La Bamba
La Bamba is a 1987 American biographical drama film written and directed by Luis Valdez. The film follows the life and short-lived musical career of American Chicano rock and roll star Ritchie Valens. The film stars Lou Diamond Phillips as Valens, Esai Morales, Rosanna DeSoto, Elizabeth Peña, Danielle von Zerneck and Joe Pantoliano. The film also covers the effect that Valens' career had on the lives of his half-brother Bob Morales, his girlfriend Donna Ludwig, and the rest of his family. The film is titled after a traditional Mexican folk song of the same name, which Valens transformed into a rock and roll rendition in 1958.
| Directed by | |||
| Produced by | Bill Borden
Taylor Hackford |
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| Written by | Luis Valdez
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| Screenplay by |
 screenplay by
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| Story by |
story by
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| Based on |
based on
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| Starring | |||
| Narrated by |
narrated by
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| Music by | |||
| Cinematography | |||
| Edited by | Sheldon Kahn
Don Brochu |
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| Animation by |
animation by
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| Layouts by |
layouts by
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| Backgrounds by |
backgrounds by
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| Color process |
color process
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| Production company | |||
| Distributed by | |||
| Release date | July 24, 1987
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| Running time | 108 minutes
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| Country | United States
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| Language |
language
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| Budget | $6,000,000 USD
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| Box office | $54,000,000 USD
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ADDITIONAL DETAILS
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| Class |
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| Theme |
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| Tone |
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| Mood |
mood
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| Artist |
artist
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| Album type |
album type
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| Released |
released
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| Recorded |
recorded
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| Venue |
venue
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| Studio |
studio
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| Genre |
genre
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| Length |
length
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| # of tracks |
# of tracks
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| Language | English
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| Label |
label
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| Director |
director
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| Producer |
producer
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| Compiler |
compiler
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ALBUM CHRONOLOGY
| Previous album |
previous album
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| Next album |
next album
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ADDITIONAL DETAILS
| Theme |
theme
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Bob Morales: Yeah. Except this prom puts out.
- Many family members from the production team, and Luis Valdez's and the Valenzuela family, appear in this film.
- At the first family party, the old lady sitting by Ritchie and the man is Ritchie Valens' mother, Connie Valenzuela.
- In the movie, Esai Morales plays Bob, the older brother of Ritchie Valens, played by Lou Diamond Phillips. In reality, Phillips is older than Morales.
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# According to Lou Diamond Phillips in the VH1 documentary "Behind The Music: The Day The Music Died" (1990), Ritchie Valens' sister was on the set the day they filmed the "coin toss" scene where Ritchie wins (or rather, loses) the chance to fly on the plane with Buddy Holly and The Big Bopper. As the scenes were being shot, Ritchie's sister began to weep uncontrollably and when Phillips tried to console her, she hugged him and sobbed, "Why Ritchie? Why did you get on the plane?" - The actors who played Ritchie, Buddy and The Big Bopper were all much older than the stars they played. Twenty-five-year-old Lou Diamond Phillips played teen-aged Ritchie Valens, 31-year-old Stephen Lee played the 29-year-old Big Bopper, and 33-year-old Marshall Crenshaw played 22-year-old Buddy Holly.
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