The Blues Brothers (film)
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| The Blues Brothers | |
|---|---|
| Image:Bluesbrothersmovieposter.jpg The movie poster. | |
| Directed by | John Landis |
| Produced by | Bernie Brillstein George Folsey Jr. David Sosna Robert K. Weiss |
| Written by | Dan Aykroyd John Landis |
| Starring | John Belushi Dan Aykroyd |
| Music by | Elmer Bernstein |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
| Release date(s) | Image:Flag of the United States.svg 20 June, 1980 |
| Running time | 133 min. (extended:148 min.) |
| Country | US |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $27 million<ref>[1]</ref> |
| Followed by | Blues Brothers 2000 |
| Official website | |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
The Blues Brothers is a 1980 musical-comedy directed by John Landis and starring John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd as "Joliet" Jake and Elwood Blues, characters developed from a "Saturday Night Live" sketch. It features musical numbers by R&B and soul legends James Brown, Cab Calloway, Aretha Franklin and Ray Charles, and epic car chase scenes.
The story is a tale of redemption for the paroled convict Jake and his brother Elwood, who take on "a mission from God" to save a Roman Catholic orphanage from closure. To do so they must re-form their rhythm and blues band, the Blues Brothers, and organize a performance to earn $5,000 to pay the tax assessor. Along the way, they are targeted by a "Mystery Woman" and chased by the police, Neo-Nazis and a country and western band.
The film is set in Chicago, Illinois, and also features non-musical supporting performances by John Candy, Carrie Fisher and Henry Gibson.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
"Joliet" Jake Blues is released from Joliet Prison into his brother Elwood's custody after serving a sentence for armed robbery. Jake is irritated that his brother has picked him up in a former City of Mount Prospect police car, a 1974 Dodge Monaco, instead of the Cadillac the brothers used to own. Jake is somewhat mollified when Elwood says that he traded the Cadillac for a microphone, and then demonstrates the "new" Bluesmobile's powers by vaulting it over an open drawbridge.
Over Jake's vehement protests, their first stop is the inner-city Roman Catholic orphanage that was their childhood home. They learn that it is to be shut down unless the $5,000 in back property taxes on the building can be paid within a short time. When Jake and Elwood hear the news, Jake indicates that they can easily score some quick cash, but the orphanage director, a strict nun referred to as "The Penguin", emphatically refuses to accept any "filthy, stolen" money from the brothers.
At the prompting of Curtis, the elderly orphanage worker and father figure who introduced the brothers to the blues, a visit to an evangelical church service gives the duo an epiphany: they can legitimately raise the necessary funds by reforming their legendary rhythm and blues band.
As they drive home, Elwood's reckless driving habits attract the unwanted attention of two Illinois State Police troopers named Daniel and Mount; the troopers' on-board "SCMODS" computer indicates that Elwood has 56 warrants for 116 parking violations. Elwood proceeds to earn the pursuing officers' undying enmity by driving through a shopping mall to escape capture.
When the brothers approach the doorway of the flophouse Elwood calls home, the duo are attacked by a "Mystery Woman", who launches a volley of bazooka fire then drives off. The brothers survive and go up to sleep in Elwood's tiny room, located right next to a busy elevated train track.
With the assistance of parole officer Burton Mercer, the troopers track the brothers down to the flophouse, but only after being thrown off the trail because Elwood had falsified his driver's license, giving a home address of 1060 West Addison Street, which is the location of Wrigley Field. Just as the three police are about to move in for the arrest, the Mystery Woman reappears and blows up the building via remote control. Miraculously, the Blues Brothers climb out of the smoking rubble unhurt and dust themselves off, still wanted by the police.
The Blues Brothers begin their mission of tracking down members of their old band and convincing them to re-join. The core rhythm section of the group – guitarist Steve "The Colonel" Cropper, bassist Donald "Duck" Dunn, drummer Willie "Too Big" Hall, trombonist Tom "Bones" Malone and keyboardist "Murph" Dunne are found playing at a Holiday Inn lounge under the name "Murph and Magic Tones". They are easily convinced that they were happier playing with the brothers.
Another member, the trumpet player Mr. Fabulous, is the maître d' at the Chez Paul, a high-class French restaurant. As the other band members warned them, he is harder to convince to rejoin, but Jake and Elwood proceed to make a ghastly spectacle of themselves, gleefully swilling the restaurant's food and drink and harassing the other patrons. When they threaten to return every single day for every single meal and repeat this performance, Mr. Fabulous gives in.
