November 13 - Silkwood

This movie has a scene that happens today – November 13. I hope you will enjoy this film and watch it tonight.

SILKWOOD

Karen Silkwood lives with her boyfriend Drew Stephens and her friend Dolly Pelliker. They all work at the Kerr-McGee plutonium processing facility in Crescent, Oklahoma. The facility is understaffed and working on a tight schedule that does not allow for carrying out safety drills. The three travel to Texas so Karen can she her three kids, who live with their father. After Karen gets blamed for causing a contamination shutdown and appearing to have caused anther one, she is transferred to another section. There she learns the company is retouching x-rays of defective nuclear fuel rods. The company finds enough votes to force a decertification election on the union. Dolly moves her lesbian lover, Angela, a funeral home beautician in with her. Karen goes to meetings in Washington, D.C.  with the union and the Atomic Energy Commission. She tells the union leaders about the touched up x-rays and they ask her to investigate. Drew upset by the fact that Karen has become a full time union activist, moves out.  The union stays certified, but some workers blame her for actions that could result in the facility being closed.  Karen sets off two more alarms and her house is found to be contaminated with radiation. The company thinks she did it herself, while she thinks Kerr-McGee is trying to kill her. When she goes for treatment she finds her exposure is still below the recommended maximum exposure levels. On November 13, 1974 [2:02:59 to 2:06:50] Karen Silkwood goes to meet a reporter for the New York Times. Se never gets there and found dead the next day in an apparent one-car crash.

A movie where the three leads totally become their characters. Excellently played low key by Streep, Cher and Russell. The movie leads you to think she was murdered, but this is still unproven.

Unsolved Crimes: Follow the Trail of the World’s Most Notorious Cold Cases by John 

Wright (Amber Books, Ltd., London, 2010) at page 23 and the film at 2:06:55 give the date of her death

Producer - Michael Hausman

Director - Mike Nichols

Awards – The movie was nominated for the Best Actress (Streep), Best Supporting Actress (Cher), Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best Film Editing Oscars at the 56^th Academy Awards

Screenplay - Nora Ephron and Alice Arlen

Runtime – 2 hours 11 minutes

Released – December 14, 1983

Starring –

Meryl Streep as Karen Silkwood

Kurt Russell as Drew Stephens

Cher as Dolly Pelliker

Craig T. Nelson as Winston

Fred Ward as Morgan

Diana Scarwid as Angela

Ron Silver as Paul Stone

Josef Sommer as Max Richter

Charles Hallahan as Earl Lapin

Sudie Bond as Thelma Rice

Henderson Forsythe as Quincy Bissell

Bruce McGill as Mace Hurley

David Strathairn as Wesley

M. Emmet Walsh as Walt Yarborough

Ray Baker as Pete Dawson