Salt of the Earth (1954)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Herbert J. Biberman

Writers:

Michael Biberman (writer)
Michael Wilson (writer)

Release Date:

14 March 1954 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Banned! The film the US government didn't want you to see!

Plot:

Based on an actual strike against the Empire Zinc Mine in New Mexico, the film deals with the prejudice against the Mexican-American workers...

Plot Keywords:

Strike | Zinc Mine | Feminism | New Mexico | Mexican American

Awards:

3 wins

Cast

Will Geer	...	Sheriff
David Wolfe	...	Barton
Mervin Williams	...	Hartwell
David Sarvis	...	Alexander
Rosaura Revueltas	...	Esperanza Quintero
E.A. Rockwell	...	Vance
William Rockwell	...	Kimbrough
Juan Chacón	...	Ramon Quintero (as Juan Chacon)
Henrietta Williams	...	Teresa Vidal
Ángela Sánchez	...	Consuelo Ruiz (as Angela Sanchez)
Clorinda Alderette	...	Luz Morales
Virginia Jencks	...	Ruth Barnes
Clinton Jencks	...	Frank Barnes
Joe T. Morales	...	Sal Ruiz
Ernesto Velázquez	...	Charley Vidal (as Ernest Velaquez)
Charles Coleman	...	Antonio Morales
Víctor Torres	...	Sebasatian Prieto
Frank Talevera	...	Luis Quintero
Mary Lou Castillo	...	Estella Quintero
Floyd Bostick	...	Jenkins
E.S. Conerly	...	Kalinsky
Adolfo Barela	...	Miner
Albert Munoz	...	Miner
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Elvira Molano	...	Mrs. Salazar (uncredited)

Directed by
Herbert J. Biberman

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Michael Biberman		writer
Michael Wilson		writer

Produced by
Paul Jarrico	....	producer
Jules Schwerin	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Sol Kaplan

Cinematography by
Stanley Meredith
Leonard Stark

Film Editing by
Joan Laird
Ed Spiegel

Production Design by
Adolfo Barela
Sonja Dahl Biberman

Production Management
Jules Schwerin	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jules Schwerin	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Harry Smith	....	sound (uncredited)
Dick Stanton	....	sound (uncredited)

Other crew
Adolfo Barela	....	staff executive
Sonja Dahl Biberman	....	staff executive (as Sonja Dahl)

Production Companies

• Independent Production Company (IPC)
• Intl Union of Mine, Mill & Smelter Workers

Distributors

• Independent Productions (1954) (USA) (theatrical)
• Procinex (1956) (France) (theatrical)
• Reel Media International (2004) (worldwide) (VHS)
• Reel Media International (2007) (worldwide) (all media)
• MPI Home Video (1987) (USA) (VHS)
• Alpha Video Distributors (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Sherlock Home Video (2005) (Spain) (DVD)
• Pioneer Entertainment (1999) (USA) (DVD)
• Progrès Films S.A. (????) (Belgium) (theatrical)
• Criterion Collection, The (????) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Voyager Company, The (????) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Spain:13 | Portugal:17 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Bayard, New Mexico, USA

Company:

Independent Production Company (IPC)

Trivia:

Rosaura Revueltas, who played Esperanza Quintero, was a noted screen actress in her native Mexico. After this film was distributed, she was accused of being a Communist and deported. While she continued to appear in Mexican cinema, she never made another film in the US.

Quotes:

Esperanza Quintero: [opening narration] How shall I begin my story that has no beginning? My name is Esperanza, Esperanza Quintero. I am a miner's wife. This is our home. The house is not ours. But the flowers... the flowers are ours. This is my village. When I was a child, it was called San Marcos...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in A Crime to Fit the Punishment (1982)

America at its Best

This film has a rare and beautiful honest quality seldom seen to this magnitude in pictures. Made during the height of McCarthyism in the 1950s it was produced completely by a blacklisted crew and professional cast. The film itself was banned in the U.S.A. by congress until the late 1960s. The picture is based on a true story of Mexican-American mine workers on strike in New Mexico. It deals with the wives of the miners having to to step up and work the picket lines in place of their husbands who were legally banned from picketing. Many of the cast members were actual participants in the original strike and the leading lady was deported before the film was even finished. The story of the struggle to make this film would actually make a good film. Ironically the film is very patriotic and shows what truly makes America great; it's people. A strong man and woman's picture with a genuinely beautiful fighting human spirit. It's one of a kind.