There are many different reasons why a movie is a ‘cult movie’. I haven’t read Danny Peary’s write up of the film Salt Of The Earth (1954) in his book Cult Movies 2. I presume it has to do with the fact that it was pulled from release and difficult to see for a long time. The reason being the Hollywood Blacklist. The creative people involved in Salt Of The Earth were on the blacklist for accusations of being tied to communism – director Herbert J. Biberman, screenwriter Michael Wilson, producer Paul Jarrico and composer Sol Kaplan. So they decided to make a blatantly socialist movie in response. Salt Of The Earth is quite amazing to watch in how it is so strongly pro-union, pro-feminist and stridently socialist for a 1950s American movie. The downside is that as strongly political movie, it feels like a didactic “news of the world” documentary newsreel at times – this is the issue, here is an illustration of it. Based on a real incident involving miners striking for safer conditions, the film is narrated by Esperanza (Rosaura Revueltas) who is the central character and spirit of the movie. Her husband Ramon (Juan Chacon) is a miner and a key figure in the stop-work motion after their demands for safer conditions are not met. With no running water or plumbing for their family, Esperanza wants better conditions at home. The movie is more about the struggle for the wives to be heard at the union meetings and for their domestic requests to be recognised by the movement, particularly Ramon who continually reduces Esperanza to a wife and mother rather than as someone with agency and a political voice. The story advocates for collective action to have any power against big business and management. Filmed in black and white, cast with non-actors amongst the professionals and influenced by the neo-realist movement, it is a stridently message movie. Yet loud and clear messaging is no less galvanising, even more so in the here and now. It’s also staggering to see something so bold without having to ‘smuggle’ in its politics; the obvious price paid was that it was pulled from theatres and blacklisted for its ‘communist’ messaging, and even the main actor Rosaura Revueltas was deported back to Mexico for being a communist. Available to stream on Kanopy but it’s also in the public domain, so you can find it on YouTube. Recommended.
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