zoot suit movie review

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When barrio leader Henry Reyna and his friends are unjustly convicted on circumstantial evidence, activist lawyers Alice Bloomfield and George Shearer fight the blatant racially motivated mi... Read all When barrio leader Henry Reyna and his friends are unjustly convicted on circumstantial evidence, activist lawyers Alice Bloomfield and George Shearer fight the blatant racially motivated miscarriage of justice to win them their freedom. When barrio leader Henry Reyna and his friends are unjustly convicted on circumstantial evidence, activist lawyers Alice Bloomfield and George Shearer fight the blatant racially motivated miscarriage of justice to win them their freedom.

Luis Valdez
Daniel Valdez
Edward James Olmos
Charles Aidman
21 User reviews
2 Critic reviews
2 wins & 1 nomination

Henry Reyna

George Shearer

Alice Bloomfield

Judge F.W. Charles

(as Alma Rosa Martínez)

(as Frank McCarthy)

Lieutenant Edwards

District Attorney

The Bailiff
All cast & crew
Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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Trivia The Broadway production of "Zoot Suit" opened at the Winter Garden Theater in New York on March 25, 1979 and ran for 41 performances. Charles Aidman , Mike Gomez , Abel Franco , Darlene Bryan , Luis Manuel , Edward James Olmos , Tony Plana , Rose Portillo , Geno Silva , Dennis Stewart , and Socorro Valdez recreated their stage roles in this filmed production. Edward James Olmos was nominated for the 1979 Tony Award (New York City) for Supporting or Features Actor in a Drama for "Zoot Suit" as El Pachuco and recreated his stage role in this filmed production.
Goofs Most of the male characters in the film are sporting late 70's-early 80's hairstyles which men didn't wear during World War II.

El Pachuco : The idea of the original chuco is to look like a diamond, to look sharp, hip, bonaroo, finding a style of urban survival in the rural skirts and outskirts of the brown metropolis of Los, Cabron.

Press : It's an afront to good taste!

El Pachuco : Like the Mexicans, Filipinos and blacks who wear them?

Press : Yes!

Crazy credits The film opens with the 1940's Universal logo.
Connections Featured in Sneak Previews: Personal Best/The Border/Venom/Zoot Suit (1982)
Soundtracks Zoot Suit Written by Daniel Valdez Performed by Edward James Olmos and Ensemble

User reviews 21

lperalta411
Jul 26, 2013
How long is Zoot Suit? Powered by Alexa
January 1, 1982 (United States)
United States
Fiebre latina
Earl Carroll Theatre, 6230 Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, California, USA (The entire film was shot on location at this theatre.)
Universal Pictures
See more company credits at IMDbPro
$2,700,000 (estimated)
Oct 4, 1981

Technical specs

Runtime 1 hour 43 minutes

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Zoot Suit Reviews

... this highly stylized theatrical-cinematic hybrid had me frustrated from the get-go. I'm all for audacity and ambition, but what I saw in this film was messy and hodgepodge.

Full Review | Original Score: C- | Mar 23, 2022

A must-watch film highlighting the Sleepy Lagoon trial as a result of the Zoot Suit Riots in the 1940s. An important Mexican American part of U.S history told through the Chicano lens via a musical theatrical format.

Full Review | Original Score: 7/10 | Jul 3, 2021

Interesting. [Full Review in Spanish]

Full Review | May 1, 2019

A curious film with a hint of authenticity. [Full Review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | May 1, 2019

Valdez, who adapted his play for the screen, keeps the story and the camera moving nicely.

Except for the spirited musical numbers and an arresting performance by Edward James Olmos as the cynical conscience of gang member Daniel Valdez, the movie largely fails to bring the impact it had on stage.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | May 1, 2019

[Zoot Suit] is a holy mess of a movie, full of earnest, serious intentions and virtually no achievements.

Full Review | Feb 10, 2005

Full Review | Original Score: B- | Nov 12, 2004

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Nov 7, 2003

Full Review | Original Score: 1/5 | May 12, 2001

The staging is busy and clever, though it doesn't translate that well to film, given Valdez's tendency to cut the legs off his dancers.

Full Review | Jan 1, 2000

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‘zoot suit’: theater review.

Director Luis Valdez leads Demian Bichir and stars from the original in this dazzling revival of 'Zoot Suit' at the Mark Taper Forum, where it premiered in 1978 before making history as the first Chicano Broadway musical.

By Jordan Riefe

Jordan Riefe

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When Zoot Suit premiered on Broadway in 1979, it made history as the first Chicano musical to do so. For director Luis Valdez, it was a career achievement — a crossover hit that delivered themes of racial profiling and social justice to a mainstream audience, with a healthy dose of romance, melodrama and jazz-age boogie. After having run nearly a year in Los Angeles, it closed on Broadway in less than a month. The new revival at the Mark Taper Forum (where it premiered in 1978) seems more relevant than ever after last weekend’s ICE roundups and growing concerns over social injustice. But while Zoot Suit is rich in of-the-moment themes regarding identity and tolerance, it is richer in humor, heart and fleet-footed dancing.

Despite its abbreviated run on Broadway, the show launched the career of Edward James Olmos , who garnered a Tony nomination for his portrayal of the mythic Pachuco , and later starred in the 1980 movie (also directed by Valdez). Taking over for Olmos is Demian Bichir (a 2012 best actor Oscar nominee for A Better Life , next up in Alien: Covenant ). He carries himself with similar swagger, but adopts a low, raspy tone that might render him voiceless by the end of the run. Pachuco is an archetype who celebrates machismo even as he exposes the insecurity at its heart. While he is a devil on the shoulder of Henry Reyna ( Matias Ponce), leader of the 38th Street gang, he is also a mentor who engages Henry in a complicated relationship connected to manhood, identity, trust and finally letting go.

The timing of events could not be worse for Henry, who is transitioning away from his sordid past and joining the Navy. A police sweep nets him and fellow gang members — Smiley (Raul Cardona ), who never smiles; Tommy (Caleb Foote), a white boy raised in the barrio; and Joey (Oscar Comacho ), a class clown — in a search for the murder of a young man at Sleepy Lagoon, a popular swimming hole.

The plot blends musical numbers with flashbacks to paint in what happened the night of the murder, wisely avoiding the stasis of courtroom drama and prison life. Valdez cleverly places his story amid real-life events, the Sleepy Lagoon murder trial, which made headlines in 1942 and was used as a pretense to crackdown on young Latinos, profiling them by the zoot suits they wore. The case galvanized the community, which ignited a year later when a fistfight between servicemen on leave and local zoot-suiters turned into a race riot, sparking subsequent uprisings in numerous cities.

As Reyna, Ponce is the heart of the play, struggling to maintain dignity in a system that disdains him. The arrest keeps him from the war, but it also keeps him from his beloved Della (Jeanine Mason), whom he intends to marry. In time, that relationship is sidetracked by Henry’s correspondence with leftist journalist Alice Bloomfield (Tiffany Dupont ), who advocates for his release.

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L.A. Theater Review: ‘Zoot Suit’

Now 76, Chicano theater pioneer Luis Valdez returns to the Mark Taper Forum with a revival of the play that flipped the script for Latino representations on stage.

By Peter Debruge

Peter Debruge

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'Zoot Suit' Review: Landmark Play Returns to L.A.'s Mark Taper Forum

Back in style after 40 years, Luis Valdez’s “Zoot Suit” is as custom-tailored a Los Angeles stage experience as they come: Commissioned back in 1977 by Center Theatre Group founding artistic director Gordon Davidson, the show spun its fresh take on L.A. racial tensions into a massive local success, selling out its record-breaking 11-month run, but fizzled after just four weeks on Broadway. Now, timed to CTG’s 50th anniversary, “Zoot Suit’s” return to the Mark Taper Forum reunites the actors who once starred as the musical’s young couple to play the protagonist’s parents, and features Oscar nominee Demián Bichir as its signature character, El Pachuco. But this production represents more than just history; it packs an uncanny contemporary relevance as well.

In 1940s Los Angeles, the zoot suit — with its broad shoulders, billowy legs, and dramatic fabric — served as a flashy, in-your-face exaggeration of mainstream white fashion. The same could be said for Valdez’s best-known production, which brought a much-needed Mexican accent to the L.A. theater (and later to the screen) with its bold Chicano-centric retelling of a turbulent chapter in the city’s history: specifically, the Sleepy Lagoon murder trial, at which 25 members of the 38th Street Gang were held accountable for the death of José Diaz. (It’s a breakthrough that paved the way for the “Hamilton” phenomenon all these years later.)

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Before the show, in lieu of a curtain, the stage is masked by a massive Los Angeles Times front page, and El Pachuco makes his entrance by slicing through the headlines with an oversized switchblade. Today, the President accuses “fake news” of leaning left, but at the time, the conservative Press served to uphold the status quo. As such, El Pachuco’s defiant gesture trumps the 1930s “Living Newspaper” convention — a style of theater that reenacted current events on stage — and seizes control of the narrative.

His face pulled back in a grimace framed by an exaggerated frown-shaped moustache, Bichir sports a devilish black-and-red ensemble and lopes about the stage, rolling his R’s and swinging his watch chain. Speaking in a hybrid of English, Spanish, and Caló slang (using words like pinche , ese , and cabron that may be lost on gringos), El Pachuco occupies the role of conscience, superego, and Greek chorus in one, exaggerating a dark, potentially threatening Latino image against which the main character, Henry Reyna (Matias Ponce), must define himself.

