Zoot Suit (1981)

Director:

Luis Valdez

Writer:

Luis Valdez (play)

Stars:

Daniel Valdez, Edward James Olmos and Charles Aidman

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

January 1982 (USA) See more »

Also Known As:

Chicanos Story

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

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

American me (1992)

Directed by	Edward James Olmos
Produced by	Executive Producers: Lou Adler Floyd Mutrux Irwin Young Producers: Edward James Olmos Robert M. Young Sean Daniel
Written by	Screenplay: Floyd Mutrux Desmond Nakano Story: Floyd Mutrux
Starring	Edward James Olmos William Forsythe Pepe Serna Danny De La Paz

The film depicts 30 years of Chicano gang life in Los Angeles. It focuses on Santana, a teen who, with his friends Mundo and J.D., form their own gang. They soon find themselves at the wrong place at the wrong time and are soon arrested for a break-in.

Santana gets into trouble again, going straight from reform school to prison. He spends eighteen years there, becoming the leader of a powerful gang, both inside and outside the prison. He is finally released. Once out, he tries to relate his life experiences to the society that has changed a lot since he left it 30 years before.