It would be no exaggeration to call this film one of the most
fascinating and controversial ever produced in America. It was made
independently, way outside the Hollywood mainstream, during the depths
of the McCarthy era. Those involved in front of and behind the cameras
(director Herbert Biberman, actor Will Geer, producer Paul Jarrico and
screenwriter Michael Wilson) had all been blacklisted and were unable to
work in their industry.
Furthermore, the content of its scenario is most
intriguing, given the fact that the film was made during one of the most
politically repressive eras of American history. It is at once a story
with a prolabor/union, anti-big business point-of-view, and a
pull-no-punches denunciation of racism and sexism. The setting is Grant
County, New Mexico, and the based-on-fact scenario chronicles a group of
mineworkers who choose to strike against their bosses.
While the story
focuses on the tensions and conflicts between one specific, fictional
Chicano married couple, the overall picture is the key here. That
picture is not only one of worker-versus-employer confrontation. There
is strain between the Anglo and Chicano miners. Surely the men must
learn to accept their differences and fight for the common good. Just as
tellingly, the men view their wives in an unabashedly chauvinistic
manner. Surely the women will prove themselves just as able as their men
in playing a meaningful role in the strike.
Many of those in the cast
were non-professionals who were involved in the real conflict. Most
impressive among them is Juan Chacon, a unionist cast in the role of
Ramon Quintero.
Filming and postproduction went anything but smoothly. Rep. Donald Jackson censured the film and its participants in the House of Representatives. Howard Hughes tried to institute an industry-wide embargo of post-production facilities. Actress Rosaura Revueltas' work on the project resulted in her deportation, before she could complete filming and post-production voice-overs. The film eventually was finished, but for years it was screened only in foreign countries or at union meetings.