"Salt of The Earth" 1954 Movie Page at Magic Lantern Video & Book Store

"Salt of The Earth" is a 1954 pro-labor movie classic
- the only officially-blacklisted film in American history.

A fictional, neo-realist-style tale about oppressed Hispanic-American zinc miners in New Mexico. The men go on strike over demands for the same wages and health benefits and safety rules as Anglo workers; when the picket lines are halted due to the federal Taft-Hartley law, the women persuade the miners to allow the women to picket the mine, which empowers the women to press for equal rights at home.

History of The Film            Principals Herbert Biberman, Michael Wilson & Paul Jarrico were already on the Hollywood Blacklist (and thus unemployed). Jarrico discovered the strike's existence while on vacation in New Mexico. He enrolled the others in developing the project, and obtained backing from theater owner Simon Lazarus and others, including the real-life International Union of Mine, Mill & Smelter Workers. Production was an uphill battle, with I.A.T.S.E. refusing any help, an airplane hovering over the film location (making noise), even gunshots fired at the movie crew. The narrator & actress Rosaura Revueltas was a Mexican citizen; she was arrested & deported to Mexico before completing her role; although she had a successful career in Europe, she never again worked in the U.S.
           The pro-labor stance and the alleged 'commie' ties of many of the filmmakers caused the film to be the only officially-blacklisted movie in American history. Nine of the editing crew were F.B.I. informants. Theaters refused to book the film, the projectionists union refused to run it, and the film was shown in only twelve movie theaters in the U.S.A.
           "Salt of The Earth" was finally re-released in 1965, reaching audiences on the art-house circuit, and at labor union halls, film schools, and women's centers. The copyright expired in 1982, placing the film into public domain. Geneon (Pioneer) released a digitally-restored DVD in 1999; Harbor released a VHS edition and a multimedia booklet & CD-ROM (still available in late 2010). The film was adapted as a two-act opera that premiered in Madison, Wisconsin in August 2000. The same year saw production of a film-about-the-film, "One of The Hollywood Ten", which still has not been shown in the United States.

NOTE: "Salt of The Earth" was featured at the 2010 Santa Fe Independent Film Festival. The film was also shown in November 2010 at the 1905 Fountain Theatre in Mesilla, New Mexico to a packed house. Though obviously low budget, with technical aspects quite rough, the story and cinematography and editing produce a tremendously moving experience.

"Salt of The Earth"
[I.P.C. March 1954; restored 2003]
Directed by Herbert J. Biberman [B]; script by Michael Wilson [B]; produced by Paul Jarrico [B];
starring Will Geer [B]; with narrator & actress Rosaura Revueltas, miner-actor Juan Chacón,
David Wolfe, Mervin Williams, David Sarvis, Ernesto Velázquez & Henrietta Williams;
music by Sol Kaplan [B]; listed on National Film Registry in 1992

"One of The Hollywood Ten"
aka "Punto de Mira (Front View)" [Spain Nov 2001]

One of the Hollywood Ten / Punto de Mira 2001 movie

Filmed in Spain, with British-Spanish funding; Hollywood writer-director Herbert Biberman refused to cooperate with the H.U.A.C. witchhunt, and was one of the 'Hollywood Ten' sent to prison for contempt of Congress; after Biberman served 5 months, he and several fellow blacklistees decided to make a film dramatizing the recent zinc miners strike in New Mexico, which became "Salt of The Earth" [1954], the only blacklisted movie in U.S. history. Co-produced, written & directed by Karl Francis; starring Jeff Goldblum, Greta Scacchi, Ángela Molina, Christopher Fulford, Antonio Valero, John Sessions, Geraint Wyn Davies, Sean Chapman {as Edward Dmytryk}, Larry Lamb & Peter Bowles
DVD/Blu-ray not available (maybe from Domain Entertainment in 2011?)
full credits at IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia

	"Salt of The Earth: The Story of A Film" [1987] by Herbert Biberman [B] Harbor Electronic 9x6 pb [50th Anniv Edition 5/2003] for $21.21 New York Zoetrope hardcover [original 9/87] out of print/used
	"The Suppression of Salt of The Earth: How Hollywood, Big Labor & Politicians Blacklisted A Movie In Cold War America" [1999] by James J. Lorence Univ NM Press 9x6 pb [12/99] for $23.95 Univ NM Press 9¼x6½ hardcover [9/99] out of print/used

Magic Lantern Video & Book Store"Salt of The Earth"1954 Movie

Magic Lantern Video & Book Store
"Salt of The Earth"
1954 Movie