1981_10 The Daily Collegian October 1981

              centerspread
El Pachuco goes Hollywood
A LUIS VALDEZ Film
ZOOT SUIT
I Pachuco (EDWARD JAMES OLMOS
(presides over the evening, along with the
pachuca trio (L-R:  CANDICE SILVA.
ANACANI ESCHEVERRIA and BERTHA
OROPEZA)
Alice rTYNE DALY) offers h
(DANIEL VALDEZ) and his co-defendants
(L-R:  MIKE GOMEZ, KELLY WARD), before
a skeptical El Pachuco
Alice Bloomfield (TYJ.E DALY) organizes the
Chicanos' public defense
Henry (DANIEL VALDEZ) confronts his rival gang
leader, Rafas MIGUEL DELGADO) at a dance.
The mythical El Pachuco (EDWARD JAMES
OLMOS) is cooly detached, as delta (ROSE
PORTILLO) protects Henry (DANIEL VALDEZ),
badly beaten.during the brawl at Sleepy Lagoon
by Pedro Perez
Can you believe the reality of.a Chicano film showing in Fresno? That alone
is too much for die mind to accept, the
hard part to believe is that the script
for the film was written by a home-
boy, Luis Valdez and his brother Daniel,
plays the leading role of Henry
Reyna.
Who ever said 'This is the decade of
the Chicano* sure did read his crystal
ball right. Zoot Suit the play, and now
the film, is sweeping across the southwest with tremendous acceptance
from people of all walks of life. Here in
Fresno, the theatre has been filled
since it opened two weeks ago and
Chicanos and non-Chicanos have been
receiving it with a big abrazo.
The film is set in East Los Angeles after the end of the Great Depression and the beginning of World War II.
Young Chicanos were distinctively
identifying themselves as pachucos,
(Zoot Suiters), and as war heroes across
the Pacific. But back home on the front
lines of Whittier Boulevard, public officials and newspapers were calling them
'subversive* to the American way of
life and needed to be dealt with.
Zoot Suit Review
Tension grew between military personnel and pachucos as they mingled
in the night life of Los Angeles. Disagreements and fights kept breaking
out between sailors and pachucos until
an all-out war was declared on pachucos
and anyone else who resembled one, by
sailors who were stationed in Los
Angeles. Public officials and the police
did nothing to stop the sailors from beating and stripping Chicanos of their Zoot
Suits since the police blamed the pachucos for the violence that was going
The focal point of the film revolves
around the Sleepy Lagoon Murder Mystery, in which a young Chicano boy was
found dead at the Sleepy Lagoon Reservoir, a then popular swimming hole.
The search for the murder resulted
in the round up of Henry Reyna and his
so-called 33th Street gang since they
were the last ones seen at the lagoon
that night.
After a long 13-week trial by a lynch
type court, the all Anglo jury found 12
of the defendants guilty of murder, five
of lesser assault charges, and acquitted
the remaining five of all charges.  It
becomes the largest mass conviction in
the history of California for the alleged
murder of a single man, the defendants
were sentenced to San QuenUn for life.
The Sleepy Lagoon Murder Case is a
landmark case in the American system of
justice for it established a precedence
against mass trials.
The film itself doesn't come near to
giving the depth the theatre play gives
its characters. Not that the actors in
the film don't portray their characters
to the extent, but it's the emotional and
personal vibes that you receive from the
actors that gives the play so much more
color and vitality.
The Pachuco (Edward James Olmos)
is as sharp and to the point as the switch
brimmed tando, he grasps the audience's attention In an instant with
every step he takes and every word he
From his beginnings with Teatro
Campesino to playing a leading role in
Zoot Suit, Daniel Valdez Is also musical
directorforthefilm.
The tough guy character Daniel portrays on the screen in a sense reflects
the self determination the Chicano community has  in  society.  His  courage,
leadership, and ability, to make rationa
decisions before his peers, flow* inside
everyone of us., The injustices that he
experienced by the Chicano community.
