History Film / CarWash

Noted comedians Creator/GeorgeCarlin and Creator/RichardPryor make brief appearances in the movie as well - Carlin as a taxi driver, who continually tries to track down his passenger (Marleen), who stiffed him on fare; Pryor as the pimpish Daddy Rich, a televangelist, who praises money more than his does God. Music/ThePointerSisters also appear as Daddy Rich's all-female entourage.

''Car Wash'' is a 1976 musical {{Blaxploitation}} movie that centers around the Deluxe Car Wash facility, located on a busy corner of Los Angeles. Deluxe employs a number of rather colorful workers, all of whom have rather wild yet quirky personalities, and they all act crazy just to make it through the day; meanwhile, Deluxe itself is on the brink of going out of business, as it's one of the last establishments in town that still washes cars by hand.

Sing it with feelin' now (Car wash, yeah!)''

Workin' at the Car Wash!\\
Workin' at the Car Wash, yeah!\\
Come on and sing it with me (Car Wash!)\\
Sing it with feelin' now (Car Wash, yeah!)''

Deluxe Carwash is owned and operated by a man simply known as Mr. B (Sully Boyer), a frustrated middle-aged fellow who has to deal with the craziness of his workers, the stress of trying to stay in business, and wondering what the motives are of his seemingly slacker son Erwin (Richard Brestoff), who apparently wants to drop out of school and become a part of the working class by working at the car wash with the others. The employees of the car wash include Mr. B's self-conscious and lonely cashier, Marsha (Creator/MelanieMayron); ex-con Lonnie (Ivan Dixon), who has a position of authority over the other workers; Earl (Leonard Jackson), who considers himself superior being, "The only nigger who doesn't get wet," since he's a dryer; T.C. (Franklin Ajaye), a young man determined to keep his estranged girlfriend, who appears to be waiting for a prince charming to sweep her off her feet; Floyd and Lloyd (Darrow Igus and [=DeWayne=] Jessie), a duo of would-be musical entertainers with dreams of show biz; Lindy (Creator/AntonioFargas, future [[Series/StarskyAndHutch Huggy Bear]]), a transvestite; Hippo (James Spinks), a very large employee who has eyes for loitering prostitute Marleen; Geronimo (Ray Vitte), a KnowNothingKnowItAll who offers romantic advice to Scruggs (Jack Kehoe), a cowboy-clad gas pumper, who worries over his wife after having a one-night stand with another woman; Goody and Chuco (Henry Kingi and Creator/PepeSerna), a pair of mischievous knuckleheads; Justin (Leon Pinkney), a young man who wants to marry his girlfriend, who wants him to go back to college and make something out of himself; Snapper (Clarence Muse), an elderly man who shines patrons' shoes; Slide (Creator/GarrettMorris), a con-artist who ends up arrested for unpaid parking tickets; and Abdullah (Creator/BillDuke), a recently-converted Black Muslim, who has an enormous chip on his shoulder, and appears bitter at the entire world.

Deluxe Carwash is owned and operated by a man simply known as Mr. B (Sully Boyer), a frustrated middle-aged fellow who has to deal with the craziness of his workers, the stress of trying to stay in business, and wondering what the motives are of his seemingly slacker son Erwin (Richard Brestoff), who apparently wants to drop out of school and become a part of the working class by working at the car wash with the others. The employees of the car wash include Mr. B's self-conscious and lonely cashier, Marsha (Creator/MelanieMayron); ex-con Lonnie (Ivan Dixon), who has a position of authority over the other workers; Earl (Leonard Jackson), who considers himself superior being, "The only nigger who doesn't get wet," since he's a dryer; T.C. (Franklin Ajaye), a young man determined to keep his estranged girlfriend, who appears to be waiting for a prince charming to sweep her off her feet; Floyd and Lloyd (Darrow Igus and [=DeWayne=] Jessie), a duo of would-be musical entertainers with dreams of show biz; Lindy (Creator/AntonioFargas, future Huggy Bear), a transvestite; Hippo (James Spinks), a very large employee who has eyes for loitering prostitute Marleen; Geronimo (Ray Vitte), a KnowNothingKnowItAll who offers romantic advice to Scruggs (Jack Kehoe), a cowboy-clad gas pumper, who worries over his wife after having a one-night stand with another woman; Goody and Chuco (Henry Kingi and Creator/PepeSerna), a pair of mischievous knuckleheads; Justin (Leon Pinkney), a young man who wants to marry his girlfriend, who wants him to go back to college and make something out of himself; Snapper (Clarence Muse), an elderly man who shines patrons' shoes; Slide (Creator/GarrettMorris), a con-artist who ends up arrested for unpaid parking tickets; and Abdullah (Creator/BillDuke), a recently-converted Black Muslim, who has an enormous chip on his shoulder, and appears bitter at the entire world.

Deluxe Carwash is owned and operated by a man simply known as Mr. B (Sully Boyer), a frustrated middle-aged fellow who has to deal with the craziness of his workers, the stress of trying to stay in business, and wondering what the motives are of his seemingly slacker son Erwin (Richard Brestoff), who apparently wants to drop out of school and become a part of the working class by working at the car wash with the others. The employees of the car wash include Mr. B's self-conscious and lonely cashier, Marsha (Melanie Mayron); ex-con Lonnie (Ivan Dixon), who has a position of authority over the other workers; Earl (Leonard Jackson), who considers himself superior being, "The only nigger who doesn't get wet," since he's a dryer; T.C. (Franklin Ajaye), a young man determined to keep his estranged girlfriend, who appears to be waiting for a prince charming to sweep her off her feet; Floyd and Lloyd (Darrow Igus and [=DeWayne=] Jessie), a duo of would-be musical entertainers with dreams of show biz; Lindy (Antonio Fargas, future Huggy Bear), a transvestite; Hippo (James Spinks), a very large employee who has eyes for loitering prostitute Marleen; Geronimo (Ray Vitte), a KnowNothingKnowItAll who offers romantic advice to Scruggs (Jack Kehoe), a cowboy-clad gas pumper, who worries over his wife after having a one-night stand with another woman; Goody and Chuco (Henry Kingi and Pepe Serna), a pair of mischievous knuckleheads; Justin (Leon Pinkney), a young man who wants to marry his girlfriend, who wants him to go back to college and make something out of himself; Snapper (Clarence Muse), an elderly man who shines patrons' shoes; Slide (Garrett Morris), a con-artist who ends up arrested for unpaid parking tickets; and Abdullah (Creator/BillDuke), a recently-converted Black Muslim, who has an enormous chip on his shoulder, and appears bitter at the entire world.

* HonkingArrivingCar: One of Duane/Abdullah's unexplained absences from the titular car wash is shown to involve, in part, one of his Black Muslim peers rolling up in a customized VW Bus and honking the horn to call him over.

Deluxe Carwash is owned and operated by a man simply known as Mr. B (Sully Boyer), a frustrated middle-aged fellow who has to deal with the craziness of his workers, the stress of trying to stay in business, and wondering what the motives are of his seemingly slacker son Erwin (Richard Brestoff), who apparently wants to drop out of school and become a part of the working class by working at the car wash with the others. The employees of the car wash include Mr. B's self-conscious and lonely cashier, Marsha (Melanie Mayron); ex-con Lonnie (Ivan Dixon), who has a position of authority over the other workers; Earl (Leonard Jackson), who considers himself superior being, "The only nigger who doesn't get wet," since he's a dryer; T.C. (Franklin Ajaye), a young man determined to keep his estranged girlfriend, who appears to be waiting for a prince charming to sweep her off her feet; Floyd and Lloyd (Darrow Igus and [=DeWayne=] Jessie), a duo of would-be musical entertainers with dreams of show biz; Lindy (Antonio Fargas, future Huggy Bear), a transvestite; Hippo (James Spinks), a very large employee who has eyes for loitering prostitute Marleen; Geronimo (Ray Vitte), a KnowNothingKnowItAll who offers romantic advice to Scruggs (Jack Kehoe), a cowboy-clad gas pumper, who worries over his wife after having a one-night stand with another woman; Goody and Chuco (Henry Kingi and Pepe Serna), a pair of mischievous knuckleheads; Justin (Leon Pinkney), a young man who wants to marry his girlfriend, who wants him to go back to college and make something out of himself; Snapper (Clarence Muse), an elderly man who shines patrons' shoes; Slide (Garrett Morris), a con-artist who ends up arrested for unpaid parking tickets; and Abdullah (Bill Duke), a recently-converted Black Muslim, who has an enormous chip on his shoulder, and appears bitter at the entire world.

''Car Wash'' is a 1976 musical {{Blaxploitation}} movie that centers around the Deluxe Carwash facility, located on a busy corner of Los Angeles. Deluxe employs a number of rather colorful workers, all of whom have rather wild yet quirky personalities, and they all act crazy just to make it through the day; meanwhile, Deluxe itself is on the brink of going out of business, as it's one of the last establishments in town that still washes cars by hand.

Deluxe Carwash is owned and operated by a man simply known as Mr. B (Sully Boyer), a frustrated middle-aged fellow who has to deal with the craziness of his workers, the stress of trying to stay in business, and wondering what the motives are of his seemingly slacker son Erwin (Richard Brestoff), who apparently wants to drop out of school and become a part of the working class by working at the carwash with the others. The employees of the carwash include Mr. B's self-conscious and lonely cashier, Marsha (Melanie Mayron); ex-con Lonnie (Ivan Dixon), who has a position of authority over the other workers; Earl (Leonard Jackson), who considers himself superior being, "The only nigger who doesn't get wet," since he's a dryer; T.C. (Franklin Ajaye), a young man determined to keep his estranged girlfriend, who appears to be waiting for a prince charming to sweep her off her feet; Floyd and Lloyd (Darrow Igus and [=DeWayne=] Jessie), a duo of would-be musical entertainers with dreams of show biz; Lindy (Antonio Fargas), a transvestite; Hippo (James Spinks), a very large employee who has eyes for loitering prostitute Marleen; Geronimo (Ray Vitte), a KnowNothingKnowItAll who offers romantic advice to Scruggs (Jack Kehoe), a cowboy-clad gas pumper, who worries over his wife after having a one-night stand with another woman; Goody and Chuco (Henry Kingi and Pepe Serna), a pair of mischevious knuckleheads; Justin (Leon Pinkney), a young man who wants to marry his girlfriend, who wants him to go back to college and make something out of himself; Snapper (Clarence Muse), an elderly man who shines patrons' shoes; Slide (Garrett Morris), a con-artist who ends up arrested for unpaid parking tickets; and Abdullah (Bill Duke), a recently-converted Black Muslim, who has an enormous chip on his shoulder, and appears bitter at the entire world.

* MadBomber: T.C. and Hippo see one of their customers is a man who fits the description of a pop-bottle bomber, whom they just heard about on the radio, and read about in the paper; the man is even seen wandering around the car wash with a bottle in a paperbag, [[spoiler: though it turns out he's just an eccentric guy who was carrying a bottle of his own urine to the doctor following a surgery he had two days prior]].
* MeaningfulName: Hippo, considering he's the largest (both in height and weight) employee at the car wash.

* RandomEventsPlot: The movie itself doesn't really have that much of a plot to speak of, just pretty much whatever goes on at the car wash, between the hijinks of the employees, to the interesting customers they have throughout the day.

* YourCheatingHeart:
** Scruggs implies to having a one-night stand (and fears he may have contracted an STD as a result of it), and spends much of the entire movie worrying about his wife, as he has yet to hear from her. [[spoiler: In the end, she arrives at the car wash, and throws packed suitcase at him before driving off into the night]]
** Mr. B is married, though it's clear that his relationship with his wife is strained, so he in turn flirts a little with Marsha.

* CaliforniaDoubling: Completely subverted, it was filmed ''in'' California, on location in Los Angeles.

* MonochromeCasting: Subverted; almost all of the employees at the car wash are black, with the exception of Goody - who is Native American, Chuco - Latino, and Scruggs, the TokenWhite.

* DoNotCallMePaul: Abdullah's real name is Duane, and calling him such is his BerserkButton; he took the name after converting to Muslim.

'''''Car Wash''''' is a 1976 musical {{Blaxploitation}} movie that centers around the Deluxe Carwash facility, located on a busy corner of Los Angeles. Deluxe employs a number of rather colorful workers, all of whom have rather wild yet quirky personalities, and they all act crazy just to make it through the day; meanwhile, Deluxe itself is on the brink of going out of business, as it's one of the last establishments in town that still washes cars by hand.

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Film critic RogerEbert has likened this movie to ''[[Series/{{MASH}} M*A*S*H]]'', and in a sense, there are a ''lot'' of similarities between the two, from Mr. B being an easily-flustered boss like Henry Blake, the employees of the car wash acting crazy to get through their long work days and troubling personal lives like the surgeons of the 4077th... the movie even ends with an oral roll call of the cast, much like ''M*A*S*H'' has done.

* MeaningfulNickname: Hippo, considering he's the largest (both in height and weight) employee at the car wash.

* HeyItsThatGuy:
** Most notably is [[Series/HogansHeroes Sergeant Kinchloe]] as Lonnie.
** And that's the first [[Series/SesameStreet Mr. Handford]] as Earl.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: ''Car Wash'' was actually conceived as a Broadway musical, rather than a movie.

'''''Car Wash''''' is a 1976 musical blaxploitation movie that centers around the Deluxe Carwash facility, located on a busy corner of Los Angeles. Deluxe employs a number of rather colorful workers, all of whom have rather wild yet quirky personalities, and they all act crazy just to make it through the day; meanwhile, Deluxe itself is on the brink of going out of business, as it's one of the last establishments in town that still washes cars by hand.

* NWordPriveleges: Not surprising, considering this is a blaxploitation film.