| Steelyard Blues | |
|---|---|
Film poster |
|
| Directed by | Alan Myerson |
| Written by | David S. Ward |
| Starring | Donald Sutherland Jane Fonda Peter Boyle Howard Hesseman John Savage |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros |
| Release date(s) | January 31, 1973 |
| Running time | 93 mins. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Steelyard Blues is a 1973 comedy crime film starring Donald Sutherland, Jane Fonda and Peter Boyle. It concerns the lives of a group of misfits trying to find a happier life against the norms of society. Sutherland plays an ex-con with a passion for demolition derbies. He has wrecked almost every possible car, but violates his parole when confronted by a 1950 Studebaker. This embarrasses his brother, Howard Hesseman, in an unlikely respectable role. Fonda plays a prostitute with an off-on relationship with Sutherland's character. The gang tries to get an old Consolidated PBY Catalina plane flying, and much humor ensues.
The film is notable for reprising the Fonda-Sutherland pairing, featured initially in the 1971 film Klute.
Because Fonda, Sutherland and Boyle were active in anti-war activities when this movie was made (this was in Fonda's Hanoi Jane days), it seems that Steelyard Blues was not given a wide release or much publicity. Nevertheless, it is memorable for its portrayal of oddball characters (Peter Boyle's Sancho Panza meets Marlon Brando, for example) and found a warm reception among college students and non-conformists. With its anti-establishment message and hip soundtrack by musicians Mike Bloomfield, Paul Butterfield, Nick Gravenites, Maria Muldaur and others, it is an iconic seventies film.
The film was broadcast on television under an alternate name, Final Crash.[1]