Protraph Lack of good storyline.

Gurlyndrobb While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Aneesa Wardle The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

bkoganbing 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. The Mexicans are given lower wages by the owners for being Mexican, rather baldfaced discrimination to say the least. But the sexism comes from the strikers themselves who believe firmly that woman's place is in the home.Needless to say the women sacrifice much, but they prove indispensable to the movement. In fact the message is that oppressed folks of all kinds have to unite to cast off the oppression.Well with that kind of message you know the mastodons that ran all kinds of agencies concerned with security got all hot and bothered. Of course having blacklisted people like Will Geer in the cast certainly drew everyone's attention. 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. I noted one anachronism though, mention of the Taft- Hartley Act is made and not favorably. For about 20 years Democrats faithfully included it in their platform, a repeal of the law. But both organized labor and the Democratic party eventually learned to live with it.Being an independent film with no studio backing at all it sure lacks a lot of production values. 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.

SnoopyStyle Esperanza Quintero is a downtrodden wife of a miner in New Mexico. She's sad to be pregnant again raising a child in the dead-end place. The village was called San Marcos when she was a child but it is now strictly a company town called Zinc Town. Her husband Ramon is trying to organize for wage equality with the white miners but prejudice is against them. After the dangerous conditions kill a miner, the men shut down the mine and vote to strike. The women struggle to find respect from their own husband as they demand sanitation.The story is compelling. It's a simple story of the underdog. I really don't like the narration and the amateur actors do struggle. The idea of the blacklisted filmmakers is more impressive than the product. The directions are static and the acting lacks power.

popcorninhell Whenever I watch an older movie I always try to realize that they were conceived during a specific period in time; within a continuum that overlaps with history if you will. As a result, the directing, acting, special effects and social attitudes of a specific era can live on in celluloid and seem hokey or even offensive today. Its not always easy to realize this; I can't help but giggle when I witness the special effects in 1940's "Thief of Bagdad," but in the case of "Salt of the Earth" Herbert J. 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. The Quintero family live in a small hobble with no running water and a tightening budget. As the patriarch (Juan Chacon) slaves away underground, Esperanza his wife (Rosaura Revueltas) anxiously awaits the birth of yet another child. After a workplace accident (facilitated by a questionable company policy), the miners walk off the job. 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. Her, along with a few key organizers help unite the splintered groups; men and women, Mexican and white miners. This of course is done with the stern disapproval of her husband and many of the men in town.Behind grainy resolution and cheap sets lies unbridled confidence both behind and in-front of the camera. Rosaura Revueltas's voice-over evokes immediate sympathy to the character and her sun-kissed natural beauty shines a bright light in some of the darker moments. Juan Chacon in his first and only film performance also does a fine job. He may not have the acting chops of a seasoned veteran but he nevertheless has a commanding stage presence that is not easily taught. The real treat however is Herbert J. Biberman's direction which brings to mind the best of Jean Renoir's American films but with a touch of Godard. 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. Produced on a minimal budget, the film was only exhibited once before being blackballed for over a decade finally finding an audience within the burgeoning counterculture. In today's social and political climate "Salt of the Earth" remains as salient as ever. Occupy Wall Street could learn a lesson from Esperanza. We all could.http://theyservepopcorninhell.blogspot.com/

bill-790 The vast majority of fans who have commented on "Salt of the Earth" have given the film a high rating and unusually enthusiastic plaudits. I'm going to go out on a limb and offer a quite different view. 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. However, in this case the good guys and the bad guys are hopeless caricatures. I'm somewhat surprised that the evil landowners are not wearing stovepipe black hats while twisting long, waxed moustaches in their fat fingers as they mock the poor but righteous workers. Come on! This is cartoon stuff.It is not unusual in politics for each side to spread totally false and slanderous visions of their opponents. But that's just the trouble with "Salt of the Earth. ' It's political propaganda, not honest cinema. Ultimately, by portraying one side as good, fine, and noble, and the other as the essence of evil, one fails to convince. It's not a good strategy to insult the intelligence of the viewer. That, unfortunately, is just what this film does, no matter how well intentioned it may have been.The makers of this film were struggling against the foolish Hollywood Blacklist. One can understand their bitterness and anger. It's too bad, however, that they could not have fashioned a less stereotyped script, one that portrayed all characters as real people and not stock props out of the left-wing playbook. But, one must also remember that there were plenty on the left in those days who were still apologizing for the Stalinist regime. Perhaps I am expecting too much from people caught up in the bitter political battle of those days. 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. I will stand by that opinion nonetheless.