Western Federation of Miners - Salt of The Earth

The 1954 movie Salt of the Earth, directed by Herbert J. Biberman, a member of the blacklisted Hollywood Ten, portrays a year-and-a-half long strike by New Mexico zinc miners who belonged to Mine, Mill; many of the actors were rank-and-file members of that union. The producers found it difficult, however, to recruit Anglo actors to play strikebreakers or deputy sheriffs; those who disliked the union wanted nothing to do with it, while those who sympathized did not want to be seen switching sides, even as actors.

The movie's star, Rosaura Revueltas, was deported during the shooting of the film, requiring the producers to use a double in some scenes and to shoot film of others and record her narration in Mexico. The home of one of the union members/actors and the union hall were burned down shortly after the end of shooting. Clinton Jencks, the Mine, Mill organizer depicted in the film, was thereafter convicted of falsely stating he was not a communist on the affidavit required of all union representatives under the Taft-Hartley Act; his conviction was overturned by the Supreme Court in Jencks v. United States, 353 U.S. 657 (1957).

The producers were unable to find a post-production house in Hollywood willing to process the film or skilled editors willing to work on it, other than under pseudonyms or at night. The film was shown at only a few theaters; most theaters rejected it, including some that had originally agreed to show it. Union projectionists refused to show it at some theaters that had accepted it.

The struggle to produce the film, pictures and information about the original strike, along with the film itself in its entirety, is available on DVD from www.Organa.com. The Special Edition also includes the film Hollywood Ten.