IMDb > Silkwood (1983)
Silkwood
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Overview

User Rating:
7.1/10   6,077 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 4% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Mike Nichols
Writers:
Nora Ephron (written by) &
Alice Arlen (written by)
Contact:
View company contact information for Silkwood on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
14 December 1983 (USA) more
Genre:
Biography | Drama | Thriller more
Tagline:
On November 13, 1974, Karen Silkwood, an employee of a nuclear facility, left to meet with a reporter from the New York Times. She never got there.
Plot:
The story of Karen Silkwood, a metallurgy worker at a plutonium processing plant who was purposefully contaminated, psychologically tortured and possibly murdered to prevent her from exposing blatant worker safety violations at the plant. full summary | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
more
Awards:
Nominated for 5 Oscars. Another 2 wins & 7 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(19 articles)
Their Best Role: Meryl Streep
 (From Cinematical. 18 November 2009, 9:02 AM, PST)
Before There Were Websites... (Pt 1)
 (From FilmExperience. 8 September 2009, 12:30 PM, PDT)
User Comments:
I think many reviews miss the point more (54 total)

Cast

  (in credits order) (verified as complete)

Meryl Streep ... Karen Silkwood

Kurt Russell ... Drew Stephens

Cher ... Dolly Pelliker

Craig T. Nelson ... Winston

Fred Ward ... Morgan

Diana Scarwid ... Angela

Ron Silver ... Paul Stone
Charles Hallahan ... Earl Lapin
Josef Sommer ... Max Richter
Sudie Bond ... Thelma Rice
Henderson Forsythe ... Quincy Bissell

E. Katherine Kerr ... Gilda Schultz

Bruce McGill ... Mace Hurley

David Strathairn ... Wesley
J.C. Quinn ... Curtis Schultz
Kent Broadhurst ... Carl
Richard Hamilton ... Georgie

Les Lannom ... Jimmy

M. Emmet Walsh ... Walt Yarborough
Graham Jarvis ... Doctor at Union Meeting
James Rebhorn ... Los Alamos Doctor

Ray Baker ... Pete Dawson
Michael Bond ... 2nd Los Alamos Doctor

Bill Cobbs ... Man in Lunchroom
Norman Colvin ... Zachary (as Norm Colv in)
Haskell Craver ... Ham
Kathie Dean ... Stewardess
Gary Grubbs ... Randy Fox
Susan McDaniel ... Karen's Child
Tana Hensley ... Karen's Child
Anthony Fernandez ... Karen's Child
Betty Harper ... May Bissell

Tess Harper ... Linda Dawson

Anthony Heald ... 2nd Doctor at Union Meeting
Nancy Hopton ... Nurse
Betty King ... Nurse
Dan Lindsey ... Man at Fence
John Martin ... Man with Flashlight
Will Patton ... Joe
Vern Porter ... Bill Charlton
Christopher Saylors ... Buddy
Don Slatton ... Man in Moonsuit (as Don Slaton)
Tom Stovall ... 3rd Los Alamos Doctor
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
John Addington ... Airline passenger (uncredited)

Jim Beaver ... Plant Manager (uncredited)

Pamela Clay ... Woman in Bar (uncredited)
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Directed by
Mike Nichols 
 
Writing credits
Nora Ephron (written by) &
Alice Arlen (written by)

Produced by
Larry Cano .... executive producer
Michael Hausman .... producer
Buzz Hirsch .... executive producer
Mike Nichols .... producer
Tom Stovall .... associate producer
Joel Tuber .... associate producer
 
Original Music by
Georges Delerue 
 
Cinematography by
Miroslav Ondrícek (director of photography) (as Miroslav Ondricek)
 
Film Editing by
Sam O'Steen 
 
Casting by
Mary Goldberg 
 
Production Design by
Patrizia von Brandenstein  (as Patrizia Von Brandenstein)
 
Art Direction by
Richard D. James  (as Richard James)
 
Set Decoration by
Derek R. Hill 
Dennis W. Peeples 
 
Costume Design by
Ann Roth 
 
Makeup Department
Silvia Abascal .... hair stylist
J. Roy Helland .... makeup artist
Bob Mills .... makeup artist
Marina Pedraza .... hair stylist
 
Production Management
Richard Brick .... production manager
Herb Jellinek .... executive in charge of production
 
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Michael Hausman .... first assistant director
Joel Tuber .... second assistant director
 
Art Department
Joe Acord .... constructionn coordinator
Bradly E. Breitbarth .... assistant property master
John Dapper .... assistant art director
Russell Goble .... property master
Michael D. Murray .... set designer
Tom Bartholomew .... key set painter (uncredited)
Glenn Dunn .... propmaker (uncredited)
Floyd Gentry .... set painter/on-camera artist (uncredited)
 
