Angel City

ANGEL CITY is a long-forgotten TV movie of 1980 which tackles the subject of modern slavery in a compelling fashion. Ralph Waite, a well known actor for his role as the patriarch in THE WALTONS, plays a guy who ends up living as a prisoner on a farm ruled by the tyrannical Mitchell Ryans, always an impressive actor since the days of DARK SHADOWS. This slow-burning production takes its time to build up the characters and their lives while punctuating the atmosphere with a subtle but shocking handling of violence. Paul Winfield, best known for his role as the cop in THE TERMINATOR, is excellent in support.

I'm one of those people that enjoys Ralph Waite in everything. I am sure it has to do with the fact of watching him for so long on the Waltons. I also prefer older films to anything new, so I tend to really scour titles looking for things to watch that I have never seen. In comes this title, I read the description, saw the actors and said - sure let me give it a try.

Wow. You can kind of say it is a 70's version of Grapes of Wrath (somewhat). The story line is as old as time and if you know about migrant workers you have a little background on what can happen. The acting is believable....it truly is, and at a couple points in the film you actually are on the edge of your seat - and will really get you thinking.

Hard to write something really descriptive because I don't want to give anything away - since EVERY scene in the movie grabs you and is important.

Grab the popcorn, a blanket and tell everyone to leave you alone one evening and watch it!

West Virginian mountain folks Jared (Ralph Waite) and Cloma Teeter (Jennifer Warren) lost their ancestral family farm. They are forced to move out with their children Kristy (Jennifer Jason Leigh) and Bennie (Robert MacNaughton) to Florida for any work. Work is hard to find and they fall prey to unscrupulous employer Silas Creedy (Mitchell Ryan) and his work camp Angel City. The camp is more like a prison where Creedy's rigged system cheat them of their money. Their next door neighbor Cy (Paul Winfield) warns them to leave. Sud and Jabbo are Creedy henchmen who run the sadistic camp.

I watched this solely for Jennifer Jason Leigh. It's way too sincere. Jared is a naive simple mountain folk. Creedy is an evil villain. It's fine to do that but they are simply too obvious and too extreme for compelling drama. They don't let anything go pass. They even kill the dog. The movie piles on so much that it loses perspective. It's kind of silly to have Sud and Jabbo give the evil laugh after killing the dog. With kidnappings and beatings, Cy could have been a bit more specific about his warning. The movie lacks realism by pushing too hard.

Dirt poor southern family Go West!" , find work, get abused and revolt. Ralph Waite is good as the paterfamilias and his change from solid hard-working farmer to (mini) revolutionary leader is believable.

Solid performances all round. It was a fruit/vegetable farm they were working on btw, not cotton - they spent their time pickin' the cuze' (cucumbers).

Nice decry of immigrant exploitation in the food industry. The traps used by the landowner (high rent, booking fee etc), and the hopelessness of the poverty trap get a good exposure Hope that eyes were opened etc.......................

The plot can get questionable on this one, true, but it's worth seeking out just to see the early work of Jennifer Jason Leigh! Done before "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" (my favorite) this tv flick has young Jennifer as the daughter of Jennifer Warren, another face you may recognize. Their family goes off in search of work, and Ralph Waite from the Waltons is in it too. Fun to see, everybody is sooooo young!