CAR WASH (1976)

Coming out between JAWS in’75 and STAR WARS in ‘77, this little Black-oriented ensemble comedy (a day-in-the-life of an urban car wash business) may have broken as many cultural Hollywood norms as those films did financially in reconfiguring Summer Blockbuster release patterns.  And while, unlike JAWS and STAR WARS, there have been relatively few follow-up think pieces or anniversary reissues to boost its rep (it’s a lot of fun, but more important for its influence), the film deserves credit for bringing Blaxploitation tropes & attitudes to the Hollywood ‘Majors,’ not as sidebar action, but as the main event.  Plus,  its all-black R&B soundtrack, which the largely Black working crew pace themselves to on the cleaning line, was even more influential, especially in using disco-friendly cuts.  (Note that COOLEY HIGH/’75, the previous feature from director Michael Schultz, a rare Black in that position at the time, was from bargain basement A.I.P.  This film, from Universal, if IMDb can be believed, had about the same 7 mill budget as JAWS.)  A series of tidy endings wrapping things up for all the main characters doesn’t show Joel Schumacher’s original screenplay at its best, but the gay friendly attitude he snuck in (under the guise of the usual gay panic reactions) was also new, if less quick to catch on.*

ATTENTION MUST BE PAID:  *Schumacher (White, Jewish, Gay) got his start with three Black-themed scripts, SPARKLE/’76; CAR WASH; THE WIZ/’78.  Then fetishized BATMAN & ROBIN/’97.  So much for ‘write what you know.’