Blue Collar

There's no doubt that Richard Pryor was a comedy genius, but he was also a very gifted dramatic actor as well. Unfortunately, the studios just wanted him to be the funnyman. Even when he starred in Some KInd Of Hero, which was originally a drama, the studio made it a comedy once they had Pryor as their lead. There are a few films out there though where Pryor's acting chops flourish. One of those is 1978's Blue Collar.

Fed up with they way they are treated by their bosses and union, three factory workers, Zeke, Pryor, Smokey, Yaphet Kotto, and Jerry, Harvey Keitel, hatch a plan to rob their union. They find a ledger that exposes the union wrong doings. They decide to blackmail the union, which blows up in their face. Tensions rise between the three causing a fallout between Zeke and Jerry.

This was Paul Schrader's directorial debut, and what an amzing debut it is. Schrader has a real knack for capturing the life's and fears of middle class, blue collar America. The shoot was very intense for Schrader and lead to a nervous breakdown. He even questioned weather he was cut out to direct. The three leads didn't get along. Pryor even drew a gun at Schrader and said he wouldn't do more than three takes. The tension behind the scenes carried over to what was on screen . Watching this, you can really feel the tension and desperation of these three character's.

This is a great film about the working class that should be a classic.

Its' available on dvd through the Universal Vault Series.