Norma Rae

Norma Rae Webster works long hours in a textile mill in a small southern town, where low pay and poor conditions have been accepted for generations. When Reuben, a union organizer from New York, arrives to build support for a union at the plant, Norma Rae becomes his most committed ally. Their campaign meets resistance from management and suspicion from the workers themselves, and it puts Norma Rae's job and standing in the community at risk. The film is based on real events.

Martin Ritt directed the drama, which came out in March 1979, roughly two decades into his career and between The Front and Nuts. Irving Ravetch and Harriet Frank Jr. wrote the screenplay, and Alexandra Rose and Tamara Asseyev produced. Sally Field plays Norma Rae, with Ron Leibman as Reuben, Beau Bridges as Sonny, Pat Hingle as Vernon, Barbara Baxley as Leona and Gail Strickland as Bonnie Mae.

Made for about five million dollars, the film took in around twenty-two million worldwide. On IMDb it holds a rating of 7.3 from roughly fourteen thousand votes, while on TMDB it stands at 7.2 from just over two hundred. A critics' rating of 7.9 from thirty-two reviews places it above both audience scores.