Zoot Suit

1982 • 103 minutes

About this movie

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!