The Blues Brothers | 80's Movie Guide

Taglines: They'll never get caught. They're on a mission from God. The Blues Brothers movie storyline. After the release of Jake Blues from prison, he and brother Elwood go to visit "The Penguin", the last of the nuns who raised them in a boarding school. They learn the Archdiocese will stop supporting the school and will sell the place to the Education Authority. The only way to keep the place open is if the $5000 tax on the property is paid within 11 days. The Blues Brothers want to help, and decide to put their blues band back together and raise the the money by staging a big gig. As they set off on their "mission from God" they seem to make more enemies along the way. Will they manage to come up with the money in time? The Blues Brothers is a 1980 American musical crime comedy film directed by John Landis. It stars John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd as "Joliet" Jake and Elwood Blues, characters developed from "The Blues Brothers" musical sketch on the NBC variety series Saturday Night Live. The film's screenplay was written by Aykroyd and Landis. It features musical numbers by rhythm and blues (R&B), soul, and blues singers James Brown, Cab Calloway, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, and John Lee Hooker. The film is set in and around Chicago, Illinois, where it was filmed. It features non-musical supporting performances by John Candy, Carrie Fisher, Charles Napier, and Henry Gibson. The story is a tale of redemption for paroled convict Jake and his brother Elwood, who set out on "a mission from God" to save from foreclosure the Catholic orphanage in which they were raised. To do so, they must reunite their R&B band and organize a performance to earn $5,000 needed to pay the orphanage's property tax bill. Along the way, they are targeted by a destructive "mystery woman", Neo-Nazis, and a country and western band—all while being relentlessly pursued by the police. The Blues Brothers (1980) Directed by: John Landis Starring: John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Cab Calloway, James Brown, Cab Calloway, Carrie Fisher, Tom Malone, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles Screenplay by: Dan Aykroyd, John Landis Production Design by: John J. Lloyd Cinematography by: Stephen M. Katz Film Editing by: George Folsey Jr. Costume Design by: Deborah Nadoolman Set Decoration by: Hal Gausman, Leslie McCarthy-Frankenheimer Art Direction by: Henry Larrecq Distributed by: Universal Pictures Release Date: June 20, 1980