''Utilities'' is a 1983 Canadian

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed by

Harvey Hart Harvey Hart (August 30, 1928 – November 21, 1989) was a Canadian television and film director and a television producer. Hart studied at the University of Toronto before being hired by the CBC in 1952.Rist, Peter Harry (2001). "Harvey Ha ...

and starring

Robert Hays Robert Hays (born July 24, 1947) is an American actor, known for a variety of television and film roles since the 1970s. He came to prominence around 1980, co-starring in the two-season domestic sitcom '' Angie'', and playing the central role of ...

and Brooke Adams.

Plot

One of Bob Hunt's (Hays) neighbours' electricity is cut off because she cannot pay the bill. She is assisted by contributions, and the bill is paid entirely in pennies, though the clerk is belatedly told that payment is not accepted in such a large quantity of coins. Unfortunately, the electric company fails to reconnect the power due to a communications snafu, and the elderly woman is taken to hospital suffering

hypothermia Hypothermia is defined as a body core temperature below in humans. Symptoms depend on the temperature. In mild hypothermia, there is shivering and mental confusion. In moderate hypothermia, shivering stops and confusion increases. In severe h ...

. Hunt sets off on a vendetta of revenge, sabotaging assorted support systems. Attempting to evade detection at one site, he flattens himself against the wall with wet paint, with a finger sticking up, and leaving the impression of a hand with one raised finger in the paint. The news media find out this detail and the unknown saboteur is nicknamed "The Finger." When the phone company is hit, it issues a public statement denying that, due to the sabotage to its billing records, long-distance calls can be made without a charge. Promptly, the movie depicts people making outrageous use of long distance, which in 1981 was still quite expensive. One girl calls overseas and plays a musical composition over the phone. In a long, climactic courtroom hearing, a rate-hike proposal by Kenneth Knight and his utility company, Eastern Gas & Electric, is to be voted on by a public commission. But first a number of protesting citizens are given an opportunity to speak, followed by Hunt, who confesses: "I am The Finger." At that point, many others in the courtroom,

Spartacus Spartacus ( el, Σπάρτακος '; la, Spartacus; c. 103–71 BC) was a Thracian gladiator who, along with Crixus, Gannicus, Castus, and Oenomaus, was one of the escaped slave leaders in the Third Servile War, a major slave uprising ...

-style, rise to claim they are The Finger. Just as the commission is about to approve E, G & E's rate increase, police officer Marion Edwards bursts in, there to make an arrest. Hunt expects to be placed in handcuffs, but she reveals that Knight has been destroying his own substations in an effort to achieve public sympathy. The lights of the city go dark as spectators in the courthouse celebrate.

Cast

as Bob Hunt * Brooke Adams as Marion Edwards *

John Marley John Marley (born Mortimer Marlieb, October 17, 1907 – May 22, 1984) was an American actor who was known for his role as Phil Cavalleri in '' Love Story'' and as Jack Woltz—the defiant film mogul who awakens to find the severed head ...

as Roy Blue *

James Blendick James Blendick (born 1941) is a Canadian character actor. He is perhaps best known for his 30-year-long association with the Stratford Festival. Career Among the productions in which he has performed leads are ''Much Ado About Nothing'', ''The ...

as Kenneth Knight

External links

* * 1983 films 1983 comedy films Canadian comedy films English-language Canadian films New World Pictures films Films directed by Harvey Hart Films produced by Howard W. Koch Films scored by Maribeth Solomon Films scored by Micky Erbe 1980s English-language films 1980s Canadian films {{1980s-comedy-film-stub