Sound Department
Clint Althouse .... boom operator
Stan Bochner .... sound editor
Tom Fleischman .... sound re-recording mixer
Randal A. Goya .... foley mixer
Larry Jost .... production sound mixer
Stuart Lieberman .... assistant sound editor
Dan Lieberstein .... sound editor
Philip Rogers .... sound recordist
Fred Rosenberg .... assistant sound editor
Dick Vorisek .... sound re-recording mixer
Bob Olari .... sound recordist (uncredited)
Donald C. Rogers .... technical director of sound (uncredited)
 
Stunts
Gary Paul .... stunt coordinator
 
Camera and Electrical Department
Robert Connors .... best boy
Tom Gilligan .... best boy grip
Bob Hall .... second assistant camera
Robert Horne .... first assistant camera
Billy Kerwick .... key rigging grip
Mary Ellen Mark .... special photography
Tom Priestley Jr. .... camera operator
Richard Quinlan .... gaffer
Ed Quinn .... key grip
Don Reddy .... camera operator: second unit
Brian H. Reynolds .... grip
Zade Rosenthal .... still photographer
 
Editorial Department
Jeff Freeman .... assistant editor
David Siegel .... assistant editor
Norman Buckley .... assistant editor (uncredited)
 
Music Department
Georges Delerue .... conductor
Jack Fitzstephens .... music editor
Howard Shore .... music coordinator
 
Transportation Department
James E. Foote .... transportation coordinator
Andy Straub .... transportation captain
 
Other crew
John Anderson .... technical advisor
Lynn Covey .... production assistant
Stuart Fink .... publicist
Karen Hall .... production office coordinator
Cathy Hausman .... production assistant
Karen Koch .... production office coordinator
Susan MacNair .... assistant: Mr Nichols
John F. Massie .... production assistant
Lee R. Mayes .... location manager
Marshall Schlom .... script supervisor
Mark Schotte .... production assistant
Tom Styron .... assistant: Mr Nichols
Mike Childress .... stage manager (uncredited)
 

Production CompaniesDistributorsOther Companies
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Additional Details

Parents Guide:
View content advisory for parents
Runtime:
131 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono
Certification:
Australia:M | Iceland:16 | Singapore:NC-16 | Argentina:18 | Chile:18 | Finland:K-12 | Sweden:11 | UK:15 | USA:R | West Germany:16
Filming Locations:
Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA more
Company:
ABC Motion Pictures more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
The scene where Silkwood set off the radiation alarms actually happened. Her level of contamination was forty times the safe limit. more
Goofs:
Errors in geography: Kerr McGee's Cimmeron plant is on the east side of Hwy 74, between Crescent to the north and Oklahoma City to the south. Opening scenes show a mileage sign for Crescent, which is really the opposite direction. This also causes incorrect footage for placement and direction of travel in later scenes (ex. placement of car in accident, tow truck pulling wrecked car past Crescent Cafe, etc.) more
Quotes:
[on the deceased former workers of a nuclear plant]
Angela: They all look as though they died before they were dead.
more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry (2007) more
Soundtrack:
Amazing Grace more

FAQ

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User Comments

   (Comment on this title)
15 out of 16 people found the following comment useful.
I think many reviews miss the point, 2 August 2003
8/10
Author: LoliRyder from Canada

One of the things that many movies are missing these days are the small details and things that happen in everyday life - and how we are able to learn about characters through small visual clues rather than the large hammer of exposition-driven dialogue.

For instance, in the scene where the characters are looking at the slides of the trip to Washington: towards the end are two photos with Streep and Ron Silver's character. In the second photo, she leans into him a little bit. That tiny bit of body language makes us wonder - and Kurt Russell's character too. He suddenly moves his arm from around Streep's and suddenly she's aware that something's wrong. It's all in the unspoken. There isn't a preceding scene where she picks up the other guy, or goes to bed with him or even lies to Kurt Russell. It just cuts to this scene, and we the viewer learn along with Kurt that she's been unfaithful - which also reveals a little more about this person Karen Silkwood.

She's not a perfect hero - she's flighty, irresponsible, impulsive and non-committal - so the question becomes, why did she change? Why did she risk her life when she finally truly understood the risks? And how does Kurt Russell come to terms with this changed person he is in love with, given that he is just a guy who knows how to fix a car not save the world?

Watch Mike Nichols' inspired direction; he rarely cuts away in the middle of a scene. A lot of Kurt, Cher and Meryl's acting happens all in one take. *That's* truly good acting and directing.

Good dialogue in a film is in knowing what's happening without it being said. Don't fast forward the first hour - really pay attention and see how much you learn from the small details that will enrich your viewing of this film.

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Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Silkwood (1983)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
Shirley McLaine vs. Debra Winger vs. Meryl Streep impossibledreamer
I LOVE her haircut! RainyNightHouse
was meryl the oscar favorite that year? wobber1012
What was so special about Cher's performance? timeslord
She lived in the town that I live in! dancingdiva0990
I know what happened. StreeplyFantastic93
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