Boulevard Nights

Summary

“Esta es mi barrio.”

Warner Archive has recently given the 1979 urban drama Boulevard Nights a Blu-ray release. I had never heard of this film, but the reviews I read on the picture claimed that it was a precursor to later Angelino urban dramas such as Boyz n the Hood or Blood In, Blood Out. Written by Desmond Nakano, the script focuses on a group of young Latino men living in East L.A. and the difficulties they face due to gang warfare in their neighborhoods. Directed by Michael Pressman, the film was a modest success critically and financially at the time of its release. I watched it the other night.

In East L.A., two young Latino friends wander into a neighborhood controlled by another gang. One of the two gets scared and leaves, while the other stays and spray paints his 11th Street gang symbol on top of the other gang’s mark. He turns around and bumps into the rival gang. He is beaten by the members until one of the gang’s former members, Raymond (Richard Yniquez,) arrives and stops them from going too far. Raymond lives at home with his mother and his troubled younger brother Chuco (Danny De La Paz.) Raymond works at a body shop. He helps Chuco to land a job there. Chuco had been kicked out of high school when he pulled a knife in the cafeteria during a brawl. Raymond owns a pimped out blue 1972 Chevrolet Monte Carlo with hydraulics. Raymond has a girlfriend named Shady (Marta DuBois,) and they have been together for three and a half years. One night he picks Shady up with Chuco. She doesn’t want to cruise the boulevard. She wants to go eat dinner, but Raymond takes them out to cruise for a little while with Chuco sits in the back. Chuco jumps out of Raymond’s ride and hops in with the other gang members when they pass by them in the traffic. While Chuco and his friends cruise they boulevard they are spotted by the 11th street gang member they had beaten up. Meanwhile, Raymond pulls into a parking lot and compares his hydraulics with another car. They make bets on whose car can jump higher. Chuco and his gang get jumped. Raymond’s friends let him know, and he runs towards the fight. While tussling with one of the 11th street gang members, Chuco comes out on top. The 11th street gang member is left on the street with a knife sticking out of him. Raymond arrives on the scene and gets Chuco out of there. Raymond hops in a car and sits in between some girls to flee the scene as the cops arrive. Chuco is picked up by the cops that night. Shady decides she has had enough waiting around for Raymond to grow up. She lets Raymond know that she is leaving him. Raymond picks up Chuco from the police station. Chuco acts tough around the police and he gets reprimanded by Raymond. The cops can’t prove anything, but the 11th street gang may hold Chuco responsible for the death of their friend.

Boulevard Nights is a slight urban drama. The acting quality is definitely hit or miss, but the script has a lived in quality that I enjoyed. The picture captures a specific time, place, and culture that was not actively explored in many other films of that time. Does the picture feel a little cliche? Sure. In some aspects it is VERY cliche. Do moments of the film feel like an after school special? Yes, but that could simply be due to my later exposure to even greater Los Angeles gang films that followed such as Boyz n the Hood. 

The film is elevated by two performances and two exceptional craftsmen. First off, the cinematography by John Bailey is excellent. His eye for color and exceptional blocking add so much to what could otherwise feel like a somewhat trite gang picture. The other excellent craftsman on the picture was composer Lalo Schifrin. While this would not rank as one of his best scores, it still adds a lot to the film. There are two performances of note. The lead performance by Richard Yniguez is charming and well performed. He brings depth to the role. The second strong performance is by Danny De La Paz as the wayward Chuco. Danny was not a traditionally trained actor and was cast largely because of how much he resembled the character in the film. While his performance is rough around the edges, it is convincing.

Overall, I liked Boulevard Nights just fine. It isn’t amazing, nor is it bad. I think Roger Ebert’s original 2.5 star review was pretty much on the money.

Video

Boulevard Nights comes to Blu-ray from a brand new 4K scan from its original camera negative. Boulevard Nights is presented in 1.85:1 aspect ratio with an MPEG-4 AVC encode in 1080p. This is a really healthy presentation of the film that should please any fans of the movie. Grain is filmic and the color timing looks true to the source. The cinematography by the late great John Bailey is one of the best aspects of the film and it shines on Warner Archive’s disc.

Audio

Warner has provided a DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono track in English. The score by Lalo Schifrin is very enjoyable and adds a lot to the picture. It is presented very well. The dialogue comes across crystal clear. I had no issues with this track. It is a good representation of the original source material.

Supplements:

• Trailer

Overall Scores:

Video: 4.5/5

Audio: 4.25/5

Supplements: .5/5

Overall – 3.5/5

Boulevard Nights is an enjoyable, if somewhat predictable and cliche, look at the pressures that faced young Latino men in the barrios of East Los Angeles at the end of the Seventies. The script has a lived-in quality even when it revels in tropes that have existed since the first gangster films. The picture is elevated by the strong cinematography of John Bailey, solid score by Lalo Schifrin, and two strong lead actor performances. The picture is not perfect, but I did not regret taking my time to view it. Fans of the film should be extremely pleased by Warner Archive’s great looking transfer of the film.

The film can be purchased at www.moviezyng.com.