Salt of the Earth

Plot synopsis:
Esperanza Quintero (Rosaura Revueltas) is a miner's wife in Zinc Town, New Mexico, a community which is essentially run and owned by Delaware Zinc Inc. Esperanza is thirty-five years old, pregnant with her third child and emotionally dominated by her husband, Ramon Quintero (Juan Chacón).
The majority of the miners are Mexican-Americans and want decent working conditions equal to those of white, or "Anglo" miners. The unionized workers go on strike, but the company refuses to negotiate and the impasse continues for months. Esperanza gives birth and, simultaneously, Ramon is jailed for assaulting a union worker who betrayed his fellows. When Ramon is released, Esperanza tells him that he's no good to her in jail. He counters that if the strike succeeds they will not only get better conditions right now but also win hope for their children's futures.
The company presents a Taft-Hartley Act injunction to the union, meaning any miners who picket will be arrested. Taking advantage of a loophole, the wives picket in their husbands' places. Some men dislike this, seeing it as improper and dangerous. Esperanza is forbidden to picket by Ramon at first, but she eventually joins the line while carrying her baby.
The sheriff, by company orders, arrests the leading women of the strike. Esperanza is among those taken to jail. When she returns home, Ramon tells her the strike is hopeless, as the company will easily outlast the miners. She insists that the union is stronger than ever and asks Ramon why he can't accept her as an equal in their marriage. Both angry, they sleep separately that night.
The next day the company evicts the Quintero family from their house. The union men and women arrive to protest the eviction. Ramon tells Esperanza that they can all fight together. The mass of workers and their families proves successful in saving the Quinteros' home. The company admits defeat and plans to negotiate. Esperanza believes that the community has won something no company can ever take away and it will be inherited by her children.

Tags: cult, flashback

Review:
The film portrays the strike of Chicano mine workers in New Mexico.
Salt of the Earth probably has more to do with everyday American lives than 99 percent of Hollywood films.
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.
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?
"The only film in US history to be blacklisted."That alone is praise!SALT OF THE EARTH, a powerful film shot on a threadbare budget, mostly with local non-actors, was branded as "communist propaganda" during the infamous McCarthy "Red Scare" and was hardly shown in the USA when first released.
The picture is based on a true story of Mexican-American mine workers on strike in New Mexico.
Of course it was banned, the production undermined by the government, the FBI and local vigilantes, while Rosaura Revueltas, the Mexican actress in the lead, was repatriated, never to work again.SALT OF THE EARTH tells the story of Esperanza (hope), a poor New-Mexican housewife living in impoverished, insanitary conditons, whose husband Ramon works in salt mines once owned by her grandfather, now exploited by vicious American capitalists.
When the corrupt sheriff slaps a court order on them, their wives take up striking duty.Of course, the film is a riposte not only to latterday 'America' but also the Hollywood that served it.
It features no Hollywood stars (indeed, many of the actors, as in an Italian neo-realism film, are locals), no racist melting pot aspirations, but genuine ethnic people with their own culture and customs.
Like a Hollywood film, SALT does dramatise its social subject matter around one main couple, but this crystallises, rather than dilutes, the issues.
Together they have extraordinary power, culminating in the remarkable evicition scene, a rare celebration of group power in the American cinema - one of that cinema's most powerful scenes.Esperanza moves from a position of having no voice in society, no public arena like the men in which to speak, indeed barely a space in her own home, where her dreams and desires are transferred to a radio playing other people's songs; to a political activist, someone who does not limit her life to housework and children, indeed demands her husband does his share, and this is represented by her narration, her power to tell and control a story, to speak authoratively for a people, to translate for us their language.The 'emasculation' of the men provides the film with some of its funniest scenes, but there is a darker side to New-Mexican masculinity - the implied wife-beating, for example.
Salt of the Earth is simply one of the greatest achievements in American cinema, not because it is exemplary in those aspects which usually make a film great, but because it excels in its ideals where so many others during the period were failing.
This film has had a profound effect on a lot of people allowing them to see how power in the wrong hands can do more harm than good.
The film is a sensitive portrayal of a strike among Chicano workers in the Southwest and features a beautifully modulated performance by the great Mexican actress, Rosaura Revueltes.
Such as...*The majority of the actors in the film aren't actors--it's their first time in front of a camera, yet they all do a wonderful job!*The film was made on a shoe-string budget with a Blacklisted director, producer, actors and writers.*The film not only addresses the real worker's struggle against a Zinc mine owner, it also deals with racism against Mexican-Americans and sexism.
I had read many of the comments posted here, and of course some of them talked about the "communist" propaganda in this movie.It may have been radical for the '50s to stand up for the rights of laborers, Chicanos and women, but if it was anything, it was a little ahead of its time.
All this movie is about is Mexican-American working men asking to be treated the same as Anglos, and women asking to have a voice in their families' lives.When you realize this movie was made on a shoestring, almost completely with blacklisted people, the accomplishment is truly stunning.As much as anything that made this movie ahead of its time, it's the feminist subplot that made this movie radical.I'm not surprised it was banned during the McCarthy era.