In the words of El Pachuco, who can control the action with a snap of his fingers, “What you are about to see is a combination of fact and fantasy.” Sure enough, Valdez invented Henry for the play, although he is based on a historical figure who was all too easily demonized by the media. But the play’s true villain is the Press — who may as well be labeled “the Man” — embodied here as a white bigot and played by Tom G. McMahon, who switches hats between newsman, cop, and prosecuting attorney. Flipping the script, it’s the white characters who are reduced to stereotypes in “Zoot Suit,” while the show lends dimension to Latino roles that were seldom permitted this degree of introspection or growth in other plays.

Henry is a complex character, torn between his machismo pride and the capacity to seek justice within a crooked system. He’s seen as fun-loving in the opening musical number, in which Henry, his fiancée Della (Jeanine Mason), and kid brother (Andres Ortiz) dance the swing with nearly the entire ensemble. The choice of music matters, as it demonstrates how the Latino teens aren’t necessarily so different after all, though the Press will go out of its way to emphasize and exploit what sets these “outsiders” apart.

A police raid brings the festivities to an abrupt halt, and Henry and his friends are thrown in jail on suspicion of the death the weekend before out at Sleepy Lagoon (a classic Lovers’ Lane-like getaway halfway to Long Beach). While Valdez’s direction brings a light comic touch to such inherently polemical material, the charges are serious — and swiftly blown out of proportion by the Press, who realizes that such wartime fear-mongering sells newspapers, not anticipating that it can just as easily spark an uprising.

Valdez builds the show around the subsequent trial, bringing in a sympathetic lawyer, George Shearer (Brian Abraham), and civil-rights crusader Alice Bloomfield (Tiffany Dupont) to help their case. While World War II looms somewhere overseas and far off stage, Henry and his friends are busy fighting their own battles at home, and even 75 years later, it’s fair to question how much progress has actually been made.

In one of his courtroom speeches, Shearer has Hitler in mind when he references “a society now at war against the forces of racial intolerance and totalitarian injustice,” and yet, the line earned a spontaneous ovation on opening night of the revival, as if it were written in anticipation of the heightened home-front racism Americans experience today. Valdez’s show captures the frustration of being caught on the wrong end of a rigged system, and though it was written long before the Trayvon Martin shooting or the L.A. riots, “Zoot Suit” fits better than ever today.

Mark Taper Forum, Los Angeles; 739 seats; $109 top. Opened, reviewed Feb. 12, 2017. Running time: 2 HOURS, 25 MIN.

Production: A Center Theatre Group presentation, in association with El Teatro Campesino, of a play in two acts by Luis Valdez.
Crew: Directed by Luis Valdez. Sets, Christopher Acebo; costumes, Ann Closs-Farley; original music, Lalo Guerrero; choreography, Maria Torres; music director, Daniel Valdez; sound, Philip G. Allen; lights, Pablo Santiago; casting, Rosalinda Morales, Pauline O'con, Candido Cornejo, Jr.
Cast: Brian Abraham, Mariela Arteaga, Demián Bichir, Melinna Bobadilla, Oscar Camacho, Stephani Candelaria, Raul Cardona, Fiona Cheung, Tiffany Dupont, Caleb Foote, Holly Hyman, Kimberlee Kidd, Rocío López, Jeanine Mason, Tom G. McMahon, Andres Ortiz, Michael Naydoe Pinedo, Matias Ponce, Rose Portillo, Gilbert Saldivar, Richard Steinmetz, Evan Strand, Bradford Tatum, Raphael Thomas, Daniel Valdez. (English, Spanish dialogue)

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Justina Bonilla

September 9, 2022
Featured / Highlight , Interviews , The Blog

Zoot Suit: Interview with Writer/Director Luis Valdez

Valdez, who’s regarded as “The Father of Chicano Theatre”, is the most influential Chicano director of American cinematic history. He’s also a renowned award-winning playwright, actor, political activist, author ( Theatre of the Sphere: The Vibrant Being ), and founder of the El Teatro Campesino theatre, in San Juan Bautista, California.

In 2015, Valdez was awarded The National Medal of Arts by President Barack Obama, for, “Bringing Chicano culture to American drama. As a playwright, actor, writer, and director, he illuminates the human spirit in the face of social injustice through award-winning stage, film, and television productions”.

Zoot Suit follows a young pachuco (a Chicano of the zoot suit counterculture) Henry Reyna, based on the real-life Henry Leyvas and his conscience El Pachuco. As Henry and his friends face a severely biased and racist legal process when they are wrongfully accused and convicted in the Sleepy Lagoon murder. As Henry faces his fate, he’s forced to reexamine who he is and what it means to be Chicano.

In remembrance of the 80 th anniversary of the Sleepy Lagoon case, Valdez, in this extensive interview, shares with us his early interest in the theatre, the creation of Zoot Suit , its impact, and the importance of honoring Chicano culture.

The Early Years and the Pachuco Influence:

Justina Bonilla: I understand you have a connection to Orange County.

Luis Valdez: I used to have a Tio and Tia from Santa Ana. Santa Ana was a very important place. I know how important it was for farm workers. I’m very aware of its history.

How did your love for the theater begin?

It’s been a lifelong obsession. I got hooked, when I was six years old, in 1946. We were on the migrant path with my migrant farm worker parents. I went to school not knowing how long I was going to be there.

My teacher took my little lunch bag, a little brown paper bag my mother used to put the tacos in and to make a paper mache mask. It really astonished me that you can take paper and turn it into a mask. Since it was already November, I figured this couldn’t be for Halloween. I asked, “What’s this for?” She explained, “It’s for a play. The whole school’s involved, and we need first graders to play monkeys. It’s called Christmas in the Jungle .”

I forgave her about the bag. Then, I auditioned and got my first role. I was so happy. I was on top of the world. It was my debut. I loved everything about it.

The week of the show, we were evicted from the labor camp, where we were staying because we were migrant farm workers. I got home, my mom told me, “We’re leaving tomorrow.” And I said, “But Mom, the play is on Friday.” She explained, “I know but we’re being evicted.” We were evicted from the labor camp and I was never in the play.

I’ll never forget driving through the town at the crack of dawn, in the San Joaquin Valley fog. I felt a great big hole open up in my chest. But I took with me the secret of paper mache, the unresolved desire to do theater, and anger because we’ve been evicted.

Approximately 20 years later, I went to Cesar Chavez and pitched him an idea for a theater by and for farm workers. So there’s the complete circle. That’s how I got hooked on theater. But also at the same time, I got hooked on community activism, on trying to do something for Campesinos (Spanish for farm laborers).

What inspired you to write the Zoot Suit play?

Well, I’m old enough to remember the pachucos. I was born in 1940. So the pachucos were around when I was a kid, in the mid and late 40s. In Delano, where I was born and raised, there was a concentration of pachucos on the weekends. They’d come into Chinatown. One of them happened to be Billy Miranda, my older cousin, the oldest of the grandchildren. He was a pachuco by sixteen years old and had a running partner called CC. They used to hang out together, with CC’s brother Rookie.

CC later went to the Navy and came back. He was instrumental in desegregating the Delano theater. In those days Mexicans, Blacks, and Filipinos couldn’t sit in the orchestra section, we had to sit on the sides. Since he had been in the Navy, CC figured he would sit in the orchestra section, with his date, who later became his wife. The manager came and tried to get him to get up. When he didn’t get up, they called the police, and they took him away.

Everybody thought CC was in real trouble. But there was no law that said you couldn’t sit in the orchestra section. They had to release him and tried to intimidate him. Then, all his friends saw that he got away with it. The next weekend, everybody went to the movies and sat in the middle section. They desegregated the Delano Theater. I remember that. I saw that happen. And it happened because of a pachuco.

Years later, when I was on my way back to Delano, I was asked, “Are you going to go work with CC?” I was surprised, “CC? That guy’s still around?” They told me, “Don’t you know who CC is? He’s Cesar Chavez.” So, this pachuco that I knew as a kid became Cesar Chavez and his brother Rookie became Richard Chaves. I meet Cesar when I was six when he was a pachuco.

My cousin Billy did not survive the 50s. He was killed at the age of twenty-three, with seventeen knife wounds to the chest, in Phoenix, Arizona. He died a violent pachuco death, but he was a sweetheart. He wasn’t violent. He was quite the contrary, he was a gentleman. But in any case, when I wrote Zoot Suit , I dedicated it to the memory of my cousin Billy.

When I went to work with Cesar that’s the bond that we had in common, that Billy had been my cousin. And that I had known about Cesar when I was a little kid. So all of that connects right back to the pachuco.

Where did the pachuco culture originate?

They say it came from back east, in Georgia, and Harlem, before it came west. It passed through El Paso, and the zoot suiters picked up the name “El Pachuco”, out of el pachuco dejas which is El Paso, Texas.

In Los Angeles all the pachucos here we called Califas , until there was a big confrontation with the pachucos that were coming in on trains into LA, and settling in LA. The big confrontation led to them being called pachucos. This was about 1940/1941. It’s a story of Los Angeles. The pachuco experience is part of the history of LA and the whole country.

What impact did music have on pachuco culture?

There’s no way that you can really deal with the pachuco experience without the music. The music is what defined the zoot suit. It’s the jazz era. It’s the swing era. And so by the late 1930s, the zoot suit evolved in the dance halls.

The Mexican parents weren’t so much into swing music and jazz, as the pachucos were. They were they were Americans. They were Americanizing in this very special West Coast and L.A. kind of way. L.A. was launching a lot of the stars, like Benny Goodman and later Fats Domino. A lot of people came to L.A. because it was a population here, largely Chicano that was very receptive to their music, to rhythm and blues.

How did pachucos deal with the challenge of assimilating to American society, while maintaining their cultural identity?

There are different ways to be assimilated, but it’s a process of acculturation. To be acculturated means that you get used to the culture in a sense. You can be acculturated as an American, but remain Mexican, Filipino, or Japanese. You retain the original culture without diluting it, but you become fully American at the same time. That’s the experience of today. People didn’t feel that way back in the day. You are either American or you were an immigrant.

