Luis Valdez

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!

The life of rock & roll legend Ritchie Valens bursts across the screen in this celebrated, music-filled movie with star-making performances by Lou Diamond Phillips as Ritchie and Esai Morales as his half-brother, Bob. La Bamba depicts the 17-year-old Mexican-American's rocket rise to fame, from field laborer to rock star with a string of hit singles and a date with destiny. Fueled by Valens' hit songs performed by the Grammy-winning Los Lobos as well as classic '50s tunes, La Bamba recreates the thrilling early days of rock and pays homage to the enduring legacy of a remarkable talent whose music crossed all borders.

The rise of Ritchie Valens from farm laborer to chartbusting rocker. Stars Esai Morales and Lou Diamond Phillips.

Biographical story of the rise from nowhere of singer Ritchie Valens whose life was cut short by a plane crash.

This much-loved bio-pic tells the story of the rise of singer Ritchie Valens, whose life was tragically cut short by a plane crash.

When barrio leader Henry Reyna (Daniel Valdez) and a group of his friends are unjustly convicted on circumstantial evidence during the “zoot suit riots” that rocked 1940s Los Angeles 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.

When barrio leader Henry Reyna (Daniel Valdez) and a group of his friends are unjustly convicted on circumstantial evidence during the “zoot suit riots” that rocked 1940s Los Angeles 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.

This musical about Chicano gang members in the 1940's follows the case of members of a Mexican-American gang as they are tried and sentenced to San Quentin for a murder they may not have committed. Based on a 1940's Los Angeles murder trial.

A California fruit picker inadvertently leads a union movement for farm workers in this astute satire on the plight of the working class.

A seriocomic tale of love, seduction and betrayal in the strife-torn farm country of central California, Which Way Is Up? is one of Richard Pryor's best and most underrated films. Pryor plays several roles here, most significantly a migrant orange picker who works his way up in the ranks of an agricultural company -- first becoming a labor union hero and then a corporate womanizing flunky.

Richard Pryor plays three roles--a farm worker named Leroy Jones; his father, Rufus; and the preacher Rev. Lenox Thomas--in this outrageous comedy about too many women and too little time.

Richard Pryor plays three roles--a farm worker named Leroy Jones; his father, Rufus; and the preacher Rev. Lenox Thomas--in this outrageous comedy about too many women and too little time.