Along the way to meet guitar player Matt "Guitar" Murphy and saxophone player "Blue Lou" Marini, the brothers disrupt the rally of the American Socialist White People's Party ("The Illinois Nazis"), a neo-Nazi group modeled on the American Nazi Party, by driving across the bridge the group is parading on and forcing them into the water. This adds another bitter enemy to the brothers' rapidly-growing list, although like the troopers before them, the Nazis first make a trip to Wrigley Field.
Murphy and Lou are at a soul food restaurant on Maxwell Street, which Matt owns along with his wife. Against her advice that he think twice about joining back up with his "old white hoodlum friends", Matt walks out, taking Blue Lou with him. The reunited band then obtains instruments and equipment from Ray, the blind owner of a pawn shop, Ray's Music Exchange.
With the band reassembled and instruments in hand, it is time to schedule a concert. When the brothers use a parking lot phone booth to get in touch with an old booking agent friend and arrange a meeting, the Mystery Woman makes another unsuccessful attempt on their lives, this time with a flamethrower.
Jake leads the skeptical band out into the countryside, and stumbles into a gig at a bar called Bob's Country Bunker, which features both country and western music. The band plays behind a chicken wire barricade, put there to protect them from the unending rain of beer bottles launched by the bar's customers as signs of both criticism and praise. After first drawing boos for playing their "usual set" of rhythm and blues standards, they are able to win the crowd over by playing the theme from Rawhide and "Stand By Your Man". At the end of the evening, the band that was actually meant to play turns up: a group from Nashville called the Good Ol' Boys, led by Tucker McElroy. Jake initially stalls the country band by posing as "Jacob Stein" from the American Federation of Musicians, and asks to see their union cards. The Blues Brothers then take off, owing money to bar owner Bob for their enormous bar tab. The Good Ol' Boys and Bob pursue the Blues Brothers in Bob's pickup truck camper, but they collide with a police cruiser driven by state troopers Daniel and Mount.
Eventually, the Blues Brothers blackmail their booking agent friend Maury Sline to land their big gig – a performance at the Palace Hotel Ballroom, located north of Chicago on the shore of Lake Wazzapamani. After being driven all over the Chicago area promoting the concert, the Bluesmobile runs out of gas, making Jake and Elwood late for the show. The ballroom is packed, the concert-goers being joined by the Good Ol' Boys, troopers Daniel and Mount, parole officer Mercer, and scores of other police officers. The crowd is restless due to the show being late, so to settle them down, Curtis appears and performs "Minnie the Moocher" with the band. Jake and Elwood finally arrive and manage to sneak into the hotel through the women's restroom. They perform two songs before earning the money they need and escaping from the surrounding police cordon with the timely help of a record executive.
As the brothers make their way out of the hotel via some grimy service tunnels, they are confronted by the Mystery Woman, whereupon her identity is revealed: she is Jake's jilted ex-fianceè whom he abandoned at the altar. She attempts to kill them with an M-16 assault rifle, but Jake begs for mercy, offers a litany of excuses and then charms her by taking off his sunglasses (the only time either of the brothers is seen without them). He takes the woman in his arms and kisses her, then unceremoniously drops her in the mud, and the two brothers escape back to the Bluesmobile.
With a full tank of gas, the brothers hit the road back to Chicago with the entire "Illinois law enforcement community" in pursuit. They somehow elude them all, leaving massive pileups of police cars in their wake. The Good Ol' Boys are sidelined when their recreational vehicle is driven off a lake pier because the accelerator pedal had been sprayed with epoxy by Elwood. With the help of their Bluesmobile, which has the power to fly, the Blues Brothers also escape the Illinois Nazis, who drive their Ford Pinto off an unfinished elevated freeway, and smash through the street below, creating a hole that a car carrying the rest of Nazis drives into.
Eventually Jake and Elwood arrive at the Richard J. Daley Center, crashing through the lobby and rolling to a halt on a sidewalk outside, where the Bluesmobile literally falls to pieces. They make their way up to the office of the Cook County Assessor, only to discover that it is closed for lunch. As they wait, the building is stormed by hundreds of police, firefighters, and soldiers. Fortunately an assessor clerk finally appears, and the brothers pay the tax bill. Just as their receipt is stamped, handcuffs go on their wrists and they find they are in the center of a sea of law officers, all of whom are pointing weapons at them. Jake, Elwood and the rest of the band are sentenced to prison, where they play "Jailhouse Rock" for their fellow inmates.
