Car Wash (1976)

Directed by Michael Schultz.

Unfolding in a workplace setting far from the disco floor, this comedy classic nonetheless invokes the working-class energy that infused early disco culture.  Punctuated by live radio announcements hawking tickets to a hot disco club, the film bumps to a soul-funk soundtrack by Rose Royce (including its title song; a bona fide disco hit), prompting episodes of ecstatic dancing by its cast in a glimpse of transcendence through communal movement.

Universal Pictures.  Producer: Art Linson, Gary Stromberg. Screenwriter: Joel Schumacher. Cinematographer: Frank Stanley. Editor: Christopher Holmes. Cast: Franklyn Ajaye, Ivan Dixon, Garrett Morris, Richard Pryor, George Carlin.

35mm, color, 97 min.