Salt of the Earth (1954)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Herbert J. Biberman

Writers:

Michael Biberman (writer)
Michael Wilson (writer)

Release Date:

14 March 1954 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Banned! The film the US government didn't want you to see!

Plot:

Based on an actual strike against the Empire Zinc Mine in New Mexico, the film deals with the prejudice against the Mexican-American workers...

Plot Keywords:

Strike | Zinc Mine | Feminism | New Mexico | Mexican American

Awards:

3 wins

Cast

Will Geer	...	Sheriff
David Wolfe	...	Barton
Mervin Williams	...	Hartwell
David Sarvis	...	Alexander
Rosaura Revueltas	...	Esperanza Quintero
E.A. Rockwell	...	Vance
William Rockwell	...	Kimbrough
Juan Chacón	...	Ramon Quintero (as Juan Chacon)
Henrietta Williams	...	Teresa Vidal
Ángela Sánchez	...	Consuelo Ruiz (as Angela Sanchez)
Clorinda Alderette	...	Luz Morales
Virginia Jencks	...	Ruth Barnes
Clinton Jencks	...	Frank Barnes
Joe T. Morales	...	Sal Ruiz
Ernesto Velázquez	...	Charley Vidal (as Ernest Velaquez)

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Spain:13 | Portugal:17 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Bayard, New Mexico, USA

Company:

Independent Production Company (IPC)

Trivia:

This was made by blacklisted director Herbert J. Biberman, screenwriter Michael Wilson, producer Paul Jarrico and composer Sol Kaplan largely in retaliation to the fact that they had been blacklisted. They reasoned that since they weren't allowed to work in Hollywood, they might as well make a film as pro-Communist as possible to fit the crime of which they had been accused.

Quotes:

Esperanza Quintero: [opening narration] How shall I begin my story that has no beginning? My name is Esperanza, Esperanza Quintero. I am a miner's wife. This is our home. The house is not ours. But the flowers... the flowers are ours. This is my village. When I was a child, it was called San Marcos...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in A Crime to Fit the Punishment (1982)

Holds up surprisingly well

Despite the crap the filmmakers had to endure to get this one done, it took its share of pans when it came out: A pious piece of agitprop full of too-good-to-be-true and too-bad-to-be-believed stick figures, etc etc. Today, it holds up well - first, its use of "real" locations and "real" people appears more valuable in a documentary sense the farther away we get from the time it was made. Second, the production values, especially the cinematography - the Blacklist claimed some of the more talented technicians in Hollywood, and Salt of the Earth benefits richly from their work.

Third, the themes remain quite relevant. When we see footage of, say Bolivian coca growers taking to the streets to overthrow their country's US-sponsored tycoon president, what's so surprising about a community of Mexican American workers standing in solidarity against an exploitative mining company? When we see Justice for Janitors bringing the owners of LA's office towers to the table (at least), what's so far-fetched about workers in Salt of the Earth grabbing a bit of justice for themselves? I could go on.

From the vantage point of 2003, Salt of the Earth looks like a refreshing change. Agitprop is news to a lot of people today - it can be powerful if done well, yet we're now all conditioned to think that any form of dramatic art that doesn't center obsessively on the isolated individual is false and/or sentimental. Is Salt of the Earth really more sentimental than On the Waterfront (made about the same time), in which a corruption struggle on the New Jersey docks serves merely as the scenery for Marlon Brando's emoting about his boxing career?? Come on!!

People who stand in solidarity really are powerful. Americans are taught not to think so, but it's when they stand up together, not separately, that they win the biggest victories (and I don't mean in uniform, either).