[edit] Cast
- Cab Calloway as Curtis
- Carrie Fisher as Mystery Woman
- Aretha Franklin as Mrs. Murphy
- Ray Charles as Ray
- James Brown as Reverend Cleophus James
- John Candy as Burton Mercer
- Kathleen Freeman as Sister Mary Stigmata, "The Penguin"
- Henry Gibson as Head Nazi
- Steve Lawrence as Maury Sline
- Twiggy as Chic Lady
- Frank Oz as Corrections Officer
- Jeff Morris as Bob
- Sheilah Wells as Claire
- Charles Napier as Tucker McElroy
- Steven Williams as Trooper Mount
- Armand Cerami as Trooper Daniel
- Chaka Khan as Choir soloist
- John Landis as State trooper
- Stephen Bishop as State trooper
- Joe Walsh as Prisoner
- Paul Reubens as Chez Paul waiter
- Steven Spielberg as Cook County Assessor's Office Clerk
[edit] The Band
- John Belushi as "Joliet" Jake Blues, lead vocals
- Dan Aykroyd as Elwood Blues, harmonica and vocals
- Steve Cropper as Steve "the Colonel" Cropper, rhythm guitar and backing vocals
- Donald "Duck" Dunn as Donald "Duck" Dunn, electric bass
- Murphy Dunne as Murphy "Murph" Dunne, piano and organ
- Willy Hall as Willy "Too Big" Hall, drums
- Tom Malone as Tom "Bones" Malone, trombone, saxophone and backing vocals
- Lou Marini as "Blue Lou" Marini, tenor saxophone and backing vocals
- Matt Murphy as Matt "Guitar" Murphy, lead guitar
- Alan Rubin as Alan "Mr. Fabulous" Rubin, trumpet and backing vocals
[edit] Production
[edit] Origins
- See also: The Blues Brothers
The characters, Jake and Elwood Blues, were developed by John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd in performances on "Saturday Night Live". The fictional back story of blood brothers Jake and Elwood is related in the liner notes of the band's debut album, Briefcase Full of Blues, having them growing up in an orphanage, learning the blues from a janitor named Curtis and sealing their brotherhood by cutting their middle fingers with a steel string said to come from the guitar of Elmore James.<ref>Biography of the Blues Brothers from their album, A Briefcase Full of Blues, retrieved on November 30, 2006.</ref>
When it was decided the act could be made into a movie by Universal Pictures, Aykroyd set about writing the script. He had never written a screenplay before, he said in the 1998 documentary, Stories Behind the Making of The Blues Brothers, and he put together a very descriptive volume that explained the characters' origins and how the band members were recruited. It was 324 pages, which was three times longer than a standard screenplay. To soften the impact, Aykroyd made a joke of the thick script and had it bound with the cover of the Los Angeles Yellow Pages directory for when he turned it in to producer Robert K. Weiss. John Landis was given the task of editing the script into a usable screenplay.
One premise of the plot, that a church-owned orphanage had to pay taxes (normally church-owned property is exempt from taxes), was actually based on a real bill that was being put through at the time of the writing of the film. The bill was never enacted into law.[citation needed]
[edit] Location
Much of the film was shot on location in and around Chicago, Illinois between July and October of 1979. Made with the cooperation of Mayor Jane M. Byrne, it is credited for putting Chicago on the radar as a venue for filmmaking. Mayor Richard J. Daley had all but prevented movies from being produced there up until his death in 1976. This is alluded to in a line by Mr. Fabulous, when he said, "No, sir, Mayor Daley no longer dines here. He's dead, sir." Since then, nearly 200 movies have been filmed in Chicago.
"Chicago is one of the stars of the movie. We wrote it as a tribute," Dan Aykroyd told the Chicago Sun-Times in a article written to mark the film's 25th anniversary DVD release. <ref>"Movie still remembered after 25 years", Chicago Sun-Times, June 20, 2005 (link is now behind an archive; fragment of the story found at Kentucky Democrat on November 16, 2006).</ref>
The first traffic stop was in Park Ridge, Illinois. The mall car chase was filmed in the real, albeit abandoned, Dixie Square Mall in Harvey. The bridge jump was filmed on an actual drawbridge, the 95th Street bridge over the Calumet River, on the southeast side of Chicago. Other chase scenes included Lower Wacker Drive and Richard J. Daley Center.
