The story of a woman with the courage to risk everything for what she believes is right.

If you haven't seen Norma Rae then you're missing...


Norma Rae finds Sally Field cast in the title role, a minimum-wage worker in a cotton mill. The factory has taken too much of a toll on the health of Norma Rae's family for her to ignore her Dickensian working conditions. After hearing a speech by New York union organizer Reuben (Ron Leibman), Norma Rae decides to join the effort to unionize her shop. This causes dissension at home when Norma Rae's husband, Sonny (Beau Bridges), assumes that her activism is a result of a romance between herself and Reuben. Despite the pressure brought to bear by management, Norma Rae successfully orchestrates a shutdown of the mill, resulting in victory for the union and capitulation to its demands. Based on a true story, Norma Rae is the film for which Sally Field won her first Oscar; an additional Oscar went to David Shire and Norman Gimbel for the film's theme song, "It Goes Like It Goes."


Norma Rae is a 1979 American drama film that tells the story of a factory worker from a small town in North Carolina, who becomes involved in the labor union activities at the textile factory where she works. The film stars Sally Field in the titular role, Beau Bridges as Norma Rae's husband, Sonny, and Ron Leibman as union organizer Reuben Warshowsky.
The movie was written by Harriet Frank, Jr. and Irving Ravetch, and was directed by Martin Ritt. It is based on the true story of Crystal Lee Sutton (1940–2009),[3][4] which was told in the 1975 book Crystal Lee, a Woman of Inheritance by New York Times reporter Henry P. Leifermann.[5]
Norma Rae was filmed on location in Opelika, Alabama. The mill scenes were shot at the Leshner Mill (known to locals as the Old Mill), and the motel scenes were filmed at The Golden Cherry Motel.
Sally Field won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her portrayal as Norma Rae Webster. Norma Rae won a total of 2 awards, plus 6 other nominations.[1] The film was selected for inclusion in the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress in 2011.


Release Date: March 9, 1979

Distrib: 20th Century Fox

Boxoffice: $22,228,000 2013: $70,314,900