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F.I.S.T. is a 1978 movie directed by Norman Jewison and starring Sylvester Stallone. In this film, Stallone plays a Cleveland warehouse worker named Johnny Kovak who becomes involved in the labor union leadership of the fictional "Federation of Inter State Truckers", and finds that he must sacrifice his principles as he moves up through the union and attempts to expand its influence. The movie is loosely based on the Teamsters union and their former President Jimmy Hoffa. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 397 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (500 × 755 pixel, file size: 87 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) This image is of a poster, and the copyright for it is most likely owned by either the publisher or the creator of the work depicted. ...
Norman Frederick Jewison, CC, BA, LL.D (born July 21, 1926) is a Canadian film director, producer, and actor. ...
Josef Eszterhas (born November 23, 1944) is a controversial Hungarian-American writer, best known for his screenplays for the films Basic Instinct and Showgirls. ...
Sylvester Stallone (born July 6, 1946) is a two-time Academy Award-nominated American actor, director, producer and screenwriter. ...
Sylvester Stallone (born July 6, 1946) is a two-time Academy Award-nominated American actor, director, producer and screenwriter. ...
Rod Steiger (April 14, 1925 – July 9, 2002) was an American actor. ...
Peter Lawrence Boyle (October 18, 1935 – December 12, 2006) was an Emmy Award-winning American actor. ...
Melinda Dillon (born October 13, 1939 in Hope, Arkansas), is an American actress and comedienne. ...
Kevin Conway (born May 29, 1942 in New York City) is an American actor and film director. ...
Tony Lo Bianco,(b. ...
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László Kovács László Kovács (pronounced ) (born 3 July 1939) is a Hungarian politician and diplomat, currently serving as European Commissioner for Taxation and Customs Union. ...
Graeme Clifford is a movie director from Australia who was born in Sydney in 1942. ...
The current United Artists logo (a variant was used during the 1980s). ...
Year 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1978 Gregorian calendar). ...
Year 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1978 Gregorian calendar). ...
Film is a term that encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. ...
Norman Frederick Jewison, CC, BA, LL.D (born July 21, 1926) is a Canadian film director, producer, and actor. ...
Sylvester Stallone (born July 6, 1946) is a two-time Academy Award-nominated American actor, director, producer and screenwriter. ...
A union (labor union in American English; trade union, sometimes trades union, in British English; either labour union or trade union in Canadian English) is a legal entity consisting of employees or workers having a common interest, such as all the assembly workers for one employer, or all the workers...
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), formerly known by the name International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America, is one of the largest labor unions in the United States. ...
James Riddle Jimmy Hoffa (February 14, 1913, disappeared July 30, 1975, date of death unknown) was an American labor leader, gangster, fraudster and criminal convict. ...
A number of other well known actors and actresses appeared in F.I.S.T. They included Kevin Conway, Brian Dennehy, Rod Steiger, Melinda Dillon, Richard Herd, and Peter Boyle. Kevin Conway (born May 29, 1942 in New York City) is an American actor and film director. ...
Brian Dennehy in Death of a Salesman Brian Dennehy parodied in South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut Brian Dennehy (born July 9, 1938 in Bridgeport, Connecticut, USA) is an Irish-American actor who has appeared in movies, television shows, and stage productions. ...
Rod Steiger (April 14, 1925 – July 9, 2002) was an American actor. ...
Melinda Dillon (born October 13, 1939 in Hope, Arkansas), is an American actress and comedienne. ...
Richard Herd (born September 26, 1932 in Boston, Massachusetts) is an American character actor in television and film. ...
Peter Lawrence Boyle (October 18, 1935 – December 12, 2006) was an Emmy Award-winning American actor. ...
Plot
The film begins with a shot at a loading dock. The man in charge of watching over these men is Mr. Gant, who we see welcoming a new worker, Lincoln Dombrowsky. He tells him the job requirements along with how he will be paid. He tells him that be paid for working 8 hours and if he works overtime, he still only gets paid for 8 hours. He also tells him if he drops any of the merchandise, it comes directly out of his pay. These are a couple of the many unfair working policies that these men have to go through. Later on Lincoln drops a cart of apples, which get taken out of his pay and another fellow labor worker is fired for helping him pick it up. This sparks a little riot, led by Johnny Kovak, another miss-treated labor worker. After the riot, many of the workers come into the office of their superior, Boss Andrews. Kovak believes he has negotiated himself a deal for himself and his fellow workers. The next day Kovak and his friend Abe are informed that none of their demands have been met and both of them have been fired. Kovak is depressed; now seemingly out of a job.
Johnny and Abe spend the next couple of days in bars, when they are approached by Mike Monahan, who witnessed Kovak lead their labor riot. Mike offers Kovak and Abe positions in the Federation of Inter State Truckers (F.I.S.T.). They will only be paid based on how many members they can get and they at the time, reluctantly join. Kovak was given a car straight up to help to convince him to join. Johnny drives around trying to get the attention of a woman he met at a party a while back, Anna Zarinkas. After a few attempts, Johnny finally gets a date with Anna and they start seeing each other. During this time, Johnny is also starting to get a little more members and this comes to the attention of the leaders of the people running the labor businesses. They feel a bit threatened by Kovak and try to offer him a deal to join them and be a voice in helping bring more labor workers. Kovak immediately rejects the offer, which results into him being set up and beat up. Kovak remains strong and holds his ground, as they get more people to join. We are then introduced to another leader of F.I.S.T., Max Graham. He is known by many labor workers and is a bit of a hot head. He doesn't respect Kovak or believe he should really represent F.I.S.T. This sets up something later in the film because Kovak doesn't forget about the hostility Max showed in the beginning.
