NORMA RAE (1979) C widescreen 113m dir: Martin Ritt

w/Sally Field, Beau Bridges, Ron Liebman, Pat Hingle, Gail Strickland, Lonny Chapman, Barbara Baxley, Morgan Paull, Robert Broyles, John Calvin, Booth Colman

From The Movie Guide: "Sally Field won her first Oscar for her performance in the title role, a complex portrayal of an [sic] working-class southern woman who matures into a complete person when she is faced with labor woes and must grow up or fall by the wayside. ...

"The simple story is enlivened by an intelligent, compassionate screenplay, whose sole deficiency is that it makes no attempt to represent the management point of view. Field's performance is flawless. Audiences thronged to see NORMA RAE, which made more money than just about any other union movie with the possible exception of ON THE WATERFRONT. (NORMA RAE grossed well over $10 million on initial release.) The film's technical excellence is at least partly due to director Ritt's using the same crew he used on many of his films about the south; [cinematographer John J.] Alonzo, [editor Sidney] Levin, and [producer Walter Scott] Hernden have a history of working well with each other and with Ritt."

Besides Field's Oscar, the film was also awarded Best Song ("It Goes Like This") and was nominated for Best Picture and Adapted Screenplay (Irving Ravetch, Harriet Frank).