Steelyard Blues

Social misfits work to rebuild an old plane to make the ultimate escape from reality. Non-conformists vs. The Establishment--again! Easy targets, unconvincing characters, though not bad with this interesting cast: Donald Sutherland as an ex-con, Jane Fonda (in a funky dark brown wig) as a hooker, Peter Boyle as a thief, and Howard Hesseman as a politician. Fonda--persona non grata at the time due to her involvement with the Vietnam War--gives probably her least-interested performance in a movie (she's just not present). One BAFTA nomination: Sutherland as Best Actor (shared with his work in "Don't Look Now"). ** from ****

I spent the entire Summer during the making of the film on the set/location of the film, and I would say that being thirteen years of age at the time, it was a heck of ride!!! I learned about racial tension on the streets of Oakland. The local African American population wasn't always crazy about the film crew's presence...lots of discernible anger and tension.I learned about how you try to shoot on location at a real demolition derby with a real live audience. It was organized chaos, and fights were breaking out in the stands and on the track....Peter Boyle was always making everybody crack up with his Marlon Brando imitations.....there was a lot of focus and preoccupation on getting scenes done correctly with pyrotechnics and explosions....hours of debate and preparations...

It was the end of the sixties, and the Vietnam War was going on endlessly with no end in sight....Jane Fonda was blackballed by Hollywood and Steelyard Blues was at least a paycheck.

A piece of Hollywood history during a very uncertain time....

Wacky comedy with an anti-establishment edge. But then what would be expected of social critics like Fonda and Sutherland. The surprise here is Peter Boyle who steals the show with Eagle's loony antics. He's both amusing and scary at the same time. It's a bravura performance.

The plot's just goofy enough to fit right in with a band of free spirits wanting to escape dull conformity. Seems they conspire to restore an airplane that's the size and shape of a warehouse so they can fly away to somewhere. That means having to get enough money for outfitting the wreck. For this misfit bunch that means organizing a pick-pocket attack on downtown suits. Grinning along is Sutherland's ex-con Veldini as the ring-leader. Trouble is he's got a respectable brother in the DA's office who aspires to higher elective status, and that means putting a halter on embarrassing brother Veldini. Meanwhile, there's Fonda as a big-haired hooker whose client list seemingly includes every suit in town. Plus seeing Hesseman as the DA, clean-shaven and in a spiffy suit, took me some getting used to after years of his scuzzy dj on WKRP, Cincinnati.

All in all, the 1971 flick (delayed release) amounts to a shady character comedy. There is a mild '60's era subtext but it's more implicit than explicit. At the same time, the non-conformists may be humorous but they're certainly not glorified as an alternative life-style. Then too, it's the byplay between the edgy characters that carries what chuckles there are. Nonetheless, I can see why some folks might dislike the results- no one is particularly likable, even Sutherland's lead character, while the comedic effects depend on the dubious personalities. Anyway, for the most part, I enjoyed the 93-minutes, despite the drawbacks.

A film that holds up much better than its original reviews would let on. Although Fonda looks a bit disoriented at moments, there are a couple of scenes between her and Sutherland where the two simply radiate the star power that made them famous. Overall the film has a charm and warmth to it that, despite a little clumsyness at times, still makes it very much worthwhile and displays an interesting idiosyncratic type of humor and counterculture charm we haven't seen much of in recent years.

Not a must-see on a saturday night, but a precious gem for the connoisseur.

... required.

Escapism grounded in grim reality. You just really want them to get away with it, and then, even when it's all going horribly wrong, they somehow do!!! Excellent early 70s vibes aplenty.

Sadly, Peter Boyle passed away today, so I should point out that his presence lights up the whole film. I can never understand why he never got more character parts.

I include this film with a number of other early 70s films such as Easy Rider, Two Lane Blacktop and The Getaway. Intelligent escapism, with a tinge of cannabis. Cannot understand why it doesn't have a DVD release, especially when many other, lesser, movies are brought into the equation. It deserves the whole extras/commentary/scene setting that Fear and Loathing got, after all!