Steelyard Blues

Oddball drama about outcasts (Sutherland, Boyle and Fonda) starts shaky, but finds its footing

A group of misfits in the Oakland area hang out in a junkyard and an abandoned airstrip. They come up with the harebrained scheme of repairing a PBY Catalina flying boat and escaping their troubles. Donald Sutherland plays the black sheep brother of a district attorney (Howard Hesseman) while Jane Fonda is on hand as a high-priced prostitute sorta romanced by the former. Meanwhile Peter Boyle plays an eccentric bloke who used to work in the circus. John Savage is also on hand.

"Steelyard Blues" was shot in 1971, but not released until 1973. Sutherland & Fonda were an item after the success of Klute (1971), but this one understandably...

I usually reckon that heist movies are always more interesting as the plotters get together and do their scheming, then they fall away a bit as very, very, rarely do they ever get away with their crime. Well this one has the scheming phase, ok, but it isnt remotely interesting. Donald Sutherland heads the cast with whats almost an identical reprise of his quirky Oddball character from Kellys Heroes (1970). This time hes a stock car racing addict Feldini who has been released from his latest term in prison with one last chance before they just throw away the key. He has allied himself with a gang of like-minded folks and together they have decided it is time to get away from it all. To that end, they decide to refurbish an old wartime flying...