The fact is, the Chicanos were instrumental, the pachucos in particular, in establishing a new way to be in the United States. It’s a multicultural profile. They loved American music. They were bilingual. They spoke English and played with the language. The word zoot suit itself is one of those strange words that seems to have no source. So is the word pachuco. No one knows really where the word pachuco came from, or even some of the pachuco slang. Some of it came from Mexico City. It’s more of a multicultural appreciation of the world.

The Chicano pachucos were adapting and accepting African American culture. It was happening in L.A. For example, the whole growth of Protestantism among Mexican Americans is part of the same phenomenon. Its exposure to African American church traditions, particularly the Baptist Church. A lot of Mexicans became Baptists. What they were doing is acculturating to an African American reality.

This is part of the American process. One of the things that happen in this country is that all the cultures of the world get exposed to each other in a very direct and intimate way. So it’s no surprise that very young people begin to absorb cross-cultural influences, then adapt and create new identities. The pachuco experience was very much a part of that.

However, this did not include the original Chicanos, who were the immigrants that came from Mexico, to work in the fields, like Henry Leyvas’ parents. His father, Don Severino, had fought in the Mexican Revolution, with Pancho Villa. He was very proud of that and still talked about that. But, once he came to California, that was all over. He was a farmworker here and not a revolutionary. Dolores, the mother, was amazing. She was the mother of about a dozen children, who always stood her ground. So that was that other generation.

Social Unrest and the Zoot Suit Play:

With the storyline of the play intertwining the Sleepy Lagoon murder and the Zoot Suit Riots, how essential was it for the story to include both of those events?

In my original draft, I included the Japanese being taken away in the spring of 1942, which set up the atmosphere in LA that led to the Sleepy Lagoon case and the Zoot Suit Riots. It was this increase in racism and racist attacks on the West Coast, due to many things.

L.A. changed dramatically during World War II. It became a war production center. There were factories and jobs. So, people poured in. African Americans from the south poured into L.A. and Mexicans kept coming. A lot of them used it as an opportunity to get out of the fields and into factories, which was really important. Many of them were women. Rosie the Riveter was originally Rosita the Riveter, she was a Chicana from San Diego. But in any case, there was a lot of resentment from racists that didn’t like this change. That set up a real stew in Los Angeles.

The Sleepy Lagoon murder became the opening shot. After the Japanese were taken out, then the law turned off all their eyes and lenses onto the pachucos in the streets. They singled out the 38th Street gang, which was more of a boys’ club than a gang. It was a hangout for guys and girls. But the fact that this led to the sensational trial, about the death of a guy at the Sleepy Lagoon.

What was the Sleepy Lagoon murder?

The Sleepy Lagoon was an old reservoir outside of what was at the time the LA city limits. It’s now the City of Commerce. It was a reservoir out in the country. The Chicanos and Chicanas used to use it as a lover’s lane. The kids would swim there. That lead to gang fights over the place. Then, one night, a kid was left dead out there.

The law rounded up the whole 38th Street gang and blamed them for the death at the Sleepy Lagoon, which was all circumstantial. Nothing was proven.

How did the trial impact the 38th Street gang?

It was a mass trial. That’s racist to begin with because everyone’s entitled to an individual trial. Two of the twenty-four guys who were originally arrested demanded to have original trials. They were never part of the twenty-two that actually went on trial.

These young guys didn’t know what their rights were. So, they were all put on trial. Twelve were found guilty of first and second-degree murder. The twelve were sent to San Quentin. Four for life. It was ridiculous. They ended up spending two years in prison, while the Sleepy Lagoon appeal was happening. That eventually was successful. Between 1942 and 1944 they were released.

What were the Zoot Suit Riots?

In the summer of 1943, in L.A., Servicemen, sailors mostly, attacked pachucos, stripping their suits from their bodies, out in the streets, and left them naked and wounded.

How did the Sleepy Lagoon Murder and Zoot Suit Riots impact the L.A. community?

It left a psychic scar in LA. When the Zoot Suit play came out, the older people came to see it as a way of remembering that this had in fact happened and to heal. It’s a notorious part of LA history. In many ways, it’s the opening shot of the second half of the 20th century and the racism that followed, which led to the Chicano movement and to the civil rights movement. It’s an important case and they’re tied in together.

For the story, how essential was it to tell it through the pachuco perspective?

If I had written it from a psychologist’s point of view, or a cop’s point of view, I would have concentrated on the criminal element, which is what the stereotype does. So why condemn the pachucos for being human? Give them the full display of their potential and who they are.

How did meeting Henry Leyvas’ family influence the play?

I first met Alice McGrath, who was the secretary of the Sleepy Lagoon Defense Committee and later became the Alice in the play. I met her through Carey McWilliams, who was the Dean of American Sociologists. Alice then introduced me to Henry ’s family. I got to meet Henry’s mother, father, sisters, and brothers. His father was dying of cancer. I saw that it was a normal, good-looking family. But they were definitely Chicanos from East LA. As a result of that, my focus on the story became not just on Henry, but also on Henry and his family.

Were you able to speak with any of the young men involved?

When I initially set out to try to talk to the guys, none of them would talk to me. They didn’t want to talk about the case. But once I had written Zoot Suit and the play had been performed once, the guys started to come out of the woodwork. Before we had the film contract, I had an individual contract with all of them to tell their story. And finally, I negotiated the collective story of the 38 th Street gang.

How did audiences react to the Zoot Suit play?

A million people saw the play at the Mark Taper Forum in L.A. and then later in Hollywood at the Aquarius Theatre. Half a million people saw the play, at 1,200 people a night at the Aquarius theater. That went on for a year.

Zoot Suit is considered the first Chicano play on Broadway. How does that make you feel, to be able to break new ground into mainstream American theater?

I’m very proud of the fact that we finally got there. That a Chicano play made it to Broadway. There haven’t been too many Latino plays in general. We now have Hamilton , by Lin-Manuel Miranda, which is great. But the fact is Hamilton is about people of color playing white people. We need our stories to be on the stage, being played by ourselves.

One of the things that I’ve always felt in my work in the theater, is that Latinos should have arrived in New York in the 1930s, with everybody else. Like the unions, farmworkers should have been unionized in the 1930s with everyone else, but they weren’t. They and black people were excluded because of racism.

Black people in unions and in the theater had to wait for another twenty years before they got their dues. Raisin in the Sun was the first modern African American play to really break ground on Broadway. Lorraine Hansberry’s play started the whole African American cultural change, that lead to where it is today.

Twenty years after that, Zoot Suit arrived. It was finally the Latinos or the Mexican Americans making it to the great white way. But not without tremendous blockages, reactions, resistance on the part of critics, and even on the part of some of the general public from the Midwest, for instance, that weren’t ready for it. But it did break ground. I felt that and understood that politically because I’ve always been a community organizer.

But at the same time, as an American artist, I figured that we deserved a chance to have those doors open to us, especially from the West Coast. That’s still not happening to any great degree. It’s still a struggle that needs to be done. And as far as I’m concerned, the only way to do that is by standing up for our pride and standing up for our own history. Zoot Suit continues to do that.

The Zoot Suit Movie: What led to the decision to take Zoot Suit from the stage to the screen?

My original intention was to create Zoot Suit as a play. When there was an opportunity to go to New York we went there. After that, we turned our interest to make the film.

I had a concept for the film with special effects that never got made, because a $20 million movie was too much for a first-time director. I shopped it around to the studios, nobody would bite. I was told it can’t be done.

People tried to buy the rights to Zoot Suit . I was offered half a million dollars for the rights of the play. I decided that I wanted to retain the rights to write and direct Zoot Suit . Eventually, Ned Tannen, who was the president of Universal Studios, gave me a chance to film it.

With a 1.2-million-dollar budget. We had thirteen days to shoot the movie. We shot it at the Aquarius Theater. I shot Zoot Suit as a combination film as a play within the film, within a play. It was a concept that I thought would preserve the play, but at the same time, turn it into a movie. To bring it to a wider audience. After 40 years we’re still going.

How did you decide on which artist to use for the film’s soundtrack?

I had the music of Lalo Guerrero, who’s “The Godfather of Chicano Music”. Lalo had an orchestra in the 1940s. He wrote five of the numbers that are used in the play. I just incorporated them and use them to motivate the scenes, with his permission. It turns out that Lalo was my dad’s cousin.

While the major music numbers are Lalo’s, we also had incidental music that was sourced directly from original sources, like The Andrew Sisters. We incorporated other classics, like “Two o’clock Jump”.

Charlie Rogers, who worked with my brother Daniel on the music for the movie, also reorchestrated the musical numbers to include more than 40s sound. Even “Zoot Suit”, which is the key song in the opening is based on, “Oh Babe!” by Louis Prima. It has many roots, going way back into the period.

What led to the decision to have Henry as the main character of the story?

The newspapers pretty much blamed Henry, as the leader of the gang. He was sensational. If you look into his story there’s a lot of personal evidence to testify that he was in fact, the leader of this group. He was pretty intense. What amazes me, is that to this day is that you can see in photographs his composure. He was very cool under pressure and very defiant at the same time. The cops hated Henry.

How was Edward James Olmos chosen to play El Pachuco?

Eddie came to us through the audition process. He’d been acting but was a musician and rock and roll singer. He didn’t come to our audition deliberately but had other business at the Mark Taper Forum when we were having auditions.

My brother Daniel, saw Eddie in the halls and asked him, “Did you come to audition?” And Eddie replied, “For what?” After Daniel finally got him to audition, I saw him eventually, and we knew that he was perfect. He was the right face. That face was amazing.