Soon Mike, Johnny, and Abe begin working to get the F.I.S.T. members working at Consolidated Trucking a labor agreement. Management refuses to deal with them, resulting in the F.I.S.T. workers striking. The F.I.S.T. members set up a camp outside of Consolidated Trucking's gates. This only works for while, until the members of F.I.S.T. are pushed off the ground by physical force. This disgusts Mike, who goes into a truck and with intention to ram their gates. Instead Mike is shot at and killed. At Mike's funeral Johnny decides to get some real muscle to get his point across and accepts help from local gangster Vince Doyle. At a union meeting, Johnny tells Graham to leave, that the F.I.S.T. local would take care of things themselves. Vince's men attack trucks that are trying to make deliveries. Local mobsters and the members of F.I.S.T. join forces to storm the gates of Consolidated Trucking. In the end the President of Consolidated Trucking is forced to sign a labor agreement.
After the strike, Johnny and Abe travel throughout the Midwest, recruiting more workers to join F.I.S.T. as the union becomes stronger. Kovak becomes wealthier and marries Anna. Then a new crime figure Babe Milano comes on the scene - wanting in on what Johnny and Abe are doing. He harasses Johnny’s wife, and Johnny gives in and lets Milano's crew have a part of his union.
The film then goes to 20 years after all the other events have taken place. F.I.S.T. is now a large union and is an important union for the workers. Johnny goes and has a meeting with Max and he informs him he will no longer be president of F.I.S.T., telling him that he should have never treated him the way he did. Johnny is now the president of F.I.S.T., but now he has Senator Madison after him as he suspects Kovak of having ties to the mafia. Later on Abe comes and visits Johnny and their relationship as friends have seemingly deteriorated as the years have gone by. Abe asks Johnny to cut off Milano and make the union clean again. Kovak ignores his request. Then Vince tells Johnny that Abe will testify against him and Milano and everybody else. Johnny says that he doesn't want Abe to be touched. Johnny is then called in to testify in front of the Senator, where he informs him that Abe has been killed and he believes that Kovak is responsible for it (although it was really Milano's men who did it). This shocks Johnny and as the Senator continues to accuse him of other crimes, Johnny erupts into an emotional outburst and storms out of the court. A night Johnny returns home and finds out that Anna and his children are missing. He runs throughout the house looking for them and gets his gun, but as he goes towards the staircase, is shot and killed by Milano's men. They feared that Kovak would cut them off and testify against him. The movie ends with truck driving and on its bumper it says, where's Johnny.
Locations Most of the filming was done in Dubuque, Iowa. Dubuque was chosen firstly because the older sections of the town looked more like Cleveland of the 1930s than Cleveland did, and secondly because of the absence of roof-mounted television antennas due to most of the homes having cable television. Because of the large bluffs, over-the-air television signals had problems reaching homes in the low-lying areas, so a cable system was developed in the mid-1950s, which was considerably earlier than many other municipalities. Nickname: Location in the State of Iowa Coordinates: , Country United States State Iowa County Dubuque Incorporated 1833 Government - Type Council-Manager - Mayor Roy D. Buol - City manager Michael C. Van Milligen Area - City 71. ...
This article needs additional references or sources to facilitate its verification. ...
Face The 1930s (years from 1930–1939) were described as an abrupt shift to more radical and conservative lifestyles, as countries were struggling to find a solution to the Great Depression, also known in Europe as the World Depression. ...
Coaxial cable is often used to transmit cable television into the house. ...
Some locations used in filming included Sacred Heart Church, the Fourth Street Elevator, E.J. Voggenthaler Co. and Dubuque Star Brewery. Filming was also done at the former Caradco manufacturing company in Dubuque. Portions of the Caradco building were fitted with new windows which were then purposely smashed for filming. The windows were replaced by the end of filming. Other Dubuque locations that were also visible in the finished film were the Dubuque County Courthouse and Saint Mary's Catholic Church. Sacred Heart Catholic Church is a parish church in the Archdiocese of Dubuque. ...
The Fourth Street Elevator is located in Dubuque, Iowa. ...
The Dubuque Star Brewery The Dubuque Star Brewery, located in Dubuque, Iowa, is a building that for many years made Dubuque Star beers. ...
The Dubuque County Courthouse is located in Dubuque, Iowa. ...
Saint Marys Church Saint Marys Catholic Church is a parish of the Archdiocese of Dubuque. ...
Surprisingly, some of the filming was also done in the English city of Sheffield. Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough in South Yorkshire, England. ...
Trivia - The 1978 Dubuque city directory listed Stallone on page 535 and Dillon on page 121. The fictional John and Anna Kovaks - two of the main characters in the film - were listed on page 309, and gave the brick duplex on the corner of 24th Street and Washington St. in Dubuque as their address.
- In the final credits, Kevin Kovak is listed as being played by Cole Dammett. This is the pseudonym for the future lead singer of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Anthony Kiedis.
- The scene depicting the large "Consolidated Trucking" sign over the factory gate being pulled down was done in one take. This was because the crew only had one sign, and once it was damaged it couldn't be used again.
A pseudonym (Greek pseudo + -onym: false name) is an artificial, fictitious name, also known as an alias, used by an individual as an alternative to a persons true name. ...
Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1983. ...
Anthony Kiedis (born November 1, 1962) is the lead singer and a co-founder of the Grammy award winning American rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers. ...
Reviews Despite the popular cast and strong reviews, F.I.S.T. was not a box office success. The minimal marketing and advertising the film received ultimately caused it to suffer financially.
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