Born in East L.A. (film)
| Born in East L.A. | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Cheech Marin |
| Produced by | Peter MacGregor Scott |
| Screenplay by | Cheech Marin |
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| Music by | Lee Holdridge |
| Cinematography | Alex Phillips Jr. |
| Edited by | Don Brochu Stephen Lovejoy David Newhouse Mike Sheridan |
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Production
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Clear Type
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| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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85 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $17,355,263 (US) |
Born in East L.A. is a 1987 American comedy film written and directed by Cheech Marin of the Cheech & Chong comedy team.
The film is about a Mexican-American from East Los Angeles who is mistaken for an illegal alien and deported. It is based on a 1984 novelty parody song of Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the U.S.A." and "I Love L.A." by Randy Newman. Written by Marin and released on the 1985 Cheech & Chong album Get Out of My Room, the parody was made a music video the same year. Marin used the song as the basis of his first solo film.
Rudy Robles (Marin) is told by his mother to pick up his cousin Javier (Paul Rodriguez) at a factory before she leaves for Fresno. Robles arrives shortly before immigration officials raid the factory looking for illegal immigrants. Because he is carrying no identification, and his mother and sister are not available to verify he is a US citizen, Robles is deported with the illegals to Mexico.
Ironically, Robles cannot speak more than very simple Spanglish, though he is fluent in German from having served in Germany in the United States Army.
In Tijuana, Robles becomes friends with a guy named Jimmy (Daniel Stern) and a waitress named Dolores (Kamala Lopez-Dawson). Unable to contact his mother, Robles makes repeated attempts to cross the border, all ending in failure.
Jimmy offers to get him back home for a price. Having left home without his wallet, Robles works for Jimmy as doorman at a strip club, earning extra money selling oranges and teaching five would be illegal immigrants, two Central Americans and three Asians, to walk and talk like East Los Angeles natives. They become called the "Waas Sappening Boys" or "What's Happening Boys".
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Wikipedia