blue collar 1978

**Ltdave** · October-11-09, 08:21 PM

i was watching this movie earlier tonight and in one scene theyre discussing Jerry Bartowski [[Harvey Keitel) and there is an employment application in the scene. they list prior jobs at 12127 Riverside, 91227 42nd and 10942 Kinney. are these real addresses or did they just conjure them up for the movie?

later in the movie Harvey makes a phone call to 616-582-3976. interesting that they didnt use the 555 prefix for the number...

also there is a shot of this building/complex on the 'mainland' side of the MacArthur Bridge. is it the old water works plant?

**Neilr** · October-11-09, 08:28 PM

The buildings in the photo are the old Uniroyal Complex, RIP.

**eastland** · October-11-09, 08:36 PM

The movie was also filmed at the Checker Plant in Kalamazoo; maybe that explains the 616 area code.

**eno** · October-11-09, 09:30 PM

Water Works Park Plant is a couple of miles east of the MacArthur Bridge.

There was some great music in Blue Collar; Ry Cooder, Captain Beefheart

**EastsideAl** · October-12-09, 11:23 PM

That is indeed the Uniroyal tire factory. The smell of cooking rubber from that place is one of the most vivid sense memories of my lower eastside childhood.

Love "Blue Collar." A real underrated movie in my view. The scene where Richard Pryor is trying to get over on the tax guy by bringing in all the kids he can find is beautiful.

**Downriviera** · October-13-09, 04:45 PM

What about the bar scenes? Weren't they filmed at a bar on south Dix?

**Lowell** · October-13-09, 09:46 PM

I always thought Blue Collar was the "Detroitiest" movie ever. Yes, that's the Uniroyal Plant http://www.detroityes.com/industry/32uniroyal1.htm above, not in the movie. Scene from Hamtramck in movie too. And, yes, the bar was on Dix, west of the bridge. A friend of mine is an extra in one of the scenes there.

**48217** · October-14-09, 04:49 AM

The bar, Little Joe's, is on Fordson st. one street over from Dix.

9mile&seneca · October-14-09, 03:20 PM

I caught this gem about a year ago. Brilliant film! I mistakenly thought it was an attempted comedy when it was first released, and avoided it. I was pleasantly surprised.

**EastsideAl** · October-14-09, 04:58 PM

I just noticed that the Belle Isle Bridge in that shot still had the red, white, and blue stanchions from the bicentennial. Now that's a real blast to my high school past. 1977 was a magic year for me and B.I.

**MickeyMac** · October-19-09, 05:14 PM

Originally Posted by Downriviera

What about the bar scenes? Weren't they filmed at a bar on south Dix?

The bar scenes were filmed right here in Kalamazoo in a bar called Louie's. The bar is still around but it looks different.

**MickeyMac** · October-19-09, 05:16 PM

Originally Posted by eastland

The movie was also filmed at the Checker Plant in Kalamazoo; maybe that explains the 616 area code.

True back then our area code was 616.

**7051** · October-25-09, 01:42 PM

Coincidentally, my neighbor asked me yesterday if I had ever seen a movie called Blue Collar. I mentioned its reference on this forum and he went on to tell me that he frequented a bar on Dix where some of the movie was filmed. He was able to watch a lot of the "movie stuff" from his home/apartment across the street from where production took place.