BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
X-WR-CALNAME:www.indybay.org
PRODID:-//indybay/ical// v1.0//EN
BEGIN:VEVENT
UID:Indybay-18657191
SEQUENCE:18729573
CREATED:20100831T041700Z
DESCRIPTION:Sunday, September 5, 2010\n7:30 PM\nAdmission: $5.00\nMovies on a Big 
 Screen at The Guild\n2828 35th St, Sacramento, CA\n\nSalt of the Earth 
 (1954)\n\nThe only feature film blacklisted in the US, and made by 
 blacklisted filmmakers!\n\n"Salt of the Earth" portrays the story of the 
 Empire Zinc Mine strike in 1951.  Directed by Herbert Biberman ("Meet Nero 
 Wolfe"), Produced by Paul Jarrico ("Tom, Dick and Harry") and written by 
 Michael Wilson "Lawrence of Arabia," "Planet of the Apes") the film 
 employed a handful of real actors, but mostly utilized mine workers and 
 their families who were involved in the actual strike.  \n\nIn New Mexico 
 (where the strike originally took place) a largely hispanic union is trying 
 to acheive wage parity and improve working and living conditions for the 
 laborers who live in poverty.  This results in a strike by the men, yet the 
 men are ultimately beaten and broken.  Interestingly, the women fight for 
 the right to carry on the strike (and do so), resulting in a film that no 
 only made bold statements about labor relations for the time, but also was 
 one of the first films to portray a feminist social and political 
 viewpoint.\n\nDuring filming, threats of vigilante violence against the 
 production were common.  The US House of Representatives denounced the 
 film, the FBI investigated its production, and The American Legion called 
 for a nationwide boycott of it.  Post-production facilities were told not 
 to work on it (creating a massive delay and headache in finishing it and 
 forced the film to be edited in secret locations), and theaters and 
 projectionists were instructed not to screen it.  When initially released, 
 only a dozen theaters in the US would run it.  Through the 1960s and 
 beyond, "Salt of the Earth" gained a following via college campuses, labor 
 activists, Mexican Americans, film historians and professors, First 
 Amendment advocates, and feminists.\n\n\n"H’wood Reds are shooting a 
 feature-length anti-American racial propaganda movie at Silver City..." - 
 Hollywood Reporter, ca. 1953\n\n"Completely un-American propaganda." - 
 Screen Actors Guild statement, 1953.\n\n"As clear a piece of Communist 
 propaganda as we have had for many years… extremely shrewd propaganda for 
 the urgent business of the U.S.S.R." - Pauline Kael, Sight & Sound. 
 1954\n\n"A good, highly dramatic and emotion-charged piece of work that 
 tells its story straight. It is, however, a propaganda picture which 
 belongs in union halls rather than theatres." - Variety, Dec 31, 
 1953\n\n"In the light of this agitated history, it is somewhat surprising 
 to find that 'Salt of the Earth' is, in substance, simply a strong 
 pro-labor film with a particularly sympathetic interest in the 
 Mexican-Americans with whom it deals.." - New York Times, 1954\n\n 
 https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/08/30/18657191.php
SUMMARY:Screening: Salt of the Earth (1954)
LOCATION:Movies on a Big Screen at The Guild. 2828 35th St, Sacramento, CA
URL:https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/08/30/18657191.php
DTSTART:20100906T023000Z
DTEND:20100906T040000Z
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR