Rita O'Grady and Norma Rae have many things common, even if language is not one of them–Rita's from the English Midlands, Norma from the American South. But they both are infected with the union bug and the desire for equality for women in the workplace. Sally Field won an Oscar for "Norma Rae," and while O'Grady won't carry home any statuettes, her performance in "Made in Dagenham," is equally delightful. The movie opens here today.
O'Grady works in a Ford plant in the town of Dagenham in 1968; she and nearly 200 other women sew seat covers and upholstery for automobiles. Wages are a pittance. Working conditions are abysmal. O'Grady also keeps house for her husband, Eddie (Daniel Mays), and their children, wakes him and gets them off to work and school, mounts her bicycle for her journey to the plant. Urged on by a sympathetic union rep, played in a relaxed, comfortable manner by Bob Hoskins, O'Grady and her co-workers get more and more militant, finally walk off the job.
Although this is the '60s, O'Grady and her mates don't know the England that "swings like a pendulum do," in the words of Roger Miller. But she and her buddies, Connie (Geraldine James), the shop steward; Sandra, (Jaime Winstone) a would-be model who looks great in hot pants; and many others, know it is important to fight for their rights.
William Ivory's screenplay is slanted to the union side. The management types are reactionary thugs who scorn the workers and ridicule the women. Peter Hopkins (Rupert Graves) is the plant's manager for labor relations, and his attitude is the worst of all, which probably contributed to his rise through the hierarchy. His wife (the delightful Rosamund Pike), however, has more intelligence and helps O'Grady, at least a little. There's also a bright, brief appearance by Miranda Richardson as the English secretary of state for employment and production, which immediately puts her between a rock and a hard place.
"Made in Dagenham" is light-hearted entertainment, smoothly directed by Nigel Cole, in which right makes might and working stiffs win out over corporate greed. See, it's a fairy tale, but only a few years later, the groundwork laid by the women of Dagenham resulted in laws that came close to equalizing pay scales between men and women.
Made in Dagenham opens today at Plaza Frontenac
—Joe