Harlan County U.S.A. (1976)

A filmed account of a bitterly violent miner strike.

Director:

Barbara Kopple

Stars:

Norman Yarborough, Houston Elmore, Phil Sparks

Won 1 Oscar. Another 8 wins.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Norman Yarborough	...	Self - Eastover Mining President
Houston Elmore	...	Self - UMW organizer
Phil Sparks	...	Self - UMW staff
John Corcoran	...	Self - Consolidated Coal President
John O'Leary	...	Self - former Bureau of Mines director
Donald Rasmussen	...	Self - Blackwing Clinic, WV (as Dr. Donald Rasmussen)
Hawley Wells Jr.	...	Self (as Dr. Hawley Wells Jr.)
Tom Williams	...	Self - Boyle campaigner
Chip Yablonski	...	Self
Ken Yablonski	...	Self
Logan Patterson	...	Self - negotiator
Harry Patrick	...	Self - UMW secretary-treasurer
Mike Trbovich	...	Self - UMW VP
Bernie Aronson	...	Self - UMW staff
Guy Farmer	...	Self - BCPA General Counsel

Storyline

This film documents the coal miners' strike against the Brookside Mine of the Eastover Mining Company in Harlan County, Kentucky in June, 1973. Eastovers refusal to sign a contract (when the miners joined with the United Mine Workers of America) led to the strike, which lasted more than a year and included violent battles between gun-toting company thugs/scabs and the picketing miners and their supportive women-folk. Director Barbara Kopple puts the strike into perspective by giving us some background on the historical plight of the miners and some history of the UMWA.

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Plot Keywords:

national film registry | miners' strike | kentucky | scab | harlan county | 

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Genres:

Documentary

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Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film has a 100% rating based on 11 critic reviews on Rotten Tomatoes.

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Quotes

Hawley Wells Jr.: [...] that was when I learned my first real political lesson, about what happens when you take a position against the coal operators, against the capitalists... I found out that the union officials were working with the coal companies. I also found that the Catholic hierarchy was working with the coal companies. Here was a combination of the whole thing, you see: you had to bump against the whole combination of them.

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Connections

Referenced in 30 Days in Hell: The Making of 'The Devil's Rejects' (2005)

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Soundtracks

Cold Blooded Murder
Written and Sung by Hazel Dickens

User Reviews

'There's blood upon your contract like vinegar in your wine...

...'cause there's one man dead on the Harlan County line'.

This is a powerful Oscar-winning documentary produced and directed by Barbara Kopple ('American Dream', 'Wild Man Blues'). It focuses on the men at the Brookside Mine in Harlan, Kentucky who, in the summer of 1973, voted to join the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA). Duke Power Company and its subsidiary, Eastover Mining Company, refused to sign the contract. The miners came out on a long strike, registered by Kopple with testimonies, backstories, archival footage, and music, particularly that of Hazel Dickens during the final credits.

The film's main strength resides in the sincerity of its emotional, political and sociological core without being overtly sentimental, and Kopple's way of testifying instead of exploiting the subjects. The miners and their wives are not depicted in old hillbilly stereotypes, but rather as hard-working human beings fighting for their basic rights ('together we stand, divided we fall').

Thirty years after the release of this documentary, five miners died in an explosion at Harlan County. When the film was shot, money was the bigger issue (industry profits rose 170% in 1975, but miner's wages rose only 4%); nowadays, however, safety is an even bigger issue. You'd think things would have been largely improved since then, but that's not really the case. 'Harlan County U.S.A.' is a remarkable documentary because it testifies and proposes solutions about a public struggle that shouldn't be overlooked, yet has been for such a long time, in the "land of the free and home of the brave".

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 September 1977 (France)

Also Known As:

Harlan County U.S.A.

Filming Locations:

Brookside, Kentucky, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cabin Creek

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White (archive footage) Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1