Release date Dec 31, 1981
Motion Picture Rating (MPA) R
Countries of origin United States
Language English
Filming locations Earl Carroll Theatre, 6230 Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, California, USA
Production companies Universal Pictures

Box office

Budget $2700000
Gross US & Canada $3256082
Opening weekend US & Canada $63356
Gross worldwide $3256082

Tech specs

Runtime 1h 43m
Sound mix Mono
Aspect ratio 1.85 : 1

Synopsis

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