#11 - SALT OF THE EARTH (1954)
Directed by - Herbert J. Biberman (USA)
As mentioned briefly introduction, the darkest period in American film history was, without a doubt, the blacklisting of filmmakers and film industry people who showed compassion towards the struggles of the working class. In retrospect, there is no reason to forgive the madness of the Red Scare in any other way than an outspread of fear, a tactic used by government in the midst of the frighteningly tense Cold War era. Salt of the Earth is a particularly representative title.
The film tells the story of a New Mexico zinc miner's strike that was taken over by the wives of the finers when they were prohibited from picketing. Therefore, it is also very innoventive in its use of a significant feminist tone. The story was also a true event that had taken place in 1951, some three years before production startes. So, it was relatively fresh in the minds of some. And the dramatization of the film is not as obvious as one would be forgiven for expecting from an American feature from the fifties. Made in a neorealist style, borderlining docu-fiction, the film had true grit and power to it, and its almost strange to re-discover it as an anomaly in view of some of its less embellished aspects (acting, in particular, with a cast composed of many non-professional actors.) But this is precisely what makes it so arresting to this day.
Salt of the Earth was very direct. Too direct. It became the only film blacklisted American film in history- This was also because it was sponsored by the International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers, and because many blacklisted Hollywood professionals had helped produce it.
Its director Herbert J. Biberman was one of the Hollywood screenwriters and directors who had refused to collaborate with the House Committee of Un-American Activities and was included in the Hollywood Ten - a list of individuals cited for contempt of congress and blacklisted after refusing to answer questions about their alleged involvement with the Communist party. Most of the lesser big names that worked on the crew of Salt of the Earth were also blacklisted as a result of their involvement.