Its banning says far more about what was wrong with America at that time than anything about the movie itself.Rosuara Revueltas gives an amazing performance as the miner's wife.
The film was made not long after the actual event (the strike of the hispanic miners), and was not at all flattering to the local police/sherriff's departments.
Regarding content, it is also great, way ahead of its time, giving dignity to women and humanity to every human, including non-professionals, including children, who are all treated in an admirably egalitarian manner in the credits and the roles.
In following the story of the Hollywood Ten, I came across this excellent film from 1954, The Salt of the Earth, that was directed by another member of the group, Herbert Biberman.
This is not a film that would get people rushing to Blockbuster, but, as the only film in America that was blacklisted itself, it is important for that reason, and for the story it tells.It is not an impressive film for the directing or the acting (Will Geer, who many remember as Granpa Walton, is a major star.), but for the story it tells of the greed and corruption of American business and, more importantly, it is a major statement of feminist power.
This was 1954, long before bra burning and the feminist movement, but the role of the women in this film and the eventual triumph of the miners (the film was based on an actual strike in New Mexico) with their help is one that stirs the heart.As prejudice against Mexican-Americans is played out again today, it is worth it to remember that this is nothing new.
And, while Kentucky is passing mine safety regulations in the face of recent deaths, this again is not a new issue, and many miners have died in the face of an uncaring government.I wish all would take the time to see this film.
If the strikers are guilty of disrespect of the property rights of the owners by picketing, would you not feel that the company was criminally culpable of injuring the miner who was carried out of the mine?I have not seen a more realistic portrayal of the subject matter in any film made at any time.
That only makes the movie greater in my opinion.Finally, the actress who so skillfully portrayed Esperanza was deported back to Mexico and never played another role in a film in the US.
Biberman's masterpiece still remains ahead of its time.The story, based on true events, takes place in a small mining town in New Mexico.
What starts out as a small, organic labor strike soon turns into an engrossing drama about racial and gender politics.Everything is told from the point-of-view of Esperanza who over the course of the film becomes more deeply involved with the labor union.
In one intense scene, he smash-cuts between two pivotal moments creating a palpable tension that sent my heart fluttering.At the height of the Red Scare, this unabashedly pro-union film became a source of much controversy when it was released, comprising of many progressive and blacklisted actors, writers and producers.
The Salt of the Earth, which came out in 1954 paints an almost too real picture of how migrant workers were treated before the civil rights movement.
It is easy to see why the United States government, which was going through "The Red Scare" during this time, blacklisted this film.
The film starts off early with the Mexican workers acting very sexist toward their wives.
Women continue to strive for equality, just as the workers' wives in Salt struggled as domestics against the chauvinism of their husbands.
Based on true events, Salt of the Earth tells of Ramon Quintero (Juan Chacón), a Mexican-American, and his wife, Esperanza Quintero (Rosaura Revueltas).
Salt of the Earth is the story of the strike, which goes on an inordinate length of time.
At one point, even the workers' wives end up striking in their place.Like The Passion of the Christ (2004), this seems to be a film that many people evaluate for its ideological basis or even the cultural facts surrounding the film more than they rate for its value as an artwork.I agree that the cultural facts surrounding the film are fascinating.
Salt of the Earth has been the only "blacklisted" film in U.S. history to date.
You can read about the cultural milieu of the film in much more detail in The Suppression of Salt of the Earth: How Hollywood, Big Labor, and Politicians Blacklisted a Movie in Cold War America, by James J.
My opinion of the film ideologically includes that (1) the mine should have hired other workers, (2) the strikers should have been arrested if they blocked the road or touched anyone or their property who was trying to get past or through their picket line (non-consensual initiation of physical and property manipulation should be prohibited, in my view), (3) the eviction (later in the film) should have been carried out; anyone and everyone physically interfering would of course be arrested, (4) the repossession was just, (5) Ramon should have looked for another job if he didn't like his present one and his employer wouldn't change the conditions he disliked.
Biberman didn't quite solve it.The cast is a mixture of professional actors, amateurs and locals, including people who were involved with the real-life strike that served as the basis of the film.
Renowned as the only American film to be banned in its native country, this rather amateurish drama about a miners' strike (made by openly Communist members, a number of which were blacklisted at the time!) inevitably recalls the masterpieces of Soviet propagandist cinema.
Obviously lacking a comparable technique (notable here only in the cross-cutting between a man being beaten up by cops and the pain endured by his wife during childbirth), the socialist ideology often gets in the way of the film's undeniable moments of power - particularly the tension created when the strikers (and their wives, who eventually take up picketing themselves when a court order is enforced on the workers!) clash with authority.
The reason for my iconoclasm is easy to explain."Salt of the Earth" is, simply, a very bad movie.One cannot deny that the issues raised in the film are worthy of cinematic treatment.
Certainly Hollywood turned out its share of films that stereotyped the left.Finally, I find the level of acting in "Salt of the Earth" to be weak even when compared with the typical Hollywood B movie of the 1940s and early 1950s.As I said, mine appears to be a minority opinion with respect to this particular film.
This propaganda film - and that is what it is, and that is not meant as a slight, it is what it is - takes an amazingly even-handed approach to the events surrounding a long strike in New Mexico during the 1950s.
