CinemaOSMovie · 2025 · 1h 21m

Hard Hat Riot

The clash over Vietnam that swung blue collar voters to the right.

70%(1)DocumentaryHistory

On May 8, 1970, construction workers violently clashed with students demonstrating against the Vietnam War in lower Manhattan. The workmen, who came to be known as “hardhats,” were at the cutting edge of a new kind of class war. With the war in Vietnam raging on, it was the sons of the working class who were doing most of the fighting. Workmen saw the protesting students as privileged “draft dodgers” disparaging the country and those who fought for it. On the other side, many student activists saw the workers as pawns, unwilling to see the changes that America needed. Hard Hat Riot tells the story of a struggling metropolis, a flailing president, a divided people, and a bloody juncture when the nation violently diverged ― culminating in a new political and cultural landscape that radically redefined American politics and foreshadowed the future.

Directed byMarc Levin

Play
Status
Released
Runtime
1h 21m
Language
EN
Released
September 30, 2025
Studios
American Experience Films

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Trailers & teasers

1 video
Trailer | HARD HAT RIOT | AMERICAN EXPERIENCE | PBS

Trailer | HARD HAT RIOT | AMERICAN EXPERIENCE | PBS

Featuring

Cast & crew

3 credited
Starring
Richard Nixon

Richard Nixon

Self

John V. Lindsay

John V. Lindsay

Self

David Kuhn

Self

Creative team
Directed by
Marc Levin
Marc Levin
Written by
Marc Levin
Daphne Pinkerson
Daphne Pinkerson
Produced by
Marc Levin
Marc Levin
Daphne Pinkerson
Daphne Pinkerson

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