Viewing: April 17,2025
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Director: Martin Ritt
Cast: Sally Field, Ron Leibman, Beau Bridges
Awards: Oscar - Best Actress, Best Picture (nom)
The film that garnered Sally Field her first Academy Award for Best Actress, Norma Rae tells the story of a textile worker who gets fed up with the terrible working conditions in her factory and the toll they have taken on her and her family. She begins to learn more about the labor movement and meets some union organizers, and, eventually, Norma finds herself at the heart of a clash between the factory’s management and a group of pro-union workers who intend to fight for better wages and treatment.
Directed by Martin Ritt (Hud, The Spy Who Came in From the Cold), and starring Beau Bridges, Ron Leibman, and Pat Hingle, this film was nominated for four Oscars – including Best Picture – upon its release in 1979. The story is largely based on the life Crystal Lee Sutton who was fired from her textile factory job for insubordination as a result of her attempts to organize a union among the factory’s workers.
About the Speaker
Dr. Rachel Terman is Eric A. Wagner Associate Professor of Sociology at Ohio University and affiliate faculty with the Appalachian Studies and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies programs. She will introduce the film by discussing the connections among Appalachia, gender, and labor in a historical and current context.
Check out the rest of our films for the Appalachian Stories series
This series is sponsored by the Ohio Honors Program, University Libraries, College of Health Sciences and Professions, The Department of Social and Public Health, GO Local, University College, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, The Multicultural Center and The Black Student Cultural Programming Board, Center for Campus and Community Engagement, and The Women’s Center.
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