There are mildly annoying aspects put in for dramatic effect - the strikers' wives are portrayed as a bit too noble and confrontational at times, the company men a bit too evil, the miners themselves as a bit too helpless and uncaring - but this still is one of the best studies of real human reactions to a difficult situation.It is inevitable that things break down into an us-versus-them battle, and that is the film's greatest weakness.
Of course, there is the larger power imbalance between the striking workers and the mining company, summarized by Chacon's repeated observation that it is necessary to look at the "larger picture." The human dynamics spiral out of control to the point where it is unclear how Ramon Quintero really feels about developments, as he turns to drink and observes that the women "Won't listen to a man any more." But, of course, everything turns out fine in the end for the workers, as we all knew from the beginning it had to, after everyone has learned some hard lessons.The feminist subplot, though, is interesting but essentially a sideshow, put aside immediately once the strike is won and the workers get what they really want.
Looking back at this film from the perspective of the Trump administration we could use a little radicalism such as the men and women demonstrate in Salt Of The Earth.Based on a real strike by Mexican-American workers of a zinc mine in New Mexico it was about the usual labor issues, but also a component of racism and sexism.
Geer is the only name in the cast that most American viewers will recognize.The non-professionals the actual miners playing themselves should be given a lot of credit wanting to bring their own story to our attention.
But it's heart is big as all outdoors and its place in history is secure.And this review is dedicated to the men and women of local 890 of the mine workers union who fought the good fight..
It got shot at a real Mexican miners community, with real miners and their families.Really not the greatest looking or made movie but it tells a good story.7/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/.
Ranks right up there with HARLAND COUNTY U.S.A. as a film that shows genuinely heroic women, and gives the working class who we have to thank for the fact that America is such a great country its due.
Propaganda was in full swing by 1954, and the hunt was extended into the arts, particularly Hollywood - with its "Harbouring" of socialism - which led to the imprisonment of "The Hollywood Ten" which included the writers and filmmakers involved in the making of Salt of the Earth - which was inevitably blacklisted.With a largely non-professional cast (only five were professionals), this neo-realist style film tells the story - based on real events - of a workers strike for equality of pay and conditions for American- Mexicans working in the Delaware Zinc mines in New Mexico.
Told from the perspective of Esperanza Quintero (Rosaura Revueltas - one of the five actual actors), the film opens with a domestic scene and her narration, as she outlines their social conditions, and the small community.
Her husband, Ramon (incredibly heartfelt performance by non-professional, Juan Chacon), signifies the "traditional" male, whose displays a reluctance for his wife to involve herself with nothing but the upkeep of the home, and the raising of their children (not a particularly revelatory experience in the 1950's).After the failure of the men - bound by union restrictions - to successfully picket the mine, the women of the village take their places, creating a barrier to the entrance.
The reactions of the mining management/owners leads to the arrest of all the women, which creates an even greater sense of solidarity between the women, and eventually (once they realise the importance of this strike) the men.Within the context of this film, it is hard to believe in this day that this film (which perpetuates socialist ideas - Communist theories) was regarded as dangerous to the point of being blacklisted.
It was of course ignored by the Hollywood system, but eventually found audiences within film schools and workers unions.
Certainly we want to like this movie that portrays a real struggle in New Mexico against economic and racial oppression.
"Salt of the Earth", a 1954 film which documents a strike by Mexican-American zinc miners in New Mexico against their Anglo-American management.
More interesting, though, is the way the film documents the fights for equality WITHIN the bands of protesters: the Mexican-American womenfolk must break down the shackles of Hispanic machismo, must break through a kind of low level ethno-specific patriarchy, achieving marital and communal equality within their own community and with their own spouses, even as they struggle against their white bosses.
What you eventually end up with is one of the first calculated works of feminism on screen, and a fairly sophisticated leftist tract (certainly more nuanced than your typical liberal "message movie" churned out by Stanley Kramer), even if it is dated and naive in some minor respects.The film was funded by Unions and blacklisted artists, and uses many neorealist touches (which can be traced to the French Poetic Realists of the 30s and the Italian Neorealists of the 40s), with real miners and Mexicans dotting the cast, and the real President of the International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers playing an on-screen union president.
This film was produced by the United Mine Workers union.
While this might have been controversial in its day, today the film just seems very inspiring and well worth seeing."Salt of the Earth" is set in the small town of San Marcos—a community in New Mexico inhabited by Hispanic-Americans who work in the mine--and is based on an actual strike.
Based on the true events, this is about the strike against the Empire Zinc Company mine in New Mexico in 1953, dealing with prejudice against the Mexican-American workers and safety issues.
Roman's wife Esperanza (Rosaura Revueltas, also narrating) who, three months pregnant, was part of the large amount of women, the miners wives, playing a vital part in the strike, against their husbands wishes.
This movie challenges those who watch it to realise that America was not a land of equality and that even in the 1950's there were people living in poverty.The movie is based around a Zinc mine and a Latin-American community.
The idea of a union strike, which this movie pushes hard for, is shown as neglectful of even the demands of the workers' wives for sanitary plumbing.