Eddie was quite an actor. He could move, sing, and dance. It was a lucky accident that we found him. It was also a lucky accident for him because it was the start of his career as a movie star.

What does El Pachuco represent within Zoot Suit ?

He represents a consciousness. There has to be a point of view. Zoot Suit was being told from the point of view of the pachuco, who is larger than life. It’s symbolic, and not too many people know this, but he is a reincarnation of the Aztec god of street knowledge, Tezcatlipoca. And as the Mayans described him, the jaguar night sun. He’s the hero of the subconscious. He exists at night.

In the human brain, the night is the subconscious. And so El Pachuco’s the voice inside Henry’s head, who is guiding him to become cool, strong, resistant, proud, and to be himself. Every one of us had a superego. El Pachuco’s a super ego. He is the voice of higher consciousness in Henry’s head.

Henry’s experience as a 19/20-year-old in the play is that he’s going through the process of individuation, which we all do psychologically. As we become ourselves, as we become adults, we have to develop an internal authority. At first, we have parents, teachers, and priests. They become our authorities. We absorb those people and eventually develop an internal authority that speaks to us in our own minds. And that’s El Pachuco. He is the internal authority that is guiding Henry along to a higher consciousness. Eventually, he’s the narrator and the master of ceremonies. He is the raconteur of Zoot Suit . He is the spirit of pachuquismo.

Juveniles don’t rebel, just to rebel. They’re rebelling because that’s part of life. That’s one of the life principles. It’s the motive principle in life, to become a warrior when you’re young. That’s the warrior principle in youth, the pachuco.

What are the meanings behind the clothes of El Pachuco, a black zoot suit with a red shirt, a loincloth, and an all-white zoot suit?

When the Pachuco gets stripped, it’s down to the loincloth. That’s where you have the indigenous aspect. You can’t really strip an Indio. Take the clothes off and we’re down in our natural element.

Red and black are the colors of Tezcatlipoca. The way they represent that in an Aztec and Mayan culture, as in all the cultures in the world, is that red and black are the first colors that the human race ever identified. You see it in petroglyphs and in places around the world. The black and red ink is a sign of this elemental kind of consciousness of being alive and being conscious, which is what the pachuco represents.

White is the twin Quetzalcóatl. You have the magic twins in Aztec/Mayan culture, Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcóatl. If El Pachuco, in red and black is Tezcatlipoca, then El Pachuco in white is Quetzalcóatl. He’s the feathered serpent. He’s the other side. They’re like night and day. They match each other.

I wanted to show this dynamic in the film. When Henry gets out of prison, he is at a point of beginning again. So, when he meets El Pachuco, he’s in Quetzalcóatl white garb. Henry’s starting out again. But of course, his life doesn’t really change, so it goes back to black and red.

It’s the play of the two magic twins. If you want to know more about it, read Popol Vuh . Popol Vuh is one of the inspirations for this symbolism. It’s not just in my work, it’s in the work of Robert Rodriguez and a number of other playwrights that use this symbolism. We are all into pre-Columbian ideals.

Why was it important to have multiple possible endings for Henry?

My plays have always been about reality and the nature of reality. There isn’t just one reality. We’re talking about an ending, with no one definitive way to look at it. You can be negative. You can be positive. On the other hand, what it does is question the notion of reality. It has to be looked at it from different viewpoints. Remember, there were twelve guys that went to prison, but twenty-two guys that were in the gang were put on trial.

On the one hand, there were people that went back to prison. Henry went back to prison. He barely survived. On the other hand, others went back into the service, and others got educated. Some of the guys got married and had grandchildren. They were grandfathers when I met them. I wanted to emphasize that there were many ways to look at this.

Zoot Suit ’s Impact and Legacy:

How did American Latino filmmakers react to Zoot Suit ?

It influenced Chicano filmmakers. Unfortunately, they haven’t had the opportunities that they need in order to get their work seen. But there isn’t a single Chicano that hasn’t in some way acknowledged the importance of Zoot Suit .

Do any particular Chicano filmmakers come to mind?

Robert Rodriguez. He’s a good friend of mine. He’s tremendously successful, brilliant, and a great filmmaker. Robert’s been very respectful towards me. Inviting me to be on his network. I really appreciate that coming from a younger filmmaker these days.

What was the reaction to Zoot Suit from Mexican filmmakers?

Zoot Suit had a tremendous impact in Mexico. I was in Mexico when Zoot Suit came out in the early 1980s. A lot of the young filmmakers that have become famous in Hollywood saw it and were inspired by it, as well as some of the older filmmakers.

Which Mexican filmmakers enjoyed Zoot Suit ?

As a matter of fact, I learned that Emilio “El Indio” Fernandez really enjoyed Zoot Suit . When I was making La Bamba I wanted Emilio to be in my movie. He was at the end of his career. Emilio was a movie star and a tremendous director in the 1940s. He’s an icon and also the actor that the Oscar statue was designed after.

When I was casting La Bamba , I figured that I’d offer Emilio a cameo. He was interested in doing it. Unfortunately, he had an accident that eventually led to his death. He wasn’t going to be able to make the movie.

Gabriel Figueroa, the great cinematographer also liked the movie. So did the young filmmakers like Emmanuel Lubezki, an award-winning cinematographer. He’s a genius and a great cinematographer. Also Guillermo Navarro, a cinematographer who I work with, Alfonso Cuarón, and Guillermo del Toro. I met them all when they were just starting out in their careers.

Zoot Suit was on everybody’s mind at the time. It was an inspiration for Mexico, to a whole generation. They carried their own careers and talents to new heights in Hollywood, which I’m very happy to see.

How does it feel to have Zoot Suit recently celebrate its 40 th anniversary?

Well, 40 years is a long time. But Hollywood is really only a little more than 100 years old. Certainly, the studio system that we all know started about 1918, 1919, 1920. Chaplin was filming in the nineteens but got going in the twenties. So to have a film that’s 40 years old, in that context, is very special to me.

I can see how in other films that as they get older, you can see this dating process that happens. That inevitably, I suppose will happen to Zoot Suit and La Bamba . But they seem to be surviving well thus far. My style has always been to cook a chicken in its own juices. It’s contained within its own reality. And Zoot Suit doesn’t look at the outside world, it’s looking within, at the Aquarius theatre. That reality will always be its referential reality. That will keep it fresh.

It’s an honor. I have three films in the National Film Registry, which is unusual. One is I am Joaquin , my first film, is a 22-minute short film based on the Corky Gonzales poem “I am Joaquin”. We did this as a slideshow with El Teatro Campesino. That came out in 1970. We created it in 1969. I learned the rudimentary aspects of filmmaking. Then Zoot Suit was inducted. Then La Bamba .

It’s important to leave markers. These are like steps on a ladder to be inspired to climb higher.

The one thing that is lovely about film, is it’s forever. You film it and there it is. I’m happy to say that my films seemed to find new fans in each new generation. Even if they weren’t born when the film was created, they can still relate to it. And that’s one of the wonderful things about film.

La Bamba celebrated its 40 th anniversary this year. What do you see in the film that has contributed to its continuing popularity?

La Bamba is a story between two brothers. A Cain and Abel story. It’s really the story of the magic twins. What really keeps it fresh is rock and roll. Ritchie’s music had a wonderful quality. It’s like the swing music in the pachuco era. There’s something universal about music and something eternal about music that when it becomes a hit, it’s because there are some really cosmic vibes in it.

The importance of storytelling and activism:

Why was it important for you to write about the Mexican American and Chicano experience as a form of activism?

Because it hadn’t been dealt with at all. I went to American schools and there was nothing really of Mexican history whatsoever. California history was reduced down to one of the missions you went to visit in fourth grade. Beyond that, there was really nothing, no information whatsoever, no heroes, nothing you could relate to.

I was interested in the theater, I loved the theater, and I enjoyed reading about other people’s cultures and other people’s heroes. There weren’t too many African American, or Asian heroes either. They were all Europeans and or white people.

So I figured, I can help by filling up a gap. I also found that our culture was very rich. It was laying there, all over the place. Nobody was using it. It’s like finding gold scattered all over the ground. I figured, “Oh my God. Let me just tap into our culture and tell the story that I know.” That became the source of my material.

How essential is storytelling in our modern world?

We need storytellers. We need people to continue to retell the human story in a way that includes more people. That’s more fair and honest about other people, about all of us. We need to be able to speak across lines. There are a lot of lines that have been crossed in our time and more will become be crossed as we go, such as gender lines, racial lines, and cultural lines. It’s not just a binary reality anymore.

What do you see as a major challenge that arises from racism?

Racism is an all-enveloping condition. It’s there in human beings and manifests in our social interchanges. It’s there in the laws that people concocted to this day about voting and other things. We’re always going to be wrestling with the whole idea of the other. It’s the tribal consciousness that exists in human beings. We have a long way to go.

How do you see the growth of multiculturalism impacting America?

I think as Americans, we have to be conscious of this, that what Mexico represents is not just a race. We call ourselves La Raza (Spanish for the people). But we’re far from a single Raza (Spanish for race).

To begin with, we had so many tribes with more diverse languages than most places on earth, right within the confines of so-called Mexico. The melting pot started between those tribes, but also with Europeans and all the peoples of the world, from Africa and Asia. What you got is the beginning of a new kind of meld in the human race. Its people still using old terms to try to define us.

That process is overtaking the United States as well. We’re bringing down barriers to racism in this country from intermarrying. Their kids are going to be multiracial and their kids are going to be multicultural, whether people like it or not. God bless them. Multiculturalism is part of the America of human sophistication. The more cultures that we can appreciate and understand, the more sophisticated we are. And ultimately, the better human beings we become.