In the final car chase scene, the production actually dropped a Ford Pinto, representing the one driven by the "Illinois Nazis," from a helicopter at an altitude of more than a mile — and had to gain a special "air-unworthiness" certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration to do it. The FAA was concerned that the car could prove too aerodynamic in a high-altitude drop, and pose a threat to nearby buildings. The shot leading up to the car drop, where the "Illinois Nazis" drive off a freeway ramp, was shot in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on the Hoan Bridge, an unfinished freeway ramp at the time, that wasn't completed until more than a decade later. Several Milwaukee skyscrapers are visible in the background as the Bluesmobile flips over, notably the U.S. Bank Center.
The "Palace Hotel Ballroom", where the band performs its climactic concert, was at the time of filming a country club, but later became the South Shore Cultural Center, named after the Chicago neighborhood in which it is located. The interior concert scenes were filmed in the Hollywood Palladium.
It held the record for the most cars destroyed in one film until surpassed by its own sequel.[citation needed]
[edit] Casting
In addition to recognized soul and rhythm and blues stars James Brown, Cab Calloway, Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin, the members of the Blues Brothers band are notable for their musical accomplishments as well. Steve Cropper and Donald Dunn are architects of the Stax Records sound and were half of Booker T. & the M.G.'s. Horn players Lou Marini, Tom Malone and Alan Rubin had all played in Blood, Sweat & Tears and the "Saturday Night Live" band. Drummer Willy Hall had played in the Bar-Kays and backed Issac Hayes. Matt Murphy is a veteran blues guitarist. Blues performers were featured in the cast as well, with John Lee Hooker backed by harmonica player Big Walter Horton and pianist Pinetop Perkins, playing "Boom Boom" on Maxwell Street.
As the band developed at "Saturday Night Live", pianist Paul Shaffer was part of the act, and was cast in the film. However, due to contractual obligations with "SNL", he was unable to participate. So actor-musician Murphy Dunne was hired to take his role.<ref>Stories Behind the Making of The Blues Brothers, documentary feature on 1998 DVD and 25th Anniversary DVD (2005).</ref>
Carrie Fisher, Kathleen Freeman, Henry Gibson and John Candy were cast in non-musical supporting roles. The movie is also notable for the number of cameo appearances by established celebrities and entertainment industry figures, including Steve Lawrence as a booking agent, Frank Oz as a corrections officer, Twiggy as a "chic lady" in a Jaguar convertible whom Elwood propositions at a gas station and Steven Spielberg as the Cook County Assessor's clerk. John Landis plays a state trooper in the mall chase. Paul Reubens (pre Pee-wee Herman) has a small role as a waiter in the Chez Paul.
The character portrayed by Cab Calloway, is named Curtis as an homage to Curtis Salgado, a Portland, Oregon, blues musician who inspired the Blues Brothers characters.
[edit] Soundtrack
| The Blues Brothers: Music from the Soundtrack | ||
| Image:Bluesbrotherssoundtrack.jpg | ||
| Soundtrack by The Blues Brothers | ||
| Released | June 20, 1980 | |
| Genre | R&B, soul | |
| Length | 40:27 | |
| Label | Atlantic | |
| Producer(s) | Bob Tischler | |
| Professional reviews | ||
|---|---|---|
| The Blues Brothers chronology | ||
| Briefcase Full of Blues (1978) | The Blues Brothers: Music from the Soundtrack (1980) | Made in America (1980)
|
The Blues Brothers: Music from the Soundtrack was released in June 1980 as the second album by the Blues Brothers band, which also toured that year to promote the movie. "Gimme Some Lovin'" was a Top 40 hit. The album was a followup to their debut, the live album, Briefcase Full of Blues. Later that year they released a second live album, Made in America, which featured the Top 40 track, "Who's Making Love". It was the last Blues Brothers album to feature Belushi's Jake Blues.
The songs on the movie soundtrack album are a noticeably different audio mix than in the film, with a prominent baritone saxophone in the horn line (also heard in the film during "Shake a Tailfeather", though no bari sax is present), and female backing vocals on "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love", though the band had no backup singers in the film. A number of regular Blues Brothers' members, including saxophonist Tom Scott and drummer Steve Jordan, perform on the soundtrack album but are not in the film.
[edit] Soundtrack album listing
- "She Caught The Katy" (Taj Mahal, Rachell) – 4:10
- The Blues Brothers with lead vocals by Jake Blues
- "Peter Gunn Theme" (Mancini) – 3:46
- The Blues Brothers Band
- "Gimme Some Lovin'" (S. Winwood, M. Winwood, Davis) – 3:06
- The Blues Brothers with Jake Blues, lead vocals
- "Shake a Tail Feather" (Hayes, Williams, Rice) – 2:48
- Ray Charles with the Blues Brothers (Jake and Elwood, backing vocals)
- "Everybody Needs Somebody To Love" (Wexler, Berns, Burke) – 3:21
- The Blues Brothers (Jake Blues, lead vocals; Elwood Blues, harmonica and vocals)
- "The Old Landmark" (Brunner) – 2:56
- James Brown and the Rev. James Cleveland Choir (additional choir vocals by Chaka Khan credited in the film)
- "Think" (White, Franklin) – 3:13
- Aretha Franklin and the Blues Brothers with backing vocals by Brenda Corbet, Margaret Branch and Caroline Franklin (real-life sisters of Aretha) and Jake and Elwood
- "Theme From Rawhide" (Tiomkin) – 2:37
- Elwood and Jake and the Blues Brothers Band
- "Minnie the Moocher" (Calloway, Mills) – 3:23
- Cab Calloway with the Blues Brothers Band
- "Sweet Home Chicago" (Payne) – 7:48
- Dedicated to the late, great Magic Sam
- "Jailhouse Rock" (Leiber, Stoller) – 3:19
- Jake Blues and the Blues Brothers (Over the closing credits in the film, verses are sung by James Brown, Cab Calloway, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin and "crew".)
[edit] Other songs in the film
The film's score consists of "God Music" by Elmer Bernstein, who previously had worked with John Landis on National Lampoon's Animal House. Other songs in the film include:
- "Shake Your Moneymaker" – composed and performed by Elmore James
- "Soothe Me"/"Hold On! I'm Comin'" – composed by Sam Cooke/Isaac Hayes and David Porter; performed by Sam and Dave
- "I Can't Turn You Loose" – composed by Otis Redding; performed by the Blues Brothers
- "Let the Good Times Roll" – composed and performed by Louis Jordan
- "Anema e Core" – performed by Ezio Pinza
- "Cuando, Cuando, Cuando" – performed by Murph and the MagicTones
- "Just the Way You Are" – composed by Billy Joel; performed by uncredited group
- "Boom Boom" – composed by John Lee Hooker; performed by John Lee Hooker (as "Street Slim"), vocals and guitar' Big Walter Horton (as "Tampa Pete"), harmonica. Pinetop Perkins (as "Luther Jackson") electric piano; Willie "Big Eyes" Smith, drums; Luther "Guitar Jr." Johnson, guitar; Calvin "Fuzz" Jones, bass
- "Mama Lawdy"/"Boogie Chillen" – composed and performed by John Lee Hooker
- "Your Cheatin' Heart" – composed by Hank Williams; performed by Kitty Wells
- "Stand By Your Man" – composed by Tammy Wynette and Billy Sherrill; performed by the Blues Brothers
- "I'm Walkin'" – performed by Fats Domino
- "Ride of the Valkyries" – composed by Richard Wagner; performed by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
- "The Girl from Ipanema" – composed by Antonio Carlos Jobim; performed by uncredited group
[edit] Reception
[edit] Box office
The Blues Brothers opened on June 20, 1980 with a limited release in 594 theaters. It took in $4,858,152, ranking sixth for that week and 10th for the entire year. But over the years it has gained a following through television and home video. By genre, it is the sixth-highest grossing musical and the eighth-highest earner among comedy road movies. It ranks second, between Wayne's World and Wayne's World 2, among films adapted from Saturday Night Live sketches. <ref>The Blues Brothers, Box Office Mojo, retrieved on November 15, 2006.</ref>
The movie has a 90% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.<ref>The Blues Brothers, Rotten Tomatoes, retrieved on November 15, 2006.</ref> It won the Golden Reel Award for Best Sound Editing and Sound Effects, is 14th on Total Film Magazine's List of the 50 Greatest Comedy Films of All Time and is No. 69 on Bravo's "100 Funniest Movies".<ref>"Bravo's 100 Funniest Movies List is Laughable", Manroomonline.com, June 2, 2006.</ref>
[edit] Criticism
The Blues Brothers has been criticized for its simplistic plot and being overly reliant on car chases. Among the reviewers at the time of the movie's release who held that opinion was Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times. But, he also praised it for its energetic musical numbers and said the car chases were "incredible".<ref>Ebert, Roger. January 1, 1980. The Blues Brothers, Chicago Sun-Times.</ref>
Janet Maslin of the New York Times criticized the film for shortchanging viewers on more details about the close relationship of the brothers Jake and Elwood. She also took director Landis to task for "distracting editing", mentioning the Soul Food diner scene in which saxophonist Lou Marini's head is cut off as he dances on the counter. In the documentary, Stories Behind the Making of The Blues Brothers, Landis acknowledges the criticism, and Marini recalls the dismay he felt at seeing the completed film.<ref>Maslin, Janet, June 20, 1980. 'Blues Brothers - Belushi and Aykroyd', New York Times (retrieved on November 30, 2006).</ref>
As with the Blues Brothers act in general, music critics derided the film, saying it was demeaning to the rhythm and blues performers. In his book, Sweet Soul Music, critic Peter Guralnick calls the film "an almost unmitigated disaster" for the "great black artists involved", though he does praise Aretha Franklin's performance on her musical number, "Think", as "an on-screen explosion".<ref>Guralnick, Peter. 1986. Sweet Soul Music: Rhythm and Blues and the Southern Dream of Freedom. Little Brown. ISBN 0-316-33273-9 (Page 352).</ref>
[edit] Cult-film status
The Blues Brothers has become a staple of late-night cinema, even slowly morphing into an audience participation show in its regular screenings at the Valhalla Cinema, in Melbourne, Australia. John Landis acknowledged the support of the cinema and the fans by a phone call he made to the cinema at the 10th anniversary screening, and later invited regular attendees to make cameo appearances in Blues Brothers 2000 They are members of the crowd during the performance of "Ghost Riders in the Sky".
In August 2005, there was a 25th anniversary celebration for The Blues Brothers at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles. Attendees included Landis, former Universal Studios executive Thom Mount, movie editor George Folsey Jr., and cast members James Brown, Henry Gibson, Charles Napier, Steve Cropper, and Stephen Bishop. (He's among the policemen who utter the line, "They broke my watch!") It featured a press conference, a panel discussion where Dan Aykroyd joined via satellite, and a screening of the original theatrical version of the film. The panel discussion was broadcast directly to many other cinemas around the country.
- See also: The Blues Brothers#In pop culture
[edit] Alternate versions
The theatrical version of the film was 133 minutes. The running time was expanded to 148 for the "Collector's Edition" DVD release in 1998, in which several scenes were extended:
- A longer opening scene, showing the prison guards having to use their nightsticks to wake Jake up.
- A scene with Sister Mary Stigmata ("The Penguin") where as she lists what missions she might be sent to if the orphanage is closed.
- Elwood is shown parking the Bluesmobile inside an electrical substation that powers the Chicago Transit Authority's "L" trains. In the documentary, "Stories Behind the Making of The Blues Brothers", Dan Aykroyd explained that the Bluesmobile would get charged from the substation, enabling it to do impressive stunts. But, in the same documentary, director Landis said he originally cut the scene because he considered it unnecessary: the Bluesmobile is simply a "magic car".
- A scene showing Elwood's last day at his job in an aerosol-spray can manufacturing company. He is shown removing some cans from the assembly line and putting them in his briefcase. He then goes to his boss and explains that he has to quit because he's joining the priesthood. This scene explains where Elwood obtained the spray epoxy ("This is glue ... strong stuff.") that he used to sabotage the Good Ol' Boys' Winnebago.
- Another aerosol can is used to spray a substance into the tires of police cars outside the Palace Hotel Ballroom, which makes the tires explode and causes a jam-up of the police, thus enabling the Blues Brothers to get a head start on their pursuers.
- Longer versions of some of the musical numbers, most notably the Maxwell Street blues band scene with John Lee Hooker, showing Hooking and Pinetop Perkins getting into an argument over who wrote "Boom Boom".
[edit] See also
[edit] References
<references/>
[edit] External links
- The Blues Brothers at the Internet Movie Database
- The Blues Brothers at Rotten Tomatoes
- The Blues Brothers at Box Office Mojo
- Blues Brothers Central
- Chicago Filming Locations based on Google Mapsda:The Blues Brothers
de:Blues Brothers hr:Braća Blues pl:Blues Brothers ru:Братья блюз (фильм) sv:The Blues Brothers tr:The Blues Brothers (film)
Categories: Articles lacking sources from November 2006 | All articles lacking sources | Articles with unsourced statements | 1980 films | American films | Blues Brothers | Blues Brothers albums | Buddy films | Chicago films | Cult films | English-language films | Films about music and musicians | Films directed by John Landis | Film soundtracks | Musical comedy films | Road movies | Universal Pictures films
