Salt of the earth

Biberman's classic social drama was based on the protracted 1951/52 strike by Mexican-American miners against Empire Zinc in Silver City, New Mexico. In this dramatized version that weaves the threads of labor activism and nascent feminism, the travails of the mine workers and their families are refracted through the experiences of Ramon and Esperanza Quintero. Ramon is a union leader who leads a strike against management's callous decision requiring workers to set blasts alone. His wife Esperanza, having just given birth to their third child, must contend with the unsanitary conditions of their company-owned home. When the men's picket is curtailed by court order, the women take up the placards adding their own list of grievances. For Biberman, a victim of the 1950's McCarthy witchhunts, this film was a personal project undertaken despite Hollywood censure and sabotage. (Does not circulate)