In that sense, the process that has been in Mexico for the last 500 years, is influencing what’s happening here in the United States. That’s why a lot of people are trying to freeze the border and close it off. Not because they fear Mexicans. It’s because they fear the melting pot that’s happening. They want to keep a position of privilege for themselves. What they don’t realize is that the privilege of the future is the privilege to be part of the human race, the whole human race, not just one segment of it. That will be the power, the brilliance, and the genius of new Americans as they begin to evolve.

We should be aware of the whole world, about every aspect of the human race, cultures, and history of Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Americas. But there isn’t enough information out there about the native peoples in this part of the hemisphere. We have a long way to go.

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'ZOOT SUIT,' FILMED FROM THE STAGE

By Vincent Canby

Jan. 22, 1982

''ZOOT SUIT,'' which opens today at the Criterion 2 and other theaters, is a holy mess of a movie, full of earnest, serious intentions and virtually no achievements. Its source material, like that of the 1979 Brodway and Los Angeles stage productions on which it is based, is the 1942 Los Angeles trial of a group of young Mexican-Americans, or Chicanos, for the murder of a rival gang member.

The trial, before a court so outrageously biased that the conviction was subsequently overturned, summed up the bigotry directed against the Mexican-American community at a time when the rest of America was off making the world safe for democracy. The film is awash in irony, but it's a lot of hollandaise sauce on a very small piece of broccoli.

''Zoot Suit'' was directed by Luis Valdez, who also conceived and dir ected the original stage production at the Aquarius Theater in LosAngeles, and it is an amalgam of various thea trical styles, none of which works very well on the screen.

At its center is the story of Henry Reynal (Daniel Valdez), an idealized, none-too-young-looking Chicano youth. Henry is the leader of the gang being railroaded to San Quentin, largely, according to the movie, because of the inflammatory newspaper stories ordered by the press lord at San Simeon. Hovering around poor Henry and acting, more or less, as the film's master of ceremonies, is Henry's demonic, zoot-suited alter ego, el Pachuco (Edward James Olmos), who represents - I think - all of the fury inside Henry as well as the vestiges of an outdated machismo.

Because the story is so simple that it probably wouldn't take more than 30 minutes if told straightforwardly from beginning to end, the movie, like the stage production, is fancied up with flashbacks, flashes forward, musical numbers and theatrical tableaux of the sort that Hal Prince does far better in ''Evita,'' and which are risky no matter who does them.

The movie, photographed entirely on the stage, in the aisles and just outside the Aquarius, opens with shots of people arriving at the theater to see the show and then, from time to time in the course of the presentation, cuts to more shots of the audience that is supposedly watching the performance of ''Zoot Suit'' that we are seeing. Just so we get the point of this fractured reality, el Pachuco cautions us that the story ''only makes sense if you grasp our stylization.'' We do, we do, but that's not enough.

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Review by Robert Cettl

Zoot suit 1981.

21 Jun 2012

Robert Cettl’s review published on Letterboxd:

In Los Angeles in the 1940s, the Sleepy Lagoon murder case and the subsequent wrongful imprisonment of a number of Hispanic Americans galvanized the emerging “Chicano” community resulting in an anarchic outcry known as the “zoot suit riots”. It was a seminal, almost defining event in Chicano life, and it is appropriate that Luis Valdez’ play and film based on the incident, Zoot Suit, be considered a vital demonstration of Hispanic-American empowerment through cultural celebration. The play itself was indeed the first play by a Chicano playwright to be produced on Broadway. That success and the generally positive reaction that greeted Valdez’ screen version of his own theatrical work cemented Valdez as perhaps the most important defining figure in a still emerging Chicano cultural movement in theatre and film. Valdez’ involvement in this sub- culture runs through its modern history, starting in the 1960s with his involvement in the much-celebrated El Teatro Campesino which toured not only the USA but Europe as well. Valdez’ body of theatrical works however has yet to receive what many consider their due attention. Indeed, he remains perhaps best known for two films, Zoot Suit and the Ritchie Valens biopic, La Bamba, which was a popular hit and proved another cultural rallying cry.

Zoot Suit is based on the Sleepy Lagoon murder case of 1942. It is set in a time when Chicano culture was beginning to find its own forms of expression, as symbolized in the rebellious fashion of the so-called zoot suit. A young Hispanic man (Daniel Valdez) and his gang are out celebrating when they are arrested for the murder of a man. Valdez, now in prison awaiting trial, remembers his youth and the events that led up to his arrest. Through it all, his alter ego / conscience / idealized self, personified in the form of Edward James Olmos (in the role that virtually launched his career) talks to him and maintains his sense of pride and ethno-cultural identity. A Jewish activist (Tyne Daly) and a lawyer (Charles Aidman) work diligently on the case, believing that in the long run, justice will prevail. Soon, Valdez starts to bond more with Daly and in the process set aside the stubborn Latin pride represented by Olmos. However when the case gets to trial, such aspirations are slowly eroded as it seems clear that the judge is prejudiced against the accused group and that they are intended to be scapegoats, to prove a higher cultural lesson. When the eventual guilty decision is handed down, the race riots begin, with the two activists believing that the case will be reversed on appeal.

The film of Zoot Suit recreates the stage play with additional cinematic tricks, although Valdez is always careful to maintain an air of stylized theatricality, and the film rarely moves from a stage feel. It is primarily about the origins of Chicano cultural identity and what seemed like an official attempt by the powers-that-be to repress it. Fear of cultural otherness thus runs through this movie. The zoot-suit itself is an integral statement, an expression of a new identity of Hispanic America, the Chicano (and embracing rather than flinching from the connotations of that abused term). Likewise, a Chicano culture is in formation – of social, moral and artistic codes – although suffering from the scourge of youth gangs, which are used as an excuse for the authorities to practice prejudicial treatment of the emerging minority subculture. Ironically during the war, much of the press considers this emergent minority to be an enemy threat from within (an aspect which Valdez mentions forcefully) and Valdez ably depicts an America intent on the repression of minority subcultures, for fear of ethnicity and multiculturalism (even though this may be at odds with the immigrant spirit that founded the nation). It is as though the strength of Chicano identity and cultural formation was resented and punished by American authority at this time in history. As socio-cultural statement thus, Zoot Suit is invaluable.

Yet there is more to the film than the desire for cultural identity as it explores this dilemma on a personal, private level in the Daniel Valdez character’s own sense of himself as Chicano. Indeed, much of the film’s success is in the delicate psychological balance between Valdez and Olmos. Olmos represents Valdez’s ideal Chicano self, the cynical, super cool, proud gangster. Yet he also represents the almost self-defeating aspect of Chicano machismo pride. As respected an outlook as he embodies, the time of such fiercely proud cultural identity is waning and Valdez is faced with a more realistic prospect – that of cultural integration, how to maintain cultural pride and identity within a greater cultural context. The idealized Chicano hood arguably thus represents an important first phase in the cultural development of a subculture and the key to Valdez’s growth as a character is his realization of the potential limits of the surrender to what seems a monstrous, although not entirely out of place, Chicano pride. Thus, he gradually must set aside Olmos in order to co-operate with Daly, whose activism represents a potential alternative future to the prejudice that only validates the pride and isolation that could doom these young men. Stubbornness is perhaps the curse of the young Chicano, and the quality of cultural defiance most resented by the unseen American majority whose interests are supposedly represented by the press and justice system. The film thus both celebrates the idealized Chicano persona at this time in history and infers the necessity to transcend it. Cultural validation seems to be the dominant agenda here, but it is not uncritical.

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Blu-Ray Review: Kino Lorber’s Zoot Suit (KL Studio Classics)

Luis Valdez’s Zoot Suit is as searing an indictment of systematic racism as it was when it was released in 1981. Kino Lorber has given the Neo-Classic a new transfer and extras .

Let’s be honest… Lin Manuel Miranda saw and owes a lot to Luis Valdez and Zoot Suit . Watching what Luis Valdez had done turning his powerful Musical hit into a similarly fashioned experience for movie theaters. Zoot Suit feels like the blueprint used by Miranda who touted an\ “all-new experience” for what became Hamilton – The Movie (on Disney+).

El Pachuco (Edward James Olmos) is our guide of sorts for the journey we will take with Henry (Daniel Valdez) and his friends. Like any other young man, Henry is recklessly enthusiastic about the life before him. Though unlike someone like Danny from Grease or Jim from Rebel Without a Cause , Henry is Mexican and a Zoot Suiter/Pachuco. This brings troubles in all its forms and doubly so with Law Enforcement (I mean those cops let Danny and Jim get away with literal murder so they have to find another target). As Henry and his friends are indicted for the Sleepy Lagoon murders it is apparent to everyone except them they will do time. Prison time is exactly what they do, even with the testimony exonerating them from the murder they’ve been accused of. No matter to judge and jury who dole out their sentencing with barely a wave. It is in prison that Henry comes face to face with the system that placed him there and the inner turmoil of his soul.

The Sleepy Lagoon Murders. The Zoot Suit Uprising. These are moments for the Latino population of Los Angeles that are things of nightmarish legend. Latinos singled out by the media, police, and white Americans systematically abused in every way. Zoot Suit shows these events and the treatment of Latino Youths. Though not some sort of balancing the scales but a view of how Latinos were and still are currently abused by the system.

Part of the power of Zoot Suit is how simply Valdez and Company show with clarity how these young men are no different than other young men of their age. They’re horny, they’re reckless, they’re good kids that happen to find themselves in some trouble. Good kids singled out because of a system and population that fears them through ignorance. Valdez’s film shows not only

Not some polemic message movie, Zoot Suit is as thrilling and entertaining a movie musical as put on screen. One that is as sharp and searing as the day it was released more than four decades ago.

The Transfer

Kino Lorber has gotten a beautiful transfer for this Blu-Ray release. The handsome and sharp image’s colors pop off the screen. The stage-bound film’s extreme use of lighting and gels is beautifully reproduced here. Zoot Suit has never looked better on home video than it does here.

They include the following;

Audio Commentary by Filmmaker/Historian Daniel Kremer
Interview with Writer/Director Luis Valdez
Theatrical Trailer (Newly Mastered in 2K)

The all-new audio commentary by Filmmaker/Historian Daniel Kremer begins with discussing the vintage Universal Logo and being upfront that he “loves” this film and calls it one of the best musicals of the era (this reviewer considers this to be accurate). He also considers this (and Cutter’s Way ) the best film of 1981. Some of the details include the unconventional manner in which they filmed the film, the choreography of Patricia Birch (who’s known for her theatrical and stage choreography of Grease ), musicals at Universal at the time (there were a lot), the differences between the stage and movie adaptation, Olmos account of the development of what would eventually become Zoot Suit (it was initially called BABY ZOOTER ), the stage play and how it went from LA to Broadway because of its success, Broadway opening, the structure of the musical and music, the personal and professional history of writer/director Luis Valdez, the historical figures and their parallels in the stage play, Henry Leyva who was at the center of the Sleepy Lagoon murders, various pieces of Latino culture that is imbued into the dialog and music of the stage play, a history of Zoot Suit culture, the personal and professional history of actor Edward James Olmos, and much more. Kremer does a great job at giving us a detailed informational and entertaining commentary track.

Raconteur with Luis Valdez (15:47) – the all-new interview with the writer/director Luis Valdez begins with an explanation of the character Pachuco (Edward James Olmos) and his purpose in the story. Some of the details include a definition of what a Zoot Suit was and the fad, what a “Pachuco” was, a historical account of the Sleepy Lagoon murders, the trail that ensued, the Zoot Suit uprising and Chavez Ravine, and the stripping of the Pachucos, the racial aftereffects in LA, how his theatrical work and working with Caesar Chavez, how he eventually developed the play, the massive success of the play, and eventually the movie Zoot Suit , and much more. The 81-year-old Valdez is as sharp and adroit entertaining interviewee as directors half his age.

Rounding out the special features are trailers for Zoot Suit (Newly Mastered in 2K) [2:17], The Milagro Beanfield War (1:23), Get Crazy (1:32)

The Final Thought

Zoot Suit is a truly great piece of cinema that deserves to be rediscovered. Highest Possible Recommendations!!!

Kino Lorber’s Blu-Ray Edition of Zoot Suit is out now

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1 hr 43 mins
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Luis Valdez tailored his play about a 1942 murder trial involving Chicanos. Daniel Valdez, Edward James Olmos, Charles Aidman, Tyne Daly. Judge: John Anderson.

This is the film adaptation of the play "Zoot Suit," based on the real-life Sleepy Lagoon case in Los Angeles, in which several Hispanics were sent to jail in 1942 on trumped-up murder charges. Attempts were made to free the group but to no avail. Valdez, who adapted his play for the screen, keeps the story and the camera moving nicely. Shot in 11 days on a tiny budget of $2.5 million, the film showcases the talents of several Hispanic-American actors, including future "Miami Vice" star Olmos.

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Genre	Musicals & Performing Arts/Musicals, Drama
Format	Multiple Formats, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, NTSC, Widescreen, Subtitled
Contributor	Edward James Olmos, Abel Franco, Tyne Daly, Charles Aidman, Tony Plana, Kurtwood Smith, Luis Valdez, Daniel Valdez, John Anderson, Peter Burrell
Initial release date	2015-09-01
Language	English

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Product Description

Part fascinating fact, part dazzling fiction, Zoot Suit is the blistering film adaptation of playwright Luis Valdez' critically acclaimed stage drama based on the "zoot suit riots" that rocked 1940s Los Angeles. When barrio leader Henry Reyna (Daniel Valdez) and a group of his friends are unjustly convicted on circumstantial evidence and sent to San Quentin, activist lawyers Alice Bloomfield (Tyne Daly) and George Shearer (Charles Aidman) fight the blatant racially motivated miscarriage of justice to win Henry and his friends their freedom. Featuring Edward James Olmos (as the mythical "Pachuco") in the role that catapulted him to stardom, Zoot Suit is a scorchingly searing and seductively provocative work that skillfully blends action, drama, romance and music!

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Product details

Aspect Ratio ‏ : ‎ 1.85:1
Is Discontinued By Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ No
MPAA rating ‏ : ‎ R (Restricted)
Product Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 0.7 x 7.5 x 5.4 inches; 2.47 ounces
Item model number ‏ : ‎ 2219932
Director ‏ : ‎ Luis Valdez
Media Format ‏ : ‎ Multiple Formats, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, NTSC, Widescreen, Subtitled
Run time ‏ : ‎ 1 hour and 44 minutes
Release date ‏ : ‎ September 1, 2015
Actors ‏ : ‎ Edward James Olmos, Tyne Daly, Charles Aidman, Daniel Valdez, John Anderson
Subtitles: ‏ : ‎ Spanish, French
Producers ‏ : ‎ Peter Burrell
Language ‏ : ‎ English (Dolby Digital 2.0)
Studio ‏ : ‎ Universal Pictures Home Entertainment
ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00007J5VO
Writers ‏ : ‎ Luis Valdez
Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 1
#413 in Musicals (Movies & TV)
#5,444 in Drama DVDs

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Zoot suit: How the bold look made history and continues to influence fashion

An illustration of three men and two women wearing zoot suits from different eras.

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A suit lands in the United States on the back of an exiled king. It is copied, amended and upgraded, embraced by Hollywood actors in search of the fashionable. As it travels the country in the late 1930s, the coats grow longer, the pants more voluminous and the waists ever more cinched. It is adopted by bandleaders and jazz musicians who add bold ties in colorful prints.

The zoot suit, colloquially known in its era as “drapes,” was, by most accounts, made prominent by African Americans in Harlem and then quickly embraced by working-class youths across the country and across racial lines — in California, by Mexican Americans, Filipinos and a small subset of Japanese Americans who took their suits with them to World War II-era incarceration camps. Since then, it has been periodically reborn through revivals — like one in the late 1970s when Edward James Olmos donned a sleek black suit in Luis Valdez’s “Zoot Suit,” the trenchant, musical play turned Hollywood film.

“It is considered the first uniquely American suit,” says Clarissa Esguerra, a curator of costume and textiles at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (which acquired a rare 1940s zoot suit for its permanent collection in 2011). Within the zoot suit, you’ll find a uniquely American story of style. You’ll also find a story about the ways in which Black and brown youths are criminalized for the looks they adopt.

LACMA prepares a mannequin with a zoot suit

This month marks the 80th anniversary of the Zoot Suit Riots, the five-day period in June 1943 when servicemen stalked the streets of Los Angeles attacking Mexican American zoot suiters. The police largely looked on; when they did make arrests, it was primarily the victims. The Los Angeles Herald-Express ran a story on how to “de-zoot” a zoot suiter: “Grab a zooter. Take off his pants and frock coat and tear them up or burn them.”

A woman kneels beside a man lying on the ground; a policeman looks on.

Where and how the Zoot Suit Riots swept across L.A.

There were other episodes of violent upheaval over the summer of 1943 — including race riots in Detroit and New York. But only in L.A., writes historian Kathy Peiss in her informative 2011 book, “ Zoot Suit: The Enigmatic Career of an Extreme Style ,” “did a style of dress become the focal point of unrest or figure prominently in the response.”

It has been almost a century since the earliest (and much more modest) versions of the zoot suit began to emerge in urban centers across the United States. Yet the suit is with us still — employed as a formal garment for weddings and proms, as stage attire for pop acts and even as inspiration for high fashion. Have a look at Fresno-born, New York-based designer Willy Chavarria’s 2023 spring menswear collection and you will find echoes of the exaggerated contours of the zoot suit in his work: broad shoulders, tight waist and generous pants.

“For me, it’s a timeless silhouette,” says stylist and designer Keyla Marquez , founder of the L.A.-based Lujo Depot , which rents wardrobe for fashion and music video shoots. Marquez, who also serves as fashion director at large for The Times’ Image magazine, recently teamed with eight other designers to create updated versions of the suit. “It’s never gone out of style,” she says.

Three side-by-side pictures show women in zoot suit-style ensembles in pink pin stripe, raw denim and bright orange.

The suit, says Pilar Tompkins Rivas , was and remains a “cultural affirmation” among Mexican Americans. Now the chief curator at the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, Tompkins Rivas organized “Tastemakers & Earthshakers: Notes From Los Angeles Youth Culture” at the Vincent Price Art Museum at East Los Angeles College in 2016, a show that examined the aesthetics of Chicano youth culture. “It’s a way of saying we can develop our own sense of style apart from hegemonic Anglo society.”

It’s a style she knows intimately — her maternal grandparents rocked the look. “Some of my most precious family photographs are of them when they were 18 with their drapes and their pompadours.”

For its wearers — most frequently, Black and brown men — the zoot suit also represented “a freedom over the body,” says Jillian Hernandez, author of “Aesthetics of Excess: The Art and Politics of Black and Latina Embodiment.” “If you think about braceros or the descendants of enslaved African Americans ... they were seen as workers. When you wear this garment, it’s saying, I’m valuable, I’m more than a worker, I value my body.”

A woman wearing a 1940s hairdo and a bright yellow suit is seen in reflection next to a man wearing a dapper tie and hat

The origin story of the zoot suit is one of a few facts and a whole lot of lore.

What we do know is that its vital precursor emerged in the 1930s: a style known as the “English drape” — a men’s suit that was less restrictive and offered a bit more panache than other early 20th century styles. The cut featured boxy shoulders and roomier arm holes, as well as a loose, high-waisted pant that flared at the knee and was cuffed at the ankle. The design, Peiss writes, “emphasized male athleticism and virility.” The looser pant created a drape around the legs, which is how the suit (and later the zoot suit) got its moniker.

The English drape was a favorite of the Duke of Windsor , briefly Edward VIII, who abdicated the British throne to marry Wallis Simpson in 1936. The duke was a dandyish dresser who was much in the press in those days. “Many of the more daring of our Americans studied his garments before seeing their tailors,” wrote Julius J. Adams of the New York Amsterdam News, a Black weekly, just days before the Zoot Suit Riots began in Los Angeles. The story ran under the headline: “Who was First Zoot-Suiter? Was it the Duke of Windsor?”

A historic photo shows the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and Duke and Duchess of Windsor.

The drape suit was popularized by Hollywood actors, on screen and off. Cary Grant, Fred Astaire and Clark Gable wore it, and James Cagney turned it into de rigueur gangster wear.

The leap from drape to zoot wasn’t large. Exaggerate the proportions and zoot-iness will be achieved. How exactly that happened, however, is up for debate. As Peiss notes in her book, tailors around the country have, over the decades, laid claim to the design.

After the 1943 riots, the New York Times ran a story that purported to track the first ever zoot suit to a busboy in Gainesville, Ga. The report said that the style may have been inspired by the long frock coats worn by Gable in “Gone With the Wind,” which was released in 1939 — a theory echoed, at one point, by bandleader Cab Calloway , who was famous for his flamboyant drapes. But Howard Fox , a Chicago clothier and big band trumpeter who claimed credit for devising and naming the suit, once said that it was a style that “came right off the street and out of the ghetto.”

The zoot suit was likely more an evolution than a wholesale invention. Early versions featured a more modestly scaled jacket that landed just below the derrière — like one worn by a teenage Malcolm X . Later examples, known as “extreme drapes,” had long coats that hit the knee and trousers so baggy they could be confused for harem pants.

Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable on the set of 'Gone With the Wind',

Whatever its exact journey, the suit spread like wildfire among hepcats who were into jitterbug and swing. (Zoot suits take on a conspicuous dynamism when the wearer dances.) Duke Ellington featured a skit about zoot suits in a musical review that played at the Mayan in downtown Los Angeles in the spring of 1941. Calloway appeared in a billowing white zoot suit in the hit 1943 movie musical “Stormy Weather.”

The untold story of the Zoot Suit riots: How Black L.A. defended Mexican Americans

In the Southwest, the tacuche , as the suit was dubbed in Spanish, developed a devoted following among Mexican Americans, in particular among pachucos , urban youths who were interested in jazz and used a slang dialect known as caló . (Over the decades, media reports have conflated gangsterism and pachuquismo. To be clear: Not all pachucos were gang members, nor did all gang members dress like pachucos. And countless Mexican Americans who did not identify as pachucos adopted aspects of the style.)

But the tacuche did make a statement. The suit emerged as a phenomenon in the wake of the mass deportations of Mexicans during the Great Depression and at a time when the Mexican presence within the U.S. was growing increasingly urban. “The zoot suit was a very conspicuous look,” says Catherine S. Ramirez, author of “The Woman in the Zoot Suit: Gender, Nationalism, and the Cultural Politics of Memory.” “This was at a time when Mexicans and people of Mexican descent were not supposed to be seen. ... And for young people to stand on the street corner and announce their presence, this was a big deal.”

A mannequin dons a flamboyant pale yellow zoot suit with horizontal stripes and a burgundy shirt and tie.

Over the course of her career, conceptual artist Sandra de la Loza has made work that examines underexplored L.A. histories, including a recent piece inspired by the Lincoln Heights Jail, where many zoot suiters were held during the riots (now on view at the Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans ). Both of the artist’s parents were pachucos in the 1940s, and she notes that the era was one of “intense Americanization,” when “you didn’t speak Spanish and you’d get punished if you looked a certain way.”

Pachuca fashion frequently consisted of an exaggerated version of ’40s era women’s styles that included pencil skirts and a broad-shouldered “fingertip” jacket (the sleeves went down to the fingers) whose cut evoked the dimensions of the zoot coat. Dark lipstick and bouffant hairdos completed the look. But some pachucas (including De la Loza’s mother, Hilda) also wore the men’s garb, such as the billowing pants — at a time when a woman in slacks was still considered outré.

As with any look, young people generally gravitated to it not because it made a grand political statement, but because they thought it was cool. Ramirez interviewed a number of women who donned pachuca styles in the ’40s for her book. When asked why, the answer was simple: “I didn’t want to be square.”

A historic photo shows a woman wearing 1940s drape pants that flare at the knee with a button-down blouse.

Naturally, its boldness and popularity made the zoot suit a target. Many parents hated the look. De la Loza remembers an anecdote about her grandmother burning one of her mother’s suits. As part of its coverage of the riots, The Times featured a photo of an “irate mother” tearing her son’s suit to shreds. Some dance halls established rules that coat sleeves should not extend beyond the fingertips and pants should not be too tightly pegged at the ankle. And, of course, there was the federal government.

In 1942, the War Production Board (WPB), the agency that regulated the production of goods during World War II, issued limits on the amount of wool that could be used in the fabrication of suits. Zoot suits were held up as symbols of profligacy. “Every boy or girl who buys such a garment and every person who sells it,” the head of the WPB stated, “is really doing an unpatriotic deed.”

The Zoot Suit Riots Cruise brings back ‘a forgotten era’

If at first the public attitude toward the suit had been one of bemusement, by the summer of 1943 it was being treated as a menace, Peiss writes, especially in L.A., where baseless rumors painted pachucos as gangsters and rapists.

When the riots exploded, city leaders got busy further vilifying the zoot suit. The Times labeled them “freak suits,” and the City Council passed a resolution banning the garment. In the meantime, the object of much of the violence was Mexican youth — whether wearing zoot suits or not. The suit was simply a convenient excuse.

A mannequin sports a blue zoot suit and a wide-brim hat, as well as a tie bearing an image of a zoot suiter.

If the intent of the sailors who took to the streets of L.A. in June 1943 had been to rid the world of zoot suits, their actions were futile.

Coverage of the riots led to coverage of the style. There was sneering condescension, of course, but there were also some honest attempts to track the roots of the look. The New Yorker featured a chatty “Talk of the Town” dispatch about Harlem tailors known for crafting extreme drapes. (They found the tailors after calling on Black journalists at the Amsterdam News.) And the suit, already popular in the borderland areas around cities like El Paso , began to gain popularity internationally.

Mexican performers such as Tin Tan (Germán Valdés) , who hailed from Ciudad Juárez , opposite El Paso, became known for playing a pachuco in films such as “El hijo desobediente” (The Disobedient Son), released in 1945. His character dresses in a flamboyant zoot suit — complete with feathered hat — and uses slang drawn from caló .

In Mexico City, dance halls began catering to a clientele that donned pachuco styles — one of which, the Salón Los Ángeles , operates to this day.

A historic photo shows a group of actors, including Edward James Olmos, dressed as pachucos in zoot suits on stage

By the 1950s, the zoot suit began to fade, but echoes of the style remained.

Daniel James Cole, a historian who teaches at New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology and co-wrote the 2015 book “The History of Modern Fashion: From 1850,” notes that the 1950s, in some ways, saw a return to prewar trends, including trimmer suits without embellishments such as cuffs. But he says that a certain flamboyance redolent of the drape suit — and, by extension, the zoot suit — lingered.

The postwar “Bold Look” promoted by Esquire magazine in the spring of 1948 features a man with a boldly printed tie; pinstripes and double breasted cuts likewise remained. “You frequently saw men wearing boutonnieres with business suits and wide brim hats and their wide rayon ties,” says Cole, “and there’s this dapperness.”

More literal reverberations of the drape cut have also reappeared through the years in the form of fashions such as pegged pants. Artist John M. Valadez , who came of age in Boyle Heights in the 1950s and ’60s, says that even after the zoot suit had disappeared, “the pants were still a thing.”

By exploring L.A.’s racial injustice, Luis Valdez’s ‘Zoot Suit’ gave birth to Chicano theater

In the late 1970s, he made a series of photographic portraits of Chicano youths during a residency at the Centro de Arte Publico in Highland Park, and the images frequently capture young men donning some version of pleated pants that drape around the knee. “It was about the ironing and the pleats,” he remembers, accompanied by bleached and starched T-shirts that were “ ultra -white.”

De la Loza, who was part of the underground punk scene in the late 1980s, remembers wearing similar pants as part of her look. “I would wear men’s style shoes — wing tips — with baggy pants ... and then wear a tight top, like a halter top.” Like the evolution of the zoot suit, it marked a way of taking a trend and bending it to a specific social context. “We can take mass-produced clothing that is produced for certain intentions,” she says, “and then appropriate it and play with it as an act of gender defiance.”

1970s photos show dapper couple (he wears a sweater vest and fedora) and a skinny teen in pants that flare at the knee

Over the decades, the zoot suit itself has made regular reappearances.

The premiere of “Zoot Suit” at the Mark Taper Forum in 1978, followed by the release of the film three years later, sparked a renewed interest in the suit — and reframed it within the greater popular culture as an object not of menace, but of cultural pride. (It didn’t hurt to have the relentlessly cool Olmos slinking around the stage striking choreographic poses in a stylish black tacuche and cherry red shirt.)

Musicians in search of flair have also found ways of keeping it alive. Mick Jones of the British rock act the Clash wore a purple zoot suit on stage during one of the band’s earliest U.S. television appearances in 1980. The swing revival of the ’90s — which saw the rise of bands such as Big Bad Voodoo Daddy and the Cherry Poppin’ Daddies — also kept the suit in view. Lead singer Roco Pachukote of the Mexico City rock band Maldita Vecindad has long worn zoot suits on stage, as has Kid Creole of Kid Creole and the Coconuts. In fact, one of Kid Creole’s suits — a bright coral one — is now in the collection of New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art .

Early in May, I headed to El Pachuco in Fullerton, a boutique and custom tailor shop where the zoot set have been getting their duds since 1978. The shop was founded by Phyllis Estrella, who was inspired by the style after catching a production of “Zoot Suit” at the Music Center. Since then, her boutique has produced suits for musicians (including Pachukote and Kid Creole) and worked on fabrication of the costumes for the revival of “Zoot Suit” staged at the Taper in 2017.

A woman in a 1940s hairdo and yellow shirt fits a teenager in a red zoot suit inside a tailor shop.

On the morning I land, the shop is being minded by Estrella’s daughter-in-law, Vanessa Estrella, who is busy fitting Adriana Olivas, a young woman from Colorado who is getting a custom suit made in emerald green fabric. The cuts of the shop’s suits honor the extreme drape look of the ’40s, Estrella says, but over the years colors and fabrics have evolved. In the past, suits were made with wool, which is heavy and expensive; these days, lighter poly blends are the fabric of choice.

What may have seemed a highly niche business has proved a long-lasting one thanks to the zoot suit’s staying power — aided and abetted by social media. (El Pachuco has even shipped outfits to Vietnam.)

Olivas, 26, says she is the fourth generation in her family to wear the suit. In the ’40s, her great-grandfather took to wearing a zoot suit as an act of solidarity after hearing about the Zoot Suit Riots — and he wore it the rest of his life. (“He was the No. 1 pachuco of Colorado,” she says.) Her grandparents and parents wore it, and now Olivas is passing on the tradition to her children.

“It’s important to teach my kids,” she says, “know where you came from and don’t let anyone tear you down for the way that you look.”

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Rotten Tomatoes® Score

... this highly stylized theatrical-cinematic hybrid had me frustrated from the get-go. I'm all for audacity and ambition, but what I saw in this film was messy and hodgepodge.

Interesting. [Full Review in Spanish]

A curious film with a hint of authenticity. [Full Review in Spanish]

Valdez, who adapted his play for the screen, keeps the story and the camera moving nicely.

[Zoot Suit] is a holy mess of a movie, full of earnest, serious intentions and virtually no achievements.

Additional Info

Genre : Drama
Release Date : October 11, 1981
Languages : English
Captions : English
Audio Format : Stereo

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COMMENTS

Zoot Suit
Vincent Canby New York Times [Zoot Suit] is a holy mess of a movie, full of earnest, serious intentions and virtually no achievements. Feb 10, 2005 Full Review Dave Kehr Chicago Reader The staging ...
Zoot Suit (1981)
SimonJack 29 November 2020. "Zoot Suit" is a 1981 Universal film based on a 1979 Broadway play of the same title, by Luis Valdez. Valdez also directed and was in the film. Daniel Valdez and Edward James Olmos star in their same roles from the stage production. The film has other members of the Broadway cast as well.
'Zoot Suit' at the Taper: An L.A. revival, perfectly timed
"Zoot Suit," the landmark 1978 play by Luis Valdez that put the struggles of Mexican Americans front and center, is back where it originated at the Mark Taper Forum in an exhilarating revival ...
Zoot Suit (1981)
Zoot Suit: Directed by Luis Valdez. With Daniel Valdez, Edward James Olmos, Charles Aidman, Tyne Daly. When barrio leader Henry Reyna and his friends are unjustly convicted on circumstantial evidence, activist lawyers Alice Bloomfield and George Shearer fight the blatant racially motivated miscarriage of justice to win them their freedom.
Zoot Suit (film)
Zoot Suit is a 1981 American independent drama musical film of the Broadway play Zoot Suit.Both the play and film were written and directed by Luis Valdez.The film stars Daniel Valdez, Edward James Olmos—both reprising their roles from the stage production—and Tyne Daly.Many members of the cast of the Broadway production also appeared in the film. . Like the play, the film features music ...
Exploring racist injustice, 'Zoot Suit' birthed Chicano theater
It's like 10 buffaloes," says Demián Bichir, who saw the movie version of "Zoot Suit" while growing up in Mexico City and went on to portray El Pachuco in the 2017 revival at the Taper.
Zoot Suit
[Zoot Suit] is a holy mess of a movie, full of earnest, serious intentions and virtually no achievements. Full Review | Feb 10, 2005 Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com
'Zoot Suit': Theater Review
'Zoot Suit': Theater Review. Director Luis Valdez leads Demian Bichir and stars from the original in this dazzling revival of 'Zoot Suit' at the Mark Taper Forum, where it premiered in 1978 ...
‎Zoot Suit (1981) directed by Luis Valdez • Reviews, film
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.
L.A. Theater Review: 'Zoot Suit'
L.A. Theater Review: 'Zoot Suit' Now 76, Chicano theater pioneer Luis Valdez returns to the Mark Taper Forum with a revival of the play that flipped the script for Latino representations on stage.
Zoot Suit: Interview with Writer/Director Luis Valdez
The groundbreaking film Zoot Suit is one of the most significant Latino films in American cinematic history. Brought to life by director and writer Luis Valdez, Zoot Suit combines two major events in 1940s Chicano (Mexican-American) history, the Sleepy Lagoon murder, and the Zoot Suit Riots, to highlight the monumental significance these events had on the early Civil Rights Movement, through ...
'Zoot Suit': How Latino theater born in the farm fields changed L.A
The work was based on the 1942 Sleepy Lagoon murder and the 1943 so-called Zoot Suit riots, which rose from racial clashes and Latinos being tried, convicted and, in a reversal, released for ...
'ZOOT SUIT,' FILMED FROM THE STAGE
Directed by Luis Valdez. Drama, Musical. R. 1h 43m. By Vincent Canby. Jan. 22, 1982. The New York Times Archives. See the article in its original context from. January 22, 1982, Section C, Page 10 ...
Zoot Suit' review by Robert Cettl • Letterboxd
In Los Angeles in the 1940s, the Sleepy Lagoon murder case and the subsequent wrongful imprisonment of a number of Hispanic Americans galvanized the emerging "Chicano" community resulting in an anarchic outcry known as the "zoot suit riots". It was a seminal, almost defining event in Chicano life, and it is appropriate that Luis Valdez' play and film based on the incident, Zoot Suit ...
Zoot Suit
Part fascinating fact, part dazzling fiction, Zoot Suit is the blistering film adaptation of playwright Luis Valdez' critically acclaimed stage drama based o...
Blu-Ray Review: Kino Lorber's Zoot Suit (KL Studio Classics)
Rounding out the special features are trailers for Zoot Suit (Newly Mastered in 2K) [2:17], The Milagro Beanfield War(1:23), Get Crazy (1:32) The Final Thought . Zoot Suit is a truly great piece of cinema that deserves to be rediscovered. Highest Possible Recommendations!!! Kino Lorber's Blu-Ray Edition of Zoot Suit is out now
Zoot Suit
Zoot Suit Reviews. Luis Valdez tailored his play about a 1942 murder trial involving Chicanos. Daniel Valdez, Edward James Olmos, Charles Aidman, Tyne Daly. Judge: John Anderson. This is the film ...
Zoot Suit Movie Reviews
Zoot Suit Fan Reviews and Ratings Powered by Rotten Tomatoes Rate Movie. Close Audience Score. The percentage of users who made a verified movie ticket purchase and rated this 3.5 stars or higher. ... GOT IT. Offers. STREAM THE BIGGEST MOVIES AT HOME image link. STREAM THE BIGGEST MOVIES AT HOME. For a limited time, get 6 months of Peacock for ...
Zoot Suit
Amazon.com: Zoot Suit : Edward James Olmos, Tyne Daly, Charles Aidman, Daniel Valdez, John Anderson, Abel Franco, Tony Plana, Kurtwood Smith, Luis Valdez, Peter ...
Zoot Suit (Blu-ray Review)
Zoot Suit, based on actual events, deals with a gang murder in Los Angeles in the early 1940s. Director Luis Valdez adapted his own stage play and often breaks the fourth wall for a particular character to address the audience or to show an audience watching the action. The film is an odd melange of crime drama, musical, sociopolitical critique, and mythologizing treatise on the Chicano spirit.
Zoot suit: How the first truly American suit shaped fashion
The zoot suit was vilified by L.A. authorities during the Zoot Suit Riots in 1943. ... zoot suits in a musical review that played at the Mayan in downtown Los Angeles in the spring of 1941 ...
Zoot Suit
Purchase Zoot Suit on digital and stream instantly or download offline. Part fascinating fact, part dazzling fiction, Zoot Suit is the blistering film adaptation of playwright Luis Valdez' critically acclaimed stage drama based on the "zoot suit riots" that rocked 1940s Los Angeles. When barrio leader Henry Reyna (Daniel Valdez) and a group of his friends are unjustly convicted on ...

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L.A. Theater Review: ‘Zoot Suit’

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Mark Taper Forum, Los Angeles; 739 seats; $109 top. Opened, reviewed Feb. 12, 2017. Running time: 2 HOURS, 25 MIN.

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'ZOOT SUIT,' FILMED FROM THE STAGE

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Blu-Ray Review: Kino Lorber’s Zoot Suit (KL Studio Classics)

Luis Valdez’s Zoot Suit is as searing an indictment of systematic racism as it was when it was released in 1981. Kino Lorber has given the Neo-Classic a new transfer and extras .

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Kino Lorber’s Blu-Ray Edition of Zoot Suit is out now

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