Black Fury (1935)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Michael Curtiz

Writers:

Michael A. Musmanno (story)
Harry R. Irving (play)

Release Date:

18 May 1935 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Romance

Plot:

An immigrant coal miner finds himself in the middle of a bitter labor dispute between the workers and the mine owners. |

Plot Keywords:

Coal Miner | Immigrant | Drunkenness | Rivalry | Force

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

Paul Muni	...	Joe Radek
Karen Morley	...	Anna Novak
William Gargan	...	Slim Johnson, Company Policeman
Barton MacLane	...	McGee
John Qualen	...	Mike Shemanski (as John T. Qualen)
J. Carrol Naish	...	Steve Croner (as J. Carroll Naish)
Vince Barnett	...	Kubanda
Tully Marshall	...	Tommy Poole
Henry O'Neill	...	John W. Hendricks
Joseph Crehan	...	Johnny Farrell (as Joe Crehan)
Mae Marsh	...	Mrs. Mary Novak
Sara Haden	...	Sophie Shemanski (as Sarah Haden)
Willard Robertson	...	Mr. J.J. Welsh
Effie Ellsler	...	Bubitschka
Wade Boteler	...	Mulligan

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Norway:16 (1935) | Finland:(Banned) (1935) | USA:Approved (PCA #579)

Filming Locations:

Samuel Goldwyn/Warner Hollywood Studios - 1041 N. Formosa Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

First National Pictures

Trivia:

Mike's murder was based on an actual strike case in which a miner was killed by three company policemen.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in Porky's Party (1938)

Soundtrack:

Why Do I Dream Those Dreams?

Being rich is better.

Rather standard working-class drama of the sort that Warner Brothers was turning out, though with more emphasis on the issue of unions and union-breaking than was usual. The usual stalwart support is present, such as Ward Bond and even Akim Tamirov.

Maybe part of the reason it doesn't have more impact on viewers these days is that the working class audience, living on the edge of poverty, doesn't really exist as a social consideration anymore.

The people who made this movie and the audience who lived this kind of life are now all dead. Far fewer people know what existence was like when it was constantly overcast by the threat of imminent poverty. In the Great Depression, during which the generation described by Tom Brokaw in his book "The Greatest Generation" grew up, unions were still controversial and there was a good deal of violence involved in the development of collective bargaining. Goons might bash in your head. A union organizer might be (and at least in one case was) castrated and murdered. And a miner might blow up a mine. One third of the nation was unemployed and there was no Social Security or Unemployment Benefits.

Well, no time for a history lesson here. And it's just as well because I know practically nothing of the history of industrial relations.

Considering it as a film, I can only echo what another reviewer, "Howdymax", in still another of his unusually perspicacious comments, has already said. The movie is Dreck.

Try to think of it as an historical artifact, like a Leni Lenape tomahawk or a Roman coin. It's no longer useful but it's oddly fascinating to see and handle. That may help you get past Mr. Paul Muni's outrageous overacting. If he could do it, he would chew up not only the scenery but the walls of the mine shaft, the Miner's Bar, his supporting players, the script, the director, the camera, and the viewer.