The Blues Brothers

The Blues Brothers was a rhythm and blues band fronted by comedians Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi in character. Belushi (as vocalist Joliet Jake Blues) and Aykroyd (as harpist Elwood Blues) were both members of the original cast of NBC's Saturday Night Live. The Blues Brothers and their alternate identities first appeared in 1977

Plot details

The movie revolves around the title characters, who are reunited at the beginning of the film as "Joliet" Jake is released from Joliet Prison into his brother's custody (he was imprisoned for armed robbery). Elwood immediately irritates Jake by picking him up in a former City of Mount Prospect police car, a 1974 Dodge Monaco (which replaced their Cadillac, the "Bluesmobile", which Elwood had traded for a microphone). Shortly after Jake's release, they learn that the orphanage which was their childhood home is to be torn down unless the back property taxes on the building can be paid within a short time. (Although this is normally regarded as a goof, as church-owned property is exempt from property tax, it was actually based on a real bill that was being put through at the time of the writing of the film. The bill was later shot down.) A visit to an evangelical church service gives the brothers an epiphany - they can raise the necessary funds, legitimately, by taking their legendary rhythm-and-blues band for a tour. The same day, Elwood attracts the unwanted attention of the police with his reckless driving habits; he then earns their enmity by driving through a shopping mall - the actual mall, not just the parking lot - to lose them. The Chicago Police track them down to a flophouse where Elwood is living, but only after being thrown off the trail at first because Elwood had falsified his vehicle registration with the address of Wrigley Field. Just as the police are about to move in for the arrest, the flophouse is blown up by a mysterious woman. The Blues Brothers get away unhurt, still wanted by the police.

Related Topics:
Joliet Prison - Mount Prospect - 1974 - Dodge Monaco - Orphanage - Property tax - Shopping mall - Flophouse - Wrigley Field

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The Blues Brothers spend the rest of the film's first half tracking down members of the Band and convincing them to re-join, as well as playing venues to raise the requisite $5,000 needed to save the orphanage. Staged and spontaneous musical numbers commence during their journey. The duo also make numerous enemies along the way, notably a neo-Nazi group (led by Henry Gibson), the Chicago Police Department, a pair of Illinois state troopers (one of whom is cameoed by Director John Landis himself!), a Country and Western band called "The Good Ol' Boys" (led by Charles Napier), and the mysterious woman who is later revealed to be Jake's jilted fiancée (Carrie Fisher) who continually tries (and fails) to kill them using various methods, including a bazooka (which famously fires more shots than it actually holds) and a flamethrower. Several car chases with an extremely large number of crashes result (in parody of the car chases in earlier movies such as The French Connection).

Related Topics:
$ - Neo-Nazi - Henry Gibson - Country and Western - Charles Napier - Carrie Fisher - Bazooka - Flamethrower - Parody - Car chase - The French Connection

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The film culminates in a live concert, during which Cab Calloway opens with "Minnie the Moocher" and the Blues Brothers perform. This is followed by a massive car chase in which the brothers try to get the money raised from the concert to downtown Chicago in time to pay the tax debt owed by the orphanage. The film held the record for the most cars destroyed in one film, until surpassed by its sequel.

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The film effectively combines the deadpan humor of Belushi and Aykroyd as the title characters with over-the-top action and slapstick sequences, interspersed with highly-stylized musical numbers from the soul music legends in the supporting cast.

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The Blues Brothers is often regarded as the best of many films adapted from Saturday Night Live sketches.

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