Angel City

I'm one of those people that enjoys Ralph Waite in everything. I am sure it has to do with the fact of watching him for so long on the Waltons. I also prefer older films to anything new, so I tend to really scour titles looking for things to watch that I have never seen. In comes this title, I read the description, saw the actors and said - sure let me give it a try.

Wow. You can kind of say it is a 70's version of Grapes of Wrath (somewhat). The story line is as old as time and if you know about migrant workers you have a little background on what can happen. The acting is believable....it truly is, and at a couple points in the film you actually are on the edge of your seat - and will really get you thinking.

Hard to write something really descriptive because I don't want to give anything away - since EVERY scene in the movie grabs you and is important.

Grab the popcorn, a blanket and tell everyone to leave you alone one evening and watch it!

The man who wrote the book on which Angel City was based - Patrick Smith - was the PR director at a community college in Florida, and I worked for him for a year. To research the story, Pat went undercover in a camp and lived in the horrible conditions for himself, so he could tell the real story.

It's been so long since I've read the book and seen the movie, I don't remember how they compare, but Pat's book was based on things he really experienced, and I believe the movie was fairly true to that. People who feel the movie wasn't realistic might want to reconsider, or do some research for themselves.

ANGEL CITY is a long-forgotten TV movie of 1980 which tackles the subject of modern slavery in a compelling fashion. Ralph Waite, a well known actor for his role as the patriarch in THE WALTONS, plays a guy who ends up living as a prisoner on a farm ruled by the tyrannical Mitchell Ryans, always an impressive actor since the days of DARK SHADOWS. This slow-burning production takes its time to build up the characters and their lives while punctuating the atmosphere with a subtle but shocking handling of violence. Paul Winfield, best known for his role as the cop in THE TERMINATOR, is excellent in support.

Made for TV movie about a dirt poor family who pack all they have into their beat up pick up truck and head out in search of something better. They find work as migrant farm workers picking crops. They also quickly learn that their employment comes with a cost. They are held as virtual prisoners on what could be described as a cross between a slave plantation and a concentration camp. The corrupt head honcho has also developed a system to keep his employees from fleeing.

Ralph Waite best known for playing yet another scratching to keep his family fed character John Walton from The Waltons is featured as the head of the down on their luck family. Mitch Ryan is cast as the sinister head of the migrant workers camp. Paul Winfield co-stars as another Angel City inmate and Elvis Presley buddy Red West as one of the camps Bulls. An interesting original thriller.

West Virginian mountain folks Jared (Ralph Waite) and Cloma Teeter (Jennifer Warren) lost their ancestral family farm. They are forced to move out with their children Kristy (Jennifer Jason Leigh) and Bennie (Robert MacNaughton) to Florida for any work. Work is hard to find and they fall prey to unscrupulous employer Silas Creedy (Mitchell Ryan) and his work camp Angel City. The camp is more like a prison where Creedy's rigged system cheat them of their money. Their next door neighbor Cy (Paul Winfield) warns them to leave. Sud and Jabbo are Creedy henchmen who run the sadistic camp.

I watched this solely for Jennifer Jason Leigh. It's way too sincere. Jared is a naive simple mountain folk. Creedy is an evil villain. It's fine to do that but they are simply too obvious and too extreme for compelling drama. They don't let anything go pass. They even kill the dog. The movie piles on so much that it loses perspective. It's kind of silly to have Sud and Jabbo give the evil laugh after killing the dog. With kidnappings and beatings, Cy could have been a bit more specific about his warning. The movie lacks realism by pushing too hard.