Valdez, L. (Director), Burrell, Peter (Producer). (1981). Zoot Suit [Motion Picture]. United States: Universal Pictures 

Luis Valdez is widely considered the father of Chicano theater. Born in 1940, Valdez grew up in Northern California, graduating from James Lick High School in San Jose and eventually San Jose State University, where he obtained a degree in English in 1964. In 1963, his first full-length play, The Shrunken Head of Pancho Villa, debuted at San Jose State. Valdez formed a troupe of farm workers, which he called El Teatro Campesino. This was initially formed as a small farm workers' theater group, but quickly expanded in popularity and helped forge a vibrant Chicano theater movement. Valdez's troupe is considered influential in helping to spread the popularity of the theater movement, which resulted in similar theater groups forming in college campuses around the nation.

In 1978, Valdez produced the signature piece of work that exemplifies his career. Zoot Suit was a play written about the Mexican "pachuco" culture in 1940s Los Angeles and the subsequent case of Henry Reyna and his friends, who were thrown in jail without a fair trial for killing a man in a parking lot. The play is set during World War II, and the Zoot Suit Riots that occurred in Los Angeles between sailors and Marines. Valdez's play ran at the Mark Taper Forum in LA, and ran for forty-six weeks, to mostly packed houses. The play garnered tremendous acclaim, eventually moving on to Broadway in 1979. It was adapted to a motion picture in 1981.

The film adaptation, as well as the play, is narrated by a Greek chorus-style character of 'El Pachuco', played by Edward James Olmos. Dressed in stylish Zoot Suit clothing and a decorative hat, El Pachuco narrates to the audience as well as guiding Henry Reyna along during his story. The film is based on real-life events, such as the Sleepy Lagoon murder trial, for which Reyna and his crew are unfairly tried, as well as the aforementioned Zoot Suit Riots. El Pachuco also performs most of the songs in the film, and dances with the rest of the cast in some sequences. Olmos has gone on to become a legendary actor in Hollywood, and his performance as El Pachuco is much different from the types of roles he would take on later in his career. El Pachuco is very stylish and flamboyant, and speaks in a rough Mexican accent that accentuates the 'Pachuco' style.

The film was nominated for a Golden Globe for 'Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy' in 1982, but lost to Arthur.

The film is an informative dramatization of the Sleepy Lagoon case and the Zoot Suit Riots, and portrays the Pachuco movement amid the Chicano culture in 1940s Los Angeles. The judge and jury in the 'trial' treat Reyna and his 'accomplices' in a very biased and bigoted way, such as denying the defendants the right to clean clothes and haircuts before the trial, thus forcing them to appear rough and haggard, which only makes them appear more guilty to the jury. The defense attorney's repeated objections are all overruled, and the jury swiftly finds all of them guilty of first and second degree murder. After a lengthy stay in jail, the verdict eventually gets overturned and the men are released. This aspect of the story is a fictionalization of the actual events, but the basis of the story is the same as the real-life case.

As a whole, Zoot Suit is a fascinating look into the events that transpired in the Los Angeles area in the 1940s, and is a dramatic portrayal of the clash between the Mexican population and the establishment that looked down upon 'Pachuco' culture and its characteristics. The characters in the film are stylized depictions of the type of individuals involved in the movement at the time, yet they function to bring the concepts and events of the story to life in a riveting way. El Pachuco, Olmos' character, is obviously tremendously stylized and exaggerated, yet he serves as fitting and entertaining narrator and storyteller in both the play and the film. The music, scored by Daniel Valdez and Lalo Guerrero, also exemplifies the popular music of the time, as flashy Hispanic-tinged swing and dance music that is central to the developments of the film's plot. Most of the songs El Pachuco sings in the film are about the physical act of dancing, which is consistent with swing music as a genre, and helps give his character more life and personality on-screen.

Zoot Suit is a fascinating piece of work, carried out by a cast of talented individuals and written and directed by a masterful author and playwright.  Luis Valdez's production is a landmark of Chicano culture, and a seamless piece of work about the challenging racial times that were prevalent in Los Angeles in the 1940s. Valdez went on to write and direct La Bamba , a biopic about Richie Valens, the popular music star who tragically died in 1959. The film was a major hit, and helped cement Valdez's spot as very prominent figure in Mexican history, due to his productions of both Zoot Suit and La Bamba.

(Reviewed by Adrian Garro)