Salt of the Earth
As I listened to Pastor DH’s sermon two Sundays ago, I was reminded of the 1954 film Salt of the Earth, which centers on the long and difficult 1951 strike against the Empire Zinc Company in Grant County, New Mexico. The film depicts the reactions of the miners, the company, and the police during the strike. Today, it is recognized as one of the first motion pictures to advance the feminist social and political point of view. The film was made under difficult circumstances by three blacklisted members of the Hollywood community.
Michael Wilson, Herbert Biberman, and Paul Jarrico, all blacklisted, wrote, directed, and produced, respectively, the Salt of the Earth. During the 1950’s, hundreds of screenwriters, actors, directors, and musicians were denied employment for suspected Communist sympathies during the Red Scare initiated in 1947 following the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) hearings. The blacklist destroyed careers and was fueled by industry fear of boycotts and congressional pressure.
Biberman was one of the "Hollywood Ten" - ten writers and directors who, in 1947, refused to testify before HUAC, citing the First Amendment, and were held in contempt of Congress, imprisoned, and blacklisted. Biberman was married to the actress Gale Sondergaard (winner of the first Best Supporting Actress in 1936 for the film Anthony Adverse). Ms. Sondegaard is also the reason I know about this film.
My college roommate Evie, through a bizarre tale of idolatry and fan letters, befriended Ms. Sondergaard in the early 1970’s. Evie was such a devoted fan that Ms. Sondergaard invited her to visit her in California one summer. Thus began a friendship that lasted until Ms. Sondergaard’s death (1899 – 1985), at which time Evie inherited her 1936 Oscar. I was lucky to meet Ms. Sondergaard backstage in NY after one of her stage performances of Goodbye Fidel (1980). It was there that she gave me a signed copy of the book Salt of the Earth, written by her husband, Herbert Biberman (1900 - 1971).
The combination of the men who made the film, the subject, and the stars of the film resonated with that Sunday’s Sermon from Matthew 5:13–16:
13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.”
14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”
Salt of the Earth (1954) is a drama focusing on Mexican American miners fighting for safety, equality, and against racial discrimination. When a Taft-Hartley injunction banned male workers from picketing, their wives took over the picket line, empowering themselves and challenging both company management and traditional gender roles. The film employed mostly local miners and their families as actors; however, Rosaura Revueltes, a Mexican actress, was selected to star in the lead role as Esperanza.
Sadly, Revueltes became a target of U.S. Immigration, who turned up on set one day saying that Revueltes had passport problems and deported her back to Mexico midway through filming. Undeterred, Biberman used a stand-in for several scenes and added some narration that Revueltes recorded in a soundstage in Mexico and smuggled over the border to Biberman. After production, the film was not widely screened, mired in Red Scare controversy, and it was suppressed. Over the years, it has been recognized as an important cultural, political, and aesthetic work. In 1992, it was selected for the Library of Congress’s National Film Registry of significant U.S. films.
Like the original miners and their families in New Mexico, the struggle of the blacklisted men, who made the film, and the actress who starred in it, reflects the ‘salt of the earth’ noted in Matthew. They were not deterred by government and legal problems. They remained steadfast and, like salt, preserved the miners’ jobs and lives, preventing them from being ruined. Meg Bucher sums it up with “When we love people for who they are, it can reveal the best in them and encourage them to grow, just as salt adds wonderful flavor to food.”
-Eileen Brogan