Henry Reyna and his struggle as a
pachuco In East Los Angeles, living
in the middle of anger and distrust,
mirror the troubles of young Chicanos
today.
The way Luis Valdez brings	
message of injustice towards Chicanos
is creative. He gives hope at the end of
the film that people and systems can be
challenged.
This is the first Chicano
duced by a Chicano with a 5    __.
Chicano cast that has reached the commercial movi^ market.
The Pachucas in the film are very independent and the high skirt and hair
dress they use are accurate. Henry's
girlfriend Delia, who is played by
Rose Portillo, also appeared In the original theatre play. In total, there w.
equal amount of pachucas as there
pachucos on the screen, resultin, ...
a living-color effect. The dancing and
singing capabilities were talents Chi-
express before.
La Chicana, like the Chicano ir __
film, work together to achieve the
■ >i*'~iate goal of the film—success.
Daniel and Luis Valdez come to Fresno
Director Luis Valdez and
Daniel who portrays Henry Reyna in
the newlv released Universal firm.
'Zoot Suit,* were in Fresno last week
promoting the film and attending a
reception which was held in their
honor,
From their farmworker roots in
Delano to Hollywood, Luis and Fanicl
are more than excited about their new
movie venture which marks the first
motion picture has been
directed by a Chicano.
Luis is the founder of the farmworker
theatre group, El Teatro Campesino,
which began 15 years ago. He wrote and
directed various skits and plays with
socio-political themes of the farmworker
struggle.
In 1972, Luis. created the emmy
award winning 'Los Vendidos' for television and collaborated with Richard
Pryor in "Which Way is Up?' in 1977.
Luis has served on various theatre
advisory boards and was appointed to
the nine-member California Arts Council by Governor Edmund Brown Jr. In
1976. Luis has taught drama courses
at UC Berkely and Santa Cruz and
CSUF.
In 1978, 'Zoot Suit' went to Broad-
Paniel  was  also  involved  with  hi>   I
brother during the Delano farmworker's
strike In 1965 and was a musician and
actor for El Teatro.
Daniel has acted in such films as
'The China Syndrome,* and "Which
"Way is Up?*
La Voz: Do you see Zoot Suit as a
vehicle for giving Daniel or Edward
Olmos the exposure necessary for stardom?
Luis: Oh yes. I think that Daniel and
Ed Olmos have gotten about as much
exposure as' they've ever gotten with
this film. These are definitely leading
roles. These roles given to them in
Zoot Suit show that they can act.
La Voz: How is Zoot Suit seen as the
Hollywoodization of Chicanos?
Luis: The real question has to do with
the market. The marketability of
Chicano themes and it really relates to
whether there is an audience out there
which is receptive. It's not as if Hollywood has not dealt with Chicano treatments before. For instance, the first
Westerns. I think what inspired Universal Studios to do the film, was the
realization of the numbers of Hispanics
in the Southwest, Chicago, and New
York that has grown within the last
25 years. The question is whether a
Chicano theme that is as Chicano as
"Zoot Suit* can reach out to everybody.
That is still an open question. We're
encouraged by certain responses we've
h*d' seeLUISpagee
La Voz: Why are there so few Chicano
actors?
Daniel: There hasn't been much for
the Chicano actor. And everything
that's out there was usually stereotypical roles. Very rarely do you see a
starring role where the character is
Chicano. In the case of 'Boulevard
Nights' I felt it was a breakthrough for
Chicano*actors,'but the material was
bad, negative, exploitation. Then you
have the other extreme, 'Walk Proud*
with Robby Benson playing a Chicano
They wanted me for the movie to play
a gang leader.
you're doing, and take the mc
run.' Eventually what that will
to is the audience won't accept you in
positive roles. I believe in ethics, the
actors ethics, he must question the
values of the characters. In many ways
he must ask his heart rather than his
pocket what's more important.
La Voz: What advice would you give
aspiring Chicano actors?
Daniel:  